Family vacations may be on pause right now as we grapple with the effects of COVID-19, but armchair travel is going strong! Thousands of museums, national parks, urban landmarks and other famous sites across the globe have stepped up their online game, putting kid-friendly virtual travel resources and activities right at our fingertips. It can be overwhelming to sort through them all, so we’ve done the hard part for you, creating a list of our favorite resources for virtual family getaways. And don’t forget: When it’s safe to explore the world again, we’ll be here waiting and ready to help you reboot your dream trips.
Kid-Friendly Online Travel Resources
Nature and Wildlife
Bringing Africa Home, &Beyond. Luxury travel firm &Beyond, offers a terrific collection of movies, documentaries and YouTube videos themed around the wonders of Africa’s landscape and animal life.
Edinburgh Zoo. Watch the day-to-day habits of adorable penguins, pandas, koalas, tigers and more in their zoo surroundings.
San Diego Zoo. Among the finest in the U.S., the San Diego Zoo has almost a dozen webcams that feature polar bears, owls, elephants, baboons and other critters.
Ouwehand Zoo. Two adorable polar bear cubs frolic on camera at this Netherlands-based zoo.
New England Aquarium. An ongoing video series gets kids up close and personal with behind-the-scenes tasks like seal training and fish feeding.
Georgia Aquarium. Watch ethereal beluga whales glide through the water and playful sea otters scamper around, or practice mindfulness with hypnotic videos of jellyfish and other marine life.
Arts and Culture
Google Arts and Culture. The 800-pound gorilla of virtual museum and monument tours, Google takes you inside scores of iconic institutions — the Uffizi Gallery in Florence; the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.; the Pergamon Museum in Berlin; the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam — plus landmarks like Christ the Redeemer in Rio and the Empire State Building.
Vatican Museums. Enjoy in-the-round panoramas of the Sistine Chapel (with no crowds!), the Raphael Rooms and other Vatican highlights.
British Museum. A masterfully constructed virtual timeline plots items from the vast collection along different points in history.
The Louvre. Online tours highlight select rooms and collections of this beloved Paris museum, like Egyptian antiquities and the Galerie d’Apollon.
MetKids, Metropolitan Museum of Art. Jump into a time machine to glimpse objects from different eras in history, watch art-themed videos tailored just for kids or click on a hand-drawn map for views within each floor and gallery.
The Art Institute of Chicago. In addition to virtual tours and collection highlights, kids can access creative activities geared for solo experimentation and all-family fun.
Berlin Philharmonic. Listen in on hundreds of live-streamed and archival concerts and other musical events from one of the finest musical venues in the world.
Metropolitan Opera. Weekly student-focused opera streams plus Facebook Live and Zoom chats from this New York stalwart are designed to engage young opera fans.
Royal Collection Trust. As custodians of the 5-century-old Royal Collection, works of art amassed by the British Royal Family through generations, the Trust has arranged online viewing of exquisite objects such as Fabergé boxes and Da Vinci sketches.
Global Adventures
Virtual Adventures for Kids. Austin Adventures, a favorite with families, hosts a series of webinars that allow kids to explore worldwide countries like Alaska, Costa Rica, Peru.
Google Maps Treks. Want to canvass the Temples of Angkor? Hike the mountains of Nepal? Gaze at the Taj Mahal? Bucket-list adventures become a reality
Google Earth Virtual Reality. Compatible with Oculus virtual reality products, these videos allow you to walk around or soar over jaw-dropping landscapes and city streets.
National Geographic. This series of 360-degree tours takes kids inside Mexico’s Chichén Itzá, through a shipwreck off Bermuda and deep into the canyons of Victoria Falls in Africa, just for starters.
Science and Technology
National Air and Space Museum. Art and Space Anywhere programming includes interviews with major figures in STEM, bite-size videos about stars and planets, virtual tours and online games.
American Museum of Natural History. Browse the museum’s science-focused OLogy website for in-depth exploration of a huge range of scientific topics, from astronomy and climate change to biodiversity and paleontology.
NASA STEM Engagement. Separated out by age range, NASA’s comprehensive space content — model rocket launches, astronaut interviews, hands-on activities — is perfect for science and tech enthusiasts.
Steve Spangler Science. Want to create a sugar rainbow? Make a soap soufflé? See how many water drops can fit on a penny? The huge library of experiments on this great site will keep kids entertained (and learning) for weeks.
Access Mars. Traverse the surface of the Red Planet right from your own living room with this virtual tour in the Curiosity rover.
Relevant Links:
Dreaming of future family trips? Here’s all the inspiration you need
Pick your passion: Best family vacation spots for every interest
How family travel creates resilient kids
10 family vacations that will change kids forever
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