british museum online tour free

British Museum London, United Kingdom

The British Museum’s remarkable collection spans over two million years of human history and culture. Over 6 million visitors every year experience the collection, including world-famous objects such as the Rosetta Stone, the Parthenon sculptures, and Egyptian mummies.

Discover our interactive experience The Museum of the World

A Journey: Conserving the Atlas of Joseph Russegger’s seminal publication Reisen in Europa, Asien und Africa etc. (1842-1849)

British museum, the ballcourts of chichén itzá, buddhist art in myanmar, containing the divine: a sculpture of the pacific god a'a, john harrison's horological legacy, egypt: faith after the pharaohs, the mold cape, the russegger atlas, the ancient maya at the british museum, celtic life in iron age britain, poetry and exile, social fabric: african textiles today, celebrating ganesha, bonaparte and the battle of waterloo, 1066: the year that changed england, exploring the maya ruins of quiriguá, guatemala, yucatán today, untangling maya glyphs, traditional jewellery and dress from the balkans, in this collection, alfred maudslay, 1,680 items, archaeology, 1,008 items, 7,350 items, 2 museum views, what's on.

• Partners and Fundings
• events & news
• green hotels
• who’s talking about us

20 World Online Museums You Can Visit For Free, Without Leaving your Place

From the MoMa to the Louvre, here are the 20 most beautiful online museums in the world that you can discover for free, without leaving your home. All you need is an internet connection

Museums online? What a great idea! Would you like to travel the world, visit museums and discover works of art, but never have the time to do it? This list is perfect for you. Read on to enter the 20 most spectacular museums in the world for free without leaving your home. All you need is an internet connection to spend your free time between artistic masterpieces and pieces of history, relaxing but without forgetting to continue learning new things every day.

1. The British Museum, London

The British Museum boasts one of the largest online museums in the world. The website gives you access to a huge collection of more than 8 million objects but also how they have been documented over the centuries. For instance, you could see the Phoenician panel of a sphinx in ivory.

2. The Louvre, Paris

This museum offers free online access to its important exhibits . For instance, some works from Michelangelo or the famous Egyptian Antiquities . What’s more, you can take a 360-degree tour and click what you find attractive to discover some additional information .

3. Vatican Museums, Rome

A collection of classical sculptures curated by the Popes over the centuries is available at the Vatican Museums . Don’t miss the chance to take a virtual tour of Michelangelo’s ceiling in the Sistine Chapel and of the other iconic exhibits.

4. The National Gallery of Art, Washington

If you can’t visit Washington D.C . and you’re really curious to discover this museum, use its virtual tours of galleries and exhibits . Moreover, you can also listen to audio and watch some video of past lectures .

5. Uffizi Gallery, Florence

High-quality pictures of some of the most attractive artistic works. You’ll have the chance to see the works of some famous italian artists such as Cimabue or Botticelli .

6. The Dalì Theatre Museum, Florida

This museum is located in  Saint Petersburg , Florida, and it is completely dedicated to the artwork of Salvador Dalí . It boasts several rooms and exhibits following each step of Dalí’s career .

7. Nasa Museum, Virginia

You can visit the Langley Research Center in Virginia . There’s also an app for virtual tours, videos, reality experiences and stories to discover.

8. Prado Museum, Madrid

The artificial intelligence supplied by this website will offer you a huge collection divided following a specific timeline .

9. MoMa, New York

Discover the beautiful collection of this famous museum in New York by looking at their website. It will seem like you’re looking at some pics from your smartphone gallery .

10. The National Women’s History Museum, Virginia

This well-curated online exhibits, with its oral histories, is perfect if you want to discover women’s distinctive culture and history in the United States . As a matter of fact, its aim is to empower and inspire women.

11. South Tyrol Museum of Archeology, Bozen

The “ Iceman Database ” is now also available online! Whether you’re a little curious kid or someone who’s into archeology, discover every detail about the Iceman thanks to this website.

12. Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan

Take a closer look of the beautiful exhibits in Milan , at the Pinacoteca di Brera . As a matter of fact, their HD pics will give you the chance to discover their interesting online collection made of 669 objects .

13. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Thank to  The Met 360° Project , the virtual tour supplied by their website makes the experience so real that it will seem like you are there.

14. Hermitage St Petersburg

More than three million works  of the world culture are available at the online collection of the State Hermitage . For example, you can take a look of  The Winter Palace of Peter the Great, a unique monument from the 18th century.

15. Egyptian Museum, Turin

Christian Greco , the executive director, streams video tours  on Facebook where he explains the majestic collection of this museum.  Don’t miss this chance.

16. Guggenheim, Bilbao

Near the Nerviòn River , there’s a unique building made of steel and titanium . This is one of the world’s most distinctive museums. Thanks to a virtual tour you can discover a collection of postwar European and American painting and sculpture.

 17.  Rijks Museum, Amsterdam

80 galleries are available on the website of this museum. While exploring the Great Hall and beyond, you’ll get the chance to discover the most beautiful works by Dutch masters such as Vermeer , Rembrandt and others.

18. Musée d’Orsay, Paris

In the Gare d’Orsay , a hotel and railway in Paris , there’s this distinctive museum which is home to some of the most important French artists such as Monet and Cézanne . If you’re passionate about Impressionist works, here you’ll find a huge collection of masterpieces . Also, the virtual tour includes the history of the building .

19. Natural History Museum, London

The Natural History Museum’s collection is one of the most important ones in UK , since it’s always really attractive both for Londoners and tourists. Get lost in gallery spaces and in its long corridors, thanks to its virtual tour. In the entrance hall, tou’ll see the famous Dippy the dino .

20. J Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles

The Getty is one of the most famous art places on the west coast , with its long history of creative treasures . From Van Gogh’s Irises to neolithic clay figure . The virtual tour provides of very beautiful artworks . So, take a look on the internal gallery and discover all the information about the exhibition .

Don’t miss this chance of exploring the best online museums in the world, and learning directly from your couch. Stay comfortable, and don’t ever stop being curious about discovering new things!

