Fresco on the ceiling of the Vatican Museum.
Trip canceled due to coronavirus? Stuck for things to do with the kids? Use the time to expand your cultural horizons and tour these world-famous museums and galleries without ever leaving your living room.
The Vatican Museum, Rome. Packed with information about the priceless collections within its walls, the Vatican has some cool virtual tours and VR views of its most iconic rooms, as well as a necropolis complete with grisly skeletons. Let’s face it, this is the only way you’re ever going to enjoy the Sistine Chapel without the crowds.
The Louvre Museum, Paris, France.
The Louvre, Paris. Take a virtual tour to learn about Egyptian antiquities, decorative arts and the remains of the moat in this museum of museums.
The Prado Museum, Madrid. Get a close up virtual look at the stunning artworks in the Museum’s collection and locate them along a historical timeline. There’s also multimedia content and downloadable challenges for kids featuring a different room each day.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Virtually visit 6 of the Met’s iconic spaces, including the Great Hall and the Arms and Armor Galleries. There are also videos to watch and MetKids has some cool resources like a timeline, map and videos.
Replica of the helmet from the Sutton Hoo ship burial at the British Museum. Photo by Ziko C.
The British Museum, London. Explore the online collection and learn about the amazing art and artifacts within. The Oceania and Prints & Drawings galleries have virtual visits enabled.
The Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg. No matter how long the quarantine lasts, there’s enough here to keep you entertained indefinitely, including virtual tours of the opulent galleries, information on the varied artifacts within and videos on sites like the Winter Palace.
Uffiz Gallery, Florence photo by Chris Wee (CC BY 2.0).
The Uffizi Gallery, Florence. The Uffizi’s collections are available online in stunning high-definition color. As well as old masters there’s a fashion exhibit and rare book collection.
Apart from all of the above, Google Arts & Culture features a whole host of beautiful close-up color images, videos and virtual views of everything from Frida Kahlo’s diary to the giant heads of Rapa Nui, via art movements from Baroque to Banksy, historic events and figures, natural history, pop culture, fashion, sports, design, heritage and more. There’s also online content from the Rijksmuseum, the Smithsonian, the Guggenheim, the Van Gogh Museum, the Museu de Arte de São Paulo, the Museum of Natural Sciences in Madrid and many, many more.
Kate Williams.
Kate Williams is a freelance writer, editor, translator and Director of The Writer Stuff. She left her native England for Barcelona in 2003 and never looked, or went, back. When she isn’t writing or discovering all the cool stuff going on in the city, she enjoys hiking in the Catalan countryside, kayaking on the Costa Brava, and volunteers at a local animal sanctuary. You can read more by Kate here.
Image courtesy of the Ajuntament de Barcelona.
Numbers to Call in Barcelona
The city of Barcelona wishes to attend everyone with questions or concerns as expediently as possible, and asks that only those with serious medical emergencies call the emergency services number: 112.
If you are worried or have questions you can call 010 or 012.
If you are feeling unwell, please call 061.