Explore these 11 museums from around the world -- all while sitting on your couch

Thank you, Google! Anyone up for a trip to the Guggenheim?

Tourists react to seeing a closed sign outside of Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum of Art on March 13, 2020 in New York City. (Cindy Ord, 2020 Getty Images)

As of Sunday, the U.S. had seen more than 60 deaths and about 2,900 infections tied to the new coronavirus, COVID-19.

One of America’s top infectious disease experts, Dr. Anthony Fauci of the National Institutes of Health, went on “Meet the Press” and said, “I think Americans should be prepared that they are going to have to hunker down significantly more than we as a country are doing.”

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Are you self-quarantined?

It might be hard at times -- how do you stay occupied? How will the workforce be impacted? What about children, many of whom are now home from school?

But we’re here with some good news, thanks to Google.

A Google Arts & Culture team has collaborated to create virtual tours and online exhibits of some of the best museums in the world, and they’re available with just a few clicks. So if you’re bored and want something new to do with your kids, check out the following:

1.) The British Museum, London

Here’s the link to your virtual tour.

What it looks like:

Screenshot (Museum of the World)

What you can expect: Some of the highlights here include Rosetta Stone, Parthenon Marbles, Egyptian mummies and the Enlightenment Gallery.

2.) Guggenheim Museum, New York

Check it out on Google Street View.

What it looks like:

A screenshot from Google (Screenshot/Google)

What you can expect: Really cool exhibits of modern and contemporary art, all seen from Frank Lloyd Wright’s landmark building in Manhattan.

3.) Musée d’Orsay, Paris

Ever been to France? Now you can feel like you’re there. Check it out: Here’s your link to the virtual tour.

What it looks like:

Musée d’Orsay/Google (Musée d’Orsay/Google/Screenshot)

What you can expect: The museum is housed in a Beaux-Arts railway station built between 1898 and 1900. It holds French art dating from 1848 to 1914, including paintings, sculptures, furniture and photography. Click around and investigate how much of that is accessible online.

4.) National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul

Who’s coming to Korea? Check it out.

What it looks like:

National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul (Google/screenshot)

What you can expect: You get a lot of options with this one -- six museum views; you can sort by medium (oil paintings, photography and canvas, for example), and then there are four special online exhibits. Neat!

5.) National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.

The nation’s museum is known for preserving and collecting exhibits. Here’s your virtual tour.

What it looks like:

National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. -- a virtual tour. (National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C./screenshot/Google)

What you can expect: Two online exhibits caught our eye immediately -- “Fashioning a Nation” and “Vermeer and the Masters of Genre Painting.”

6.) Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam

Give it a visit.

What it looks like:

Van Gogh Museum/Google/screenshot (Screenshot)

What you can expect: Did you realize this museum houses the largest collection of artworks by Vincent van Gogh in the world? The permanent collection has more than 200 paintings by Vincent van Gogh, 500 drawings and more than 750 letters, according to the Google site set up for virtual tours.

7.) Louvre Museum

Although you’ll want to make sure your computer has the correct Flash player installed, it appears the renowned Louvre offers several virtual tour options.

Check them out.

What you can expect: We see exhibits for “Egyptian Antiquities,” “Remains of the Louvre’s Moat” and “Galerie d’Apollon." Very cool!

8.) MASP, São Paulo

MASP, in Brazil, stands for Museu de Arte de São Paulo Assis Chateaubriand. No need to jump on a plane, though. Want to take a look around?

What it looks like:

A look inside the MASP (MASP/screenshot/Google)

What you can expect: A peek around as Brazil’s first modern museum, with six online exhibits and two interactive museum views.

9.) Uffizi Gallery, Florence

Check it out by clicking or tapping here.

What it looks like:

The Uffizi Gallery in Florence, Italy (Google/Uffizi Gallery/screenshot)

What you can expect: The Uffizi was designed by Giorgio Vasari in 1560, according to the Google site. Explore four online exhibits, 156 items and take in the gallery view by using the link above.

10.) The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles

Anyone up for a (virtual) trip to LA?

What it looks like:

The J. Paul Getty Museum online (The J. Paul Getty Museum/Google/screenshot)

What you can expect: The museum is known for housing European paintings, drawings, sculpture, illuminated manuscripts, decorative arts, and photography from its beginnings to the present, gathered internationally, according to its website. Online, you can expect two special virtual exhibits: “Heaven, Hell, and Dying Well” and “Eat, Drink, and Be Merry.”

11.) Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

Check out the Google Street View tour.

What it looks like:

Rijksmuseum online (Rijksmuseum/Google/screenshot)

What you can expect: The museum’s website says it has the “Gallery of Honour with paintings of Frans Hals, Jan Steen, Vermeer and Rembrandt; a gorgeous collection of Delft Blue pottery ranging from tea sets to vases, and the Cuypers Library, the biggest and oldest art history library in the Netherlands.”

You’ll have to check and see if ALL of that is available online, but it’s worth some exploring!


That’s not all.

Want to see more? Google is offering 4,688 museum views through this link.

And here are the collections, if you’d like to sort alphabetically.


h/t: Travel and Leisure