Cover Photo: Vatican Museums in Rome, Photo by Chris Malinao Burgett on Unsplash

You might also like

The Importance of Online Museums for Modern Education

Modern education is rapidly transforming its conventional format. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all the instructions are delivered through the Internet now, so students don’t have to leave their homes and attend institutions to learn something new. They have become more independent since it’s not required to be in a certain place at a specific […]

Free virtual tours of museums and galleries in Slovenia

Enjoy virtual tours of the best museums and galleries in Slovenia. Discover with us the richness of cultural heritage and the history of Slovenian landscapes. Ptuj – Ormož Regional Museum The Regional Museum is located in Ptuj Renaissance castle. The castle is furnished with furniture and works of art dating back to the period from the […]

MUSE, a sustainable Science Museum in Trento

Hypertechnological and eco-friendly: it’s the MuSe, the Science Museum opened last month in Trento. Located inside the new district Le Albere, where the former factory Michelin has been requalified, the Science Museum of Trento, designed by the italian architect Renzo Piano, has achieved  LEED gold status for its sustanibility.   It’s the first italian museum […]

Pietrasanta, Versilia: the Green Guide to an Open-Air Museum

Pietrasanta, a city of many facets. At the foot of the Apuan Alps, on the slopes of the hill of Sala, it represents a meeting point between ancient history and modern art. Why don’t you try to discover it in an eco-sustainable way? An ancient village in the province of Lucca, Pietrasanta has earned the […]

50 World Class Museums To Enjoy Virtually Online For Free

Scoping out some museums for art-inspired travel? Here’s my guide to the best virtual museums you can visit online at home from the comfort of your couch or computer.

Many world class museums have released some or all of their collections online. Or they’ve partnered with Google Arts & Culture to make collections accessible in high resolution.

Some museums have used the technology that powers Google Street View to let you zoom in to see floor plans or specific art works.

If you can’t travel for any reason, this is a splendid time to travel virtually to a museum of your choice. There’s an almost dizzying array of virtual options.

It’s not quite like walking through a museum. But it has its own strange pleasures.

World Class Museums With Online Collections and Virtual Tours For At Home Viewing

Here’s my list of virtual tours for 50 amazing museums:

1. Uffizi Gallery, Florence Italy

Art lovers are rushing to the Virtual Uffizi Gallery Facebook page. Launched in 2020, the page already has over 50,000 followers.

The Uffizi is one of Europe’s best museums, housing priceless treasures of Italian Renaissance art collected by the powerful Medici family. The Uffizi has the world’s best collection of Gothic and Renaissance art.

This is where you can admire Sandro Botticelli’s The Birth of Venus and Primavera , Laocoön and his Sons , and Raphael’s Portrait of Pope Leo X with Two Cardinals .

Install the Google Arts & Culture App to explore the entire collection .

Here’s my comprehensive guide to the Uffizi Gallery and my must know Uffizi tips to prepare for your museum visit.

2. British Museum, London England

In London’s artsy Bloomsbury area is one the world’s foremost museums, the British Museum . Opened in 1753, it’s a universal museum, holding a massive collection of the world’s most important historic artifacts. It seeks to provide a cross cultural understanding of art owned by “humanity.”

But it’s owned by humanity in name only. Many of the goodies on display date from England’s reign as a major world super power.

It’s utterly amazing how much stuff the Brits gobbled up, with their obsessive fervor for quirky collecting. Like the hotly disputed Elgin Marbles taken from the Pantheon.

The British Museum allows virtual visitors 360 views of the Great Court, the ancient Rosetta Stone, and the Egyptian mummies. You can also find hundreds of artifacts on the museum’s virtual tour that can be enlarged, with links to curator descriptions of the pieces.

Here’s my complete guide to the British Museum .

3. Soloman R. Guggenheim Museum, New York City

Google’s Street View feature lets visitors virtually tour the Guggenheim’s famous spiral staircase designed by Frank Lloyd Wright . From there, you can see incredible masterpieces from the Impressionist, Post-Impressionist, Modern, and Contemporary art periods.

Visit the museum’s popular online collection . There, you’ll find some of the Guggenheim’s most famous works, including Vasily Kandinsky’s Composition 8 (the most popular piece in 2019), Jackson Pollack’s Alchemy , and Edouard Manet’s Before the Mirror .

You can also check out the Guggenheim’s blog , with in-depth analyses of artists and art works.

4. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

The National Gallery of Art is home to some of the most amazing paintings in the world. Plus, as a Smithsonian branch, it’s free to visitors.

But since you can’t visit right now, the museum features two online exhibits through Google. The first is an exhibit of American fashion from 1740 to 1895. The second is a collection of works from Johannes Vermeer, the famous Dutch Baroque painter.

The museum also has a rotating collection of museum highlights online. The most famous pieces will wow you — Pablo Picasso’s Family of Saltimbanques , da Vinci’s Portriat of Ginerva de’ Benci , Vincent Van Gogh’s Roses , Claude Monet’s Woman with a Parasol, and Mary Cassat’s The Boating Party.

For more information, here’s my complete guide to the National Gallery .

5. Musée d’Orsay, Paris France

Ah, this is one of my favorite museums in Paris , housed in a beautiful converted railway station.

If you can’t visit the museum, you can virtually see dozens of famous works from French and European artists who toiled in Paris between 1848 and 1914. You’ll see artworks from Monet, Cézanne, Gauguin, and so many other artists.

In particular, the d’Orsay is a Van Gogh treasure trove. You can inspect his Self Portrait, Starry Night, Dr. Gachet , The Church at Auvers , and The Siesta .

Other masterpieces at the d’Orsay include Manet’s Luncheon on the Grass and Olympia, Paul Cezanne’s Card Players , Claude Monet’s Houses of Parliament , and Auguste Renoir’s Moulin de la Galette .

Here’s my comprehensive guide to masterpieces of the Orsay and must know tips for visiting the Orsay .

6. Louvre, Paris France

The Louvre is Paris’ iconic landmark and the world’s most visited museum. This treasure trove of history is closed right now. Unfortunately, it doesn’t have an arrangement with Google Arts & Culture.

But the Louvre does offer free virtual tours of some of its important exhibits, like the Egyptian Antiquities, Napoleon’s Rooms, the Medieval Louvre, and works by Michelangelo.

