In Part 1 we covered documentaries and shows focused on food, culture and scenery. Part 2 focused on the arts; museums, performances and art from across the world. We’re back with Part 3 so that you can continue exploring from the comfort of your home with virtual tours of scenery and nature.
Epic Scenery
If you’re looking for something more interactive, there are plenty of click-through tours and guides taking you through epic scenery.
Google Earth’s National Parks of the United States
Experience: Virtually visit 31 US National Parks with Google Earth’s impressive tools. This amazing virtual tour allows you to select the National Park you want to explore, and then gives you a satellite, bird’s eye view of the whole park with pins at points of interest. When you select a pin, it zooms in to an up-close perspective of the beautiful feature that you can navigate around for more exploration! This incredibly cool tool allows you to see a lot, while also providing some context for what you’re looking at. If you crave more, there are some other sites that offer more detailed virtual tours of Yellowstone and Yosemite.
Length: At your own pace.
Google Earth’s Discover Hawaii
Experience: With the help of Google Earth again, you can virtually island hop around Hawaii and see some of the state’s most beautiful landmarks, from Waikiki Beach to Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park – no sunscreen needed!
Length: At your own pace.
Live Northern Lights Show
Experience: You can catch a live Northern Lights show without enduring the cold. This live webcam is located in Manitoba, Canada, directly underneath the aurora oval and is one of the best places on earth to catch this beautiful phenomenon. And, conveniently for us, early spring is one of the best times of the year to catch the aurora borealis.
Length: At your own pace.
Great Wall of China
Experience: For something more exotic, you can also virtually explore the Great Wall of China. Simply click your way along this beautiful wonder of the world in an easy to navigate virtual experience.
Length: At your own pace.
Out of This World
Set those travel aspirations even farther with virtual tours of some of our more distant neighbors.
Mars
Experience: If exotic isn’t enough, there’s always an extraterrestrial virtual exploration of Mars. Stroll along the real surface of Mars courtesy of NASA’s Curiosity rover. This virtual experience is one of the most well done we’ve come across!
Length: At your own pace.
Moon
Experience: Take a guided tour across the lunar landing sites on the moon from the Apollo program and follow the narration by astronauts who were there!
Length: At your own pace
Zoos and Aquariums
If you love learning about all types of animals and where to find them, many zoos are offering live webcam feeds so you can hang with your favorite animals, from pandas to penguins.
The San Diego Zoo
Experience: The San Diego Zoo is offering live footage of 11 exhibits and an archive of footage from their previous panda exhibit. From tigers and polar bears to butterflies and elephants, there’s something for everyone to enjoy!
Length: At your own pace.
The Georgia Aquarium
Experience: The Georgia Aquarium is offering 8 life webcams for our viewing enjoyment! Hang with otters, penguins, beluga whales, and many more of your favorite aquatic creatures.
Length: At your own pace.
The Monterey Bay Aquarium
Experience: The Monterey Bay Aquarium is also providing live footage on 10 webcams. We love watching the fish float by on the coral reef cam!
Length: At your own pace.
Virtual Safaris and Scuba Dives
If you’re more of an extreme adventure traveler, we’ve got a few more options for you.
Wild Earth’s Live Safaris
Experience: Follow along on safaris with expert guides who take you through the South African wilderness, searching for animals. Browse hours’ worth of past safaris at your leisure! (The live safari follow-alongs are on pause for COVID).
Length: Up to 3 hours but you can jump around at your own pace.
National Marine Sanctuaries’ Virtual Dives
Experience: Float around with some sea lions in this virtual deep dive of the Channel Islands. There are also photo galleries from 8 popular dive sites around the world for you to explore.
Length: The virtual dive is 3 minutes; the photos are at your own pace.
Never Stop Exploring!
We’re all doing our part to limit the spread of Covid-19 and for many, that means we’re aching to get back on the road exploring. We might not be able to completely scratch that travel itch just yet, but these virtual tours can help us experience some of the best parts of traveling; learning new things, taking in breathtaking sites, and discovering passions - all from the safety and comfort of our homes.