Via my blog, you can also explore the Louvre’s underrated masterpieces or take my virtual tour of the Louvre . I think the best painting in the Louvre , Theodore Gericault’s Raft of the Medusa .

If you’re a Beyonce fan, her recent music video featured pieces from the Louvre. Now, you can follow the Beyonce Louvre Trail .

READ : Louvre Survival Tips

7. Paris Museums Collections

In a collective effort, Paris museums have made 100,000 images of artworks from Paris museum collections freely available to the public.

This includes digital downloads of masterpieces by artists including Rembrandt, Gustave Courbet, and Eugène Delacroix.

Here’s the digital collections portal .

8. The Spy Museum, Washington D.C.

The Spy Museum is always a crowd pleaser. But if you’d like to avoid crowds, you can just visit online.

The Spy Museum gives you 360 degrees views of every room. It’s also got an amazing Pinterest account , featuring photos of its precious artifacts.

The Spy Museum even has a list online of the 10 most important pieces in its collection, including the Enigma Machine that Germany used in WWII to secretly communicate.

9. The Vatican Museums, Vatican City

I recently visited the Vatican Museums twice during a trip to Rome . The Vatican Museums are the public art and sculpture museums in the Vatican City complex.

The works in the Vatican are invaluable crowning glories of Western art. They tell stories of the rise and fall of the Roman Empire, the history of the Catholic Church, and the birth of the Renaissance.

You can take an online virtual tour of the Vatican Museums, including the Sistine Chapel , the Pio Clementino Museum, and the Raphael Rooms .

I’ve also quite a few pieces on in which you can check out the art work.

• Vatican’s must see masterpieces
• Raphael Rooms  
• Hidden gems of the Vatican
• Best sculptures in the Vatican
• Sistine Chapel in the Vatican

10. The Dali Theater Museum, Figueres Spain

This is a delightfully eccentric single artist museum in Salvador Dali’s hometown of Figueres Spain. Designed by Dali himself, the pink bread encrusted museum is a surrealistic object itself.

I’ve written a complete guide to the Dali Museum . But you can also see some of its most famous pieces online .

Check out the Mae West Room, the Labyrinth, the Rain Taxi, the courtyard of golden Oscar statues, and the painting of Gala Contemplating the Mediterranean Sea (a clever double image).

11. Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam Netherlands

The Van Gogh Museum boasts the largest collection of paintings by the Post-Impressions master Vincent Van Gogh .

He’s an artist known for his colorful sunflowers, vivid landscapes, and searing portraits. Online, you can see panoramic views of the museum rooms.

The museum offers almost 1500 images of paintings to inspect. There’s also a 360 virtual tour of its Sunflower Gallery , with paintings from five international museums.

12. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam Netherlands

If you love Dutch art, this is your chance to check out the preeminent source. The Rijksmuseum is well represented on Google Arts & Culture, with 150,000 items on display.

You’ll find masterpieces by Rembrandt ( The Night Watch , The Jewish Bride ), Vermeer ( The Milk Maid) , and Franz Hals ( The Wedding Portrait ) on their virtual tours . There’s also a Google Streets View of its grounds.

13. J. Paul Getty Museum at the Getty Center, Los Angeles

Designed by Pritzker Prize winning architect Richard Meier, the world famous Getty Center in southern California opened to the public in 1997.

The Getty Museum has an outstanding online virtual tour with Google Arts & Culture. It even has an outdoor virtual tour , which uses photography and time-lapse videos to enliven the experience.

There are 15,000 paintings and artifacts to see with accompanying audio explanations. Check out the Getty’s most famous pieces — Van Gogh’s Irises and Rembrandt Laughing , Renoir’s La Promenade , and the Lansdowne Herakles sculpture from Roman antiquity.

For more information, you can check out my guide to the Getty Center .

14. Museum of Modern Art, New York City US

The venerable MOMA boasts one of the largest and most comprehensive collections of modern and contemporary art in the world. A $450 million expansion in 2019 added 45,000 square feet of space.

It was the first museum solely dedicated to modern art. It has 84,000 pieces art on display online .

It’s seminal masterpieces include works by Jackson Pollack, Andy Warhol, Jasper Johns, Willem de Kooning, Helen Frankenthaler, and the ever popular Impressionists. MOMA’s most famous piece is Van Gogh’s Starry Night .

15. Tate Modern, London England

The Tate Modern is my favorite museum in London, a city overflowing with marvelous free museums . Opened in 2000, it’s housed in the former Bankside Power Station. The industrial look seems fitting for its cutting edge art.

Among other modern art masterpieces , you can clap your eyes on Andy Warhol’s Marilyn Diptych , Marcel Duchamp’s Fountain , Amadeo Modigliani’s Peasant Boy , Pablo Picasso’s Nude Woman in a Red Armchair, Georgio de Chirico’s the Uncertainty of the Poet , and Henri Matisse’s The Snail, and Salvador Dali’s Lobster Telephone .

You can navigate the Tate Modern via Google Street View or explore its digitized masterpieces online . The Tate is to launch free online film tours of Andy Warhol (April 6) and Aubrey Beardsley (April 13) exhibitions on their YouTube channel .

16. National Gallery, London England

London’s National Gallery is an incredibly diverse museum, featuring 2,000 European paintings from the 13th to the 19th centuries.

You’ll find familiar names like Rembrandt, da Vinci, Michelangelo, Botticelli, J.M.W. Turner, Monet, and Van Gogh.

READ : The Monet Guide To Paris

The most famous painting on display is Leonardo da Vinci’s The Virgin of the Rocks. But Van Gogh’s Sunflowers also draws hordes of admirers. Wherever you are, you can take a virtual tour .

Here’s my complete guide to the National Gallery .

17. The Prado Museum, Madrid Spain

The Prado Museum in Madrid is Spain’s cultural jewel. It boasts one of Europe’s finest and most sensuous painting collections.

The artistic anchors of the Prado are Francisco Goya, Diego Velázquez, and Peter Paul Rubens. But there are also masterpieces by Titian, Bosch, and El Greco.

Now you can Prado in your PJs. If you want to take a virtual tour of the Prado, you can. The Prado recently broadcast a live video in which its director, Miguel Falomir, gave a 20 minute talk on Tintoretto’s famed Christ Washing the Disciples’ Feet .

The Prado also has a 360 virtual tour of its Rubens exhibition and an impressive online collection of over 10,000 works of art. Smarthistory has a large cache of YouTube videos exploring many of the Prado’s best works. The Prado also does a live one hour show on Instagram, also posted on Facebook, every morning at 10:00 am.

Here’s my complete guide to visting the Prado .

18. The Reina Sofia, Madrid Spain

Opened in 1992, the Reina Sofia is Madrid’s modern art museum. Its collection is comprised entirely of art work from 1900 to the present.

There’s a special focus on Spain’s favorite sons, Pablo Picasso and Salvador Dali , and their respective schools of Cubism and Surrealism.

The star of the Reina Sofia is Guernica , Picasso’s grim depiction of the seemingly casual Nazi bombing of Guernica Spain in 1937.

The Reina Sofia recently tweeted a video showing the array of content it has online .

19. Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum, Madrid Spain

Housed in the Villahermosa Palace, the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum is named after art collector Baron Heinrich Thyssen-Bornemisza.

The museum covers every major period in Western art, from 13th century Italian Renaissance to 20th century Pop Art. It also has an important collection of 19th century American paintings not found elsewhere in Europe.

The museum offers virtual visits to both its permanent collection and temporary exhibits. You can also browse through thematic tours that center on fashion, food, love, and wine.

READ : Best Art Museums in Spain

20. Smithsonian Museum of Natural History, Washington, D.C. US

Washington D.C.’s Museum of Natural History is one of the most visited museums in the world. You can inspect some of its wonderful treasures with an online virtual tour of the entire grounds.

Viewers head into its rotunda and receive a comprehensive 360 room by room walking tour of its most exceptional exhibits, including the Hall of Mammals, Insect Zoo, and Dinosaurs and Hall of Paleobiology.

In general, the Smithsonian museums have also released 2.8 million images into the public domain. They’re searchable, shareable, and downloadable via the museum’s Open Access platform . The Smithsonian will continue to digitize and publish their collections.

21. The State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg Russia

The State Hermitage is one of the world’s best museums. It’s the second largest museum in the world. It’s so large that it’s impossible to tackle in one real life visit anyway. Instead, you can explore its artsy endless halls with the Google Art Project guide.

Alternatively, check out the Hermitage website , which boasts a large digital archive with very convenient navigation. In the Highlights section, you’ll find the Hermitage’s most significant pieces: Faberge eggs, sculptures, and jewelry.

Some of its world class paintings include Rembrant’s Danae and The Return of the Prodigal Son , Henri Matisse’s Dance , Titian’s Danae , and Kandinsky’s Composition VI . Other Russian museums with significant online collections can be found here .

22. Calouste Gulbenkian Museum, Lisbon Portugal

If you’re pining for Portugal , Lisbon’s Calouste Gulbenkian Museum has excellent online viewing options.

Thanks to a wealthy oil magnate, this gem of a museum is stuffed with a stunning range of treasures spanning 4,000 years. It’s one of the world’s largest and best private art collections, compiled over 40 years.

The museum has a 360 tour of the Founder’s Collection and the Modern Collection galleries. It also has an extensive online collection .

READ : 4 Day Itinerary for Lisbon

23. Tate Britain, London England

The Tate Britain may be London’s most beautiful museum. It boasts a domed rotunda, beautiful spiral staircase, terrazzo floors, and Victorian details. Built in the late 19th century, the Tate Britain underwent an extensive renovation completed in 2013. The result is an ultra pretty museum experience.

The Tate Britain is home to J. M. W. Turner’s watercolors and Francis Bacon’s abstract religious triptychs and screaming popes. Some of Tate Britain’s most famous paintings are here, including Sir John Everett Millais’ Ophelia , John William Waterhouse’s The Lady of Shalott , and John Constable’s Flatford Mill.

Of special note, there are 8 rooms dedicated to Turner, one of Britian’s greatest and most famous artists.

And you can enjoy it all online with Google Arts & Culture. And you can check out my guide to the Tate Britain , with must see masterpieces.

24. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City US

The Met is the largest museum in the United States. It has an extremely good online collection . There are over 200,000 works on Google Arts & Culture.

The Met also offers a 360 tour , consisting of 6 videos. The tour showcases different spaces inside the Met from unique angles.

Check out the Met’s best pieces — Georgia O’Keefe’s Cow’s Skull , Van Gogh’s Self Portrait with a Straw Hat , Monet’s Bridge over a Pond of Water Lilies , Jacques Louis David’s The Death of Socrates , and Antonio Canova’s famous sculpture Venus Italica .

25. The Capitoline Museums, Rome Italy

If you love ancient Greco-Roman sculpture, the Capitoline Museums have a virtual tour of its floorplans and collections. You can also examine its exhibits on Google Arts & Culture .

The Capitoline Museums is Rome’s oldest museum complex, sitting atop a beautiful Michelangelo-designed square, the Piazza dei Campidoglio on Capitoline Hill. It gives you a unique look at Rome’s ancient imperial history. If you’re a history or archaeology buff, this is a must see site in Rome .

READ : 5 Day Itinerary For Rome

The Capitoline Museum boasts an enormous array of ancient Roman, medieval, and Renaissance art — statuary, paintings, and relics. The most famous pieces are the Equestrian Statue of Marcus Aurelius , Dying Gaul , Medusa , Capitoline Venus , Spinario , and Bust of Commodus .

Here’s my complete guide to the Capitoline Museums .

26. Raffaello Exhibit, Scuderie del Quirinale, Rome Italy

2020 marked the 500 year anniversary of the death of the Renaissance master Raphael . In honor of the great artist, Rome planned a landmark exhibition.

200 paintings had been gathered from all over Italy, from the Vatican Museums, and on loan from major museums worldwide.

Titled RAFFAELLO, the exhibition was planned to run from March 5th – June 2nd. But it was closed after several days. Fortunately a free virtual tour is now available. It’s narrated in Italian. But you can still admire the beauty of the art works.

27. Ara Pacis | Museum of the Altar of Peace, Rome Italy

The Ara Pacis Museum is dedicated to a single item — an ancient arch dedicated to the gods.

The arch was built by soon-to-be emperor Augustus, who had just pacified the barbarians. This victory marked the beginning of the Pax Roman, a 200 year golden age where arts and architecture flourished.

Opened in 2006, the altar-museum is housed in a modern pavilion designed by American architect Richard Meier. Examine all the intricacies of the altar with the museum’s virtual tour here .

28. The Acropolis Museum, Athens Greece

In 2009, Athens opened a gorgeous new museum, the Acropolis Museum.

Designed by French-Swiss architect Bernard Tschumi, it’s a $200 million state of the art rebuttal to the British Museum’s claim that Athens had nowhere to properly store and display the Elgin Marbles , disputed statuary from the Parthenon’s frieze.

The Acropolis Museum recreated the Parthenon friezes for display. It’s also home to 5,0000 year old artifacts excavated from the Acropolis, home to the Parthenon. Both the ruins and the neighboring museum are free to explore virtually on Google Maps .

READ : One Day In Athens Itinerary

29. Museo e Real Bosco di Capodimonte, Naples Italy

Located in the Capodimonte Palace, the Capodimonte Museum houses a collection of fine and decorative arts mostly from Naples. The core of its collection was compiled by the powerful Farnese and Bourbon families.

The Capodimonte Museum has works by Caravaggio, Masaccio, Titian, Raphael, El Greco, Bruegel, and Sebastiano del Piombo (who also decorated the Villa Farnesina in Rome). The museum’s most famous painting is probably The Gypsy Madonna by Correggio. You can visit the museum’s online collection here .

Thanks to the museum’s collaboration with Google Arts & Culture, the cultural and artistic gems of the Capodimonte Museum can be admired online from home.

The online Google Art & Culture platform contains over 536 works of art. The Google Street View tool allows visitors to enjoy 14 themed stories and virtual tours of museum masterpieces.

30. Picasso Museum, Barcelona Spain

Founded in 1963, the Picasso Museum in Barcelona was launched with a donation of 574 works by Picasso’s secretary, Jaime Sabartés. In 1970, Picasso himself donated 800 more pieces to the museum.

In this museum, you’ll find one of the most extensive collections of his work, 4000 pieces, certainly the best collection in Spain. The best part of the museum is where it’s housed — in five glorious adjoining medieval palaces.

You can browse the highlights of the museum’s online collection here , though the images are rather small. You can take a virtual tour of the palaces here . The palace tour takes you on a private guided tour of the museum’s architectural elements.

If you’d like more Picasso, here’s my guide to the Picasso museums in Europe and my guide to the Picasso Museum in Paris .

31. Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston MA

Ah, this is one of my favorite museums in the United States. If you’re a museum or art lover, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum is a must see site in Boston Massachusetts . I just adored it.

The museum houses gorgeous paintings from the Italian Renaissance and Dutch Golden Age in an exquisite Venetian-style palazzo. The collection was assembled by Gardner herself, who was a wealthy maverick and avid art collector.

Gardner carefully curated and installed her collection amid the three floors of intimate gallery spaces and the interior courtyard with a skylit roof. Each room is named and sumptuously decorated.

In effect, the museum is a total work of art with Gardner as the installation artist. You’ll find pieces by John Singer Sargent, Rembrandt, Francisco Zurburan, Titian, and Sandro Botticelli.

Here’s my guide to the Gardner Museum . You can also take a virtual tour through Google Arts & Culture . If you’ve never watched the fascinating introductory video on the museum’s homepage , now’s the perfect time.

32. Musee de L’Orangerie, Paris France

Paris’ Musée de l’Orangerie, or the Orangerie Museum, is one of the best small museums in Paris . It’s a quick 10 minute walk from its more popular sister museum the Musée D’Orsay. And it’s completely worth the detour, a hidden gem in Paris just waiting for avid fans of the Impressionist painter Claude Monet.

The Orangerie’s main claim to fame is its famed collection of Monet’s water lilies, some of which can also be found at the equally stunning Musée Marmottan Monet in Paris’ 16th arrondissement.

In 1927, the water lilies were set in massive curved panels and installed in two adjoining oval shaped rooms in the new museum. Some art historians call the Orangerie the world’s first “art installation” because the space was designed specifically for Monet’s water lilies.

Here’s my complete guide to the Orangerie . You can also visit the museum masterpieces virtually on Google Arts & Culture.

33. Guggenheim Bilbao, Bilbao Spain

Who can argue with the emblematic Guggenheim Museum ? Inaugurated in 1997, Frank Gehry’s twisting shimmering museum is the star of the underrated city of Bilbao Spain .

The space age building is an awe-inspiring blend of titanium, glass, and limestone. The scaly exterior evokes a silvery fish and the wings of the building the wind-filled sails of a ship.

Outside, there’s a veritable sculpture museum. Inside, the Guggenheim’s modern art collection is on par with Europe’s best modern art museums. You’ll find works by Robert Motherwell, Yves Klein, Andy Warhol, Eduardo Chillada, and Anselm Kiefer.

Via Google Arts & Culture, you can explore the Guggenheim Bilbao. The online offering includes cinematographic photos, videos, and guided tours of masterpieces from the collection.

READ : 2 Day Itinerary for Bilbao

34. Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh PA

This wonderful single artist museum celebrates Pittsburgh’s hippest native son, who made himself a world famous Pop artist. As the Prince of Pop, Andy Warhol was a hugely significant artist of the second half of the 20th century. Warhol cannily merged superficial commerce and fine art, popularizing robotic everyday images.

Opened in 1994, the Andy Warhol Museum is a chic urban venue. It’s an immersive and well curated museum. The museum has 7 floors in chronological order. You’ll see seminal works from the 1940s to Warhol’s death in 1987, with explanations of Warhol’s creative process.

The Warhol Museum has some of its art and archives online here . You can read about Warhol’s life here .

If you want to see more Warhol work, you can read my guide to the Warhol Museum and find other Warhol’s pieces on Google Arts & Culture .

35. Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago IL

The Art Institute of Chicago is one of the best, and incredibly diverse, museums in the United States. It has the best collection of Impressionist paintings outside Paris and a spectacular modern art section.

The museum’s standout masterpieces include Grant Wood’s American Gothic , Georges Seurat’s Sunday on La Grand Jatte , Andy Warhol’s Liz #3 , Edward Hopper’s Nighthawks , Joan Mitchell’s City Landscape 1955, and Monet’s Stacks of Wheat.

You can now tour the renowned museum on Google Arts & Culture . If you’re interested in interiors, take a virtual tour of the Thorne Miniature Rooms.

If you want to explore ancient Roman ruins, there are over a 1,000 pieces online , including a noseless bust of Emperor Hadrian.

36. Museo Napoleonico, Rome Italy

Housed in the Palazzo Primoli, this Roman museum is dedicated to the period of Napoleon and his connection to Italy. Located just north of the Piazza Navona, the museum contains the collections of Count Giuseppe Primoli. He was the great grandson of Joseph and Lucien Bonaparte.

Primoli’s aim was to present the imperial family from his own private point of view. The museum is still arranged as he envisioned it.

You’ll find painting, artifacts, sculptures, Napoleon’s outfits, books, memorabilia, etc. If you’re a history buff, this museum is for you.

The Museo Napoleonico has an excellent multimedia virtual tour . You can take a 360 tour of the collection. Or you can go to the photo gallery, click on a specific photo, and get a wealth of information.

37. The Doge’s Palace, Venice Italy

Set in St. Mark’s Square, the Doge’s Palace or Palazzo Ducale is the very symbol of Venice and a must see site in the city .

This pink and white marble Gothic-Renaissance building was the official residence of the doges who ruled Venice for more than 1,000 years. It was held Casanova in a cell, but he dramatically escaped

Aside from the gorgeous rooms and staircases, there’s some fantastic works of art on display: Veronese’s Rape of Europe and The Triumph of Venice, many paintings and ceilings by Tintoretto, and Tiepolo’s Neptune Bestowing Gifts upon Venice .

You can tour the Doge’s Palace virtually on Google Arts & Culture , take a 360 tour of the exterior, or take a 360 tour of the city of Venice itself.

READ : 2 Day Itinerary for Venice

38. The Belvedere Palace, Vienna Austria

The Belvedere Palace is one of Vienna’s most visited tourist spots and an important UNESCO site for its showy architectural ensemble. The Belvedere is also one of Europe’s most important museums.

The Belvedere’s a haven of Baroque and Austrian art from the 19th and 20th centuries. Its main claim to fame is the world’s largest collection of Gustav Klimt paintings, including the world famous The Kiss . It also boasts masterworks by Egon Schiele and Oskar Kokoschka, two important Expressionist painters.

Here’s my complete guide to visiting the Belvedere Palace . You can also tour it virtually on Google Arts & Culture . There’s also an online exhibit dedicated to The Kiss . If you like Klimt’s gold toned art nouveau pieces, I also have a guide on where to find Klimt art work in Vienna .

39. Alte Pinakothek, Munich Germany

Munich’s most touted museum is the Alte Pinakothek . The museum shows off a collection of European masterpieces from the 14th to 19th centuries.

You’ll see a goodly number of paintings from the Italian Renaissance, including works by da Vinci, Raphael, Botticelli, and Titian. You’ll also find Albrecht Durer’s mysterious Self Portrait, and other old master treasures.

You can virtually tour the Alte Pinakothek online at Google Arts & Culture , where they have a massive collection. I also like this Rick Steve’s video about the museum.

READ : 4 Day Itinerary for Munich

40 . Museo de Bellas Artes de Sevilla, Seville Spain

The Museo de Bellas Artes , or Museum of Fine Arts, is a smashing museum, quite lovely. It’s known, after the Prado, as the “second art gallery in Spain.” It’s housed in a salmon colored former convent in Seville Spain .

The museum has art from the middle ages to the 20th century. But it’s most known for its collection of 17th century art from Spain’s Golden Age, featuring Spain’s top painters Zurbarán, Murillo, El Greco, and Velazquez. You’ll see a lot of monks, balding saints, cherubs, and depictions of Christ.

You can take a virtual tour of the Seville Museum of Fine Arts’ masterpieces on Google Arts & Culture . There are excellent online exhibits on Baroque masters and on the museum’s superstar Murillo .

41. Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao Virtual Tour, Bilbao Spain

Often overshadowed by the famous Guggenheim Bilbao, the Museo de Bellas Artes in Bilbao is nonetheless one of Spain’s best museums. If you’re an art lover, you should definitely visit in person one day.

Located in Bilbao’s Abando neighborhood, the museum boasts over 10,000 art works, arranged chronologically from the 12th century to the present. It has works by Spanish artists Picasso , Goya , El Greco, Zurbaran, and Chillada, as well as many international artists.

You can explore the collection of the Bilbao Museum of Fine Arts on Google Arts & Culture .

42. Musee Rodin, Rodin Museum, Paris France

Opened in 1919, the Rodin Museum is a shrine to the complex life and oeuvre of one of France’s most revered artists, Auguste Rodin . Rodin is considered the father of modern sculpture. Rodin’s titular museum is housed in the 18th century Hotel Biron, a romantic mansion where Rodin created some of his greatest works.

The museum’s permanent collection includes many iconic Rodin sculptures and works from Rodin’s brilliant student Camille Claudel . The Rodin Museum also has a vast and verdant sculpture garden. In it, Rodin hand placed some of his favorite and most iconic sculptures.

The Rodin Museum has added some online audio tours. You can take a virtual tour of his famous sculpture The Thinker , read stories about Rodin’s life, and view and learn about 40 of the figures in his masterpiece The Gates of Hell .

You can also explore over 300 Rodin sculptures on Google Arts & Culture . Here’s my complete guide to the Rodin Museum , if you want to know more.

43. Musée National Picasso, Picasso Museum, Paris France

Paris’ Picasso Museum is a fantastic single artist museum. It holds one of Paris’ most treasured art collections, shown off in an elegant private mansion in the Marais.

What I love most about the Picasso Museum is that it houses all the art that Picasso himself couldn’t part with. It’s a personal collection that he created, curated, lived with, and kept nearby his entire life. The museum showcases all the artistic periods of his long life, all the women he romanced, and reveals his extraordinary range and talent.

Here’s an excellent series of audio tours of Picasso Museum masterpieces. The museum itself doesn’t yet have a very good online collection.

But you can check out virtual tours of the museum on YouTube here and here . Smarthistory offers 13 virtual tours of seminal Picasso works. And you get explore Picasso paintings on Google Arts & Culture .

Here’s my complete guide to visiting the Picasso Museum in Paris .

44. The Palace of Versailles, Versailles France

The Palace of Versailles has opened its digital doors. Built by the Sun King Louis XIV, the Palace of Versailles is the most ornate and famous royal chateau in France, located just outside Paris. Once behind closed doors, the 17th century palace is now yours for digital viewing at home.

The palace has partnered with Google Arts & Culture to present virtual exhibits online. Google takes users on a journey of the palace’s rich decor and art collection of over 22,000 pieces.

You can also take a plethora of amazing virtual tours on the Palace of Versailles’ website . Nothing is left out! You can see the Hall of Mirrors, the royal apartments, tour the famous Le Notre gardens, etc.

For the full scoop on everything you can see and read online, here’s my guide to taking a digital tour of the Palace of Versailles .

45. Bernardo Museum | Museu Colecção Berardo, Lisbon Portugal

The Bernardo Museum is Lisbon’s modern art museum. Located in the Belem district, it’s a fabulous museum with over 1,000 works from the 20th and 21st centuries.

The ultra-white, minimalist gallery displays billionaire José Berardo’s eye-popping collection of abstract, surrealist and pop art.

It includes art work by such luminaries as David Hockney, Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol, Jackson Pollock, Francis Bacon, and Willem de Kooning. Picasso’s early Tete de Femme from 1909 and Warhol’s iconic Brillo Box are highlights.

You can take virtually visit the museum on Google Arts & Culture. And here’s a 360 virtual tour where you can admire the art up close.

46. Cluny Museum, the National Museum of the Middle Ages, Paris France

Are you a history buff who wants to be transported back to the late Middle Ages? Or are you, like everyone else it seems, just crazy for mythical unicorns? If so, the Musée Cluny is a must see site in the Latin Quarter of Paris.

It’s truly one of my favorite museums in Paris. The museum’s housed in the Hotel de Cluny, built in the 14th century and adjacent to an extant Roman bath.

The Cluny Museum is dedicated to all things from the Middle Ages. Its centerpiece is the famous Lady and the Unicorn tapestries. They’re considered the Mona Lisa of tapestries and one of the greatest surviving medieval relics.

You can take a virtual YouTube tour of the museum here . And here’s a 360 tour of the beautiful museum. You can also check out my guide to the Cluny .

47. The Petit Palais, Paris France

Like its sister palace the Grand Palais, the Petit Palais was built for Paris’ 1900 World Fair. It became a museum in 1902. Designed in the Beaux-Arts style by famous architect Charles Girault, the Petit Palais is a charming small museum.

It houses French paintings, sculpture, and artifacts from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The Petit Palais collection includes artists as diverse as Rembrandt, Fragonard, Delacroix, Cézanne, Courbot, Corot, Monet, Rodin, Sisley, Pissarro, and many others. There’s also a section dedicated to Roman and Greek art.

Though the museum isn’t on Google Arts & Culture, it has a very good online collection for you to explore. You can also virtually visit its current temporary exhibition, In the Drawing Room , featuring Masterpieces of the Prat Collection. And here’s a YouTube video of the museum’s collection.

For more information, here’s my guide to the Petit Palais .

48. Palazzo Barberini | Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Antica, Rome Italy

Palazzo Barberini is an underrated museum in Rome. But it’s definitely an art lover’s art gallery. Recent restorations give it an unapologetically grand wow factor. The museum holds some of Europe’s classic paintings by the great masters.

The Barberini Palace is 12,000 square meters and has 187 rooms. It has beautiful staircases by Borromini and Bernini.

It’s home to one of Raphael’s most famous paintings, La Fornarina . It’s a painting of the “baker’s daughter,” whom Raphael had fallen in love with while fresco painting in the Villa Farnesina.

Other master works include Caravaggio’s Narcissus and Judith and Holofernes , Holbein’s Henry VIII , and the ceiling fresco by Pietro da Cortona.

You can take a live tour with a museum guide here , a virtual tour with a museum curator on YouTube here , and get a 360 view of the current exhibit on Claude Monet here .

You can also check out my guide to the Palazzo Barberini .

READ : Secret Palace Museums in Rome

49. Louis Vuitton Foundation

Inaugurated in 2014, the Louis Vuitton Foundation houses the collection of Bernard Arnault. It’s a chic little museum tucked into a stunning Frank Gehry designed glass building located in the Bois de Bologne. The Foundation houses modern and contemporary art from the 1960s to the present.

The museum’s permanent collection showcases Pop, Expressionistic, and Contemplative pieces. You’ll find masterpieces by the likes of Egon Schiele, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Jeff Koons, Henri Matisse, and Ellsworth Kelly. The foundation hosts temporary exhibits as well.

You can take a virtual tour here . Or read my guide to the Louis Vuitton Fondation .

50. NASA Headquarters

If you geek out on science, you’ll be pleased to know that NASA offers virtual tours of its research centers. Their extensive virtual tours combine videos, text, and 360 degree views. You may feel like you’re on a school field trip.

Here are some virtual tours from NASA worth exploring:

NASA Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio, USA

NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia

The Space Telescope Operations Control Center at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland

* * * * * * *

This is just a sampling of world class museums to enjoy virtually from home. There are over 2500 virtual tours on Google Arts & Culture. If you’d like to explore more online travel and culture sites, here are my other virtual tour guides:

• Virtual Rome
• Virtual Lisbon
• Virtual London
• Virtual Barcelona
• Virtual Paris
• Virtual Versailles
• Virtual Venice
• Virtual France
• Virtual Andalusia
• Virtual French Chateaux
• Virtual Paris Museums
• Virtual Italian Museums

Virtual Spanish Museums

If you’d like to tour world class museums online, pin it for later.

Leave a Comment Cancel reply

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

Last Updated on March 30, 2023 by Leslie Livingston

This website uses cookies to improve your browsing experience and analyze the use of the website. Learn More

Reserve Your Spot with Confidence! Full Refunds with 24 Hrs Notice. Reschedule at any point, even after tour, if space allows!

The British Museum Tour

The British Museum has one of the most important collections of historical artifacts anywhere in the world.

Famously, it can be visited for free on our Free British Museum Tour, but, with over 8 million objects it can be hard to know where to start and easy to get lost among the labyrinth of galleries and civilizations.

You can also watch this 1-hour virtual version of the British Museum's highlights .

Let our experts guide you through some of the museum's most famous and fascinating collections while we tell the story of the cultures and characters that produced them, and see how they shaped who we are today.

No tour of the British Museum is complete with controversy, fakes, and scandal - we don't shy away from the complexity!

Our 2.5-hour free British Museum tour visits all 6 of the inhabited continents and takes in 7 of the 'Unofficial' Top 10 objects in the British Museum.

You'll walk away from this tour fascinated and intrigued, with a greater understanding of the world's most famous museums, and museums in general.

What’s Included on British Museum Tour:

• The Museum's History and Architecture
• Insider information from a museum professional
• The Tara Statue and treasures of South Asia
• The Rosetta Stone (or two....)
• The Ife Head and Benin Bronzes
• Trinidadian Moko Jumbie figures
• The Assyrian Guards, and the Royal Game of Ur
• Hoa Hakananai'a (Easter Island Moai)
• The Parthenon Sculptures (Elgin Marbles) and its many controversies
• The Younger Memnon (Ozymandias)
• The Sutton Hoo Anglo-Saxon Ship Burial and Helmet
• The Lewis Chessmen
• First Nations Totem Poles from Canada's west coast
• An Egyptian mummy's coffin
• The 'FeeJee Mermaid"

Tour information

Reservations:   Click here to reserve .

WHERE: At the Rear Entrance to the Museum, the King Edward Entrance on Montague Place WC1E 7JW. (Please note this is not the main entrance). Your guide will be waiting outside the entrance by the Lion statue. ( map )

Duration: Approximately 2 hours.

When: View our full tour calendar .

Cost: This tour is free to take, and you get to decide what, if anything, the tour was worth when it's done. A name-your-own-price tour is a tour for any budget.

Save even more money with a London tourist concession card . Be sure to check out our other tours in London .

Choose a Destination... I want them all PLUS general travel tips. Amsterdam Berlin Boston Charleston Chicago Dubai Lisbon London Los Angeles Miami Nashville New York City New Orleans Paris Philadelphia Prague Rome San Francisco Washington DC

About The Author

Jessica O'Neill

North america, united kingdom & ireland, middle east & india, asia & oceania.

• Corrections

18 Free Online Museum Tours To Enjoy Without Leaving Your Couch

Culture up your day without leaving the comfort of your home with these free online museum tours from around the world.

As the history of museums is entering its digital age, more and more art institutions are choosing to expand their online services. Most large museums today offer online access to their collections. Other online resources such as videos, podcasts, games, etc, are also quite common. Since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, virtual tours of museums have become a popular substitute for physically visiting museum exhibitions. As a result, free online museum tours are becoming more and more available to the international audience.

From Paris to Seoul, and from Moscow to Mexico City, this is our list of 18 free online museum tours. For additional online art experiences, don’t forget to check our 9 Amazing Online Art Resources To Enjoy At Home .

Free Online Museum Tours

1. the louvre museum, france.

The Louvre’s Petite Gallerie offers virtual tours in the famous museum of Paris. This is the best way to explore the architecture, the exhibits, and the history of France’s leading museum without leaving the comfort of your home.

You can also watch 800 Years of History , a short documentary on the history of the museum, or a series of YouTube videos offering guided tours. In addition, the Louvre offers a VR experience of the Mona Lisa as well as a closer look at its masterpieces through multiple audiovisual supplements.

Get the latest articles delivered to your inbox

Please check your inbox to activate your subscription, 2. musée d’orsay, france.

See works by famous Impressionist and Expressionist artists like Monet , Renoir , Van Gogh , Degas , Claudel and so many more with a virtual visit at Paris’ Musée d’Orsay.

Worth exploring is also the research program The digital worlds of Orsay, where historian Pierre Singaravélou offers a new text three times a week on famous or unknown works from the museum’s collection.

3. Rijksmuseum, Netherlands

The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam is one of the leading museums in Europe offering a rich variety of online resources . At the center of its home services, lies the Rijkstudio , which allows you to dive into the museum’s vast collection of 707,967 works of art.

Take a free online tour of the museum through Google’s Art and Culture project. Worth exploring is also the Discover Masterpieces virtual tour which takes you through the most prized exhibits of the Dutch museum.

Among the museum’s most famous artworks is without a doubt Rembrandt’s Night Watch.  The Rijksmuseum offers a virtual tour explaining all the details you need to know about the famous painting.

You can also play Key Challenges , an interactive game set in the museum’s main exhibition.

Rijksmuseum from Home is a series of videos where museum employees share their favorite objects from the collection.

If you are still not satisfied with these tours and resources, then have a look at “10 ways to visit Rijksmuseum without leaving home.”

4. Van Gogh Museum, Netherlands

One of Europe’s most popular attractions, the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam is a true monument to the life and work of Vincent Van Gogh . Take a full virtual tour of the museum’s exhibition and immerse yourself in the post-impressionist art of Van Gogh.

If you are a fan of the Dutch painter, you should also check out Van Gogh Worldwide , the most complete resource of Van Gogh paintings and archival material.

5. Vatican Museums, Vatican

The Vatican Museums consist of 54 galleries or sale. These received 6 million visitors in 2019 making the Vatican Museums the third largest museum in the world.

You can explore the galleries at the Vatican Museums website . The institution also offers 360 virtual tours of some of its most iconic monuments like the Sistine Chapel and Raphael’s Rooms with painted decoration by Michelangelo and Raphael respectively.

6. Uffizi Galleries, Italy

Florence’s leading museum that started as the collection of the Medici family in the Renaissance , is home to some of the most famous artworks in the world.

If you visit the museum’s website you will be able to explore its online collections and take a free virtual tour of its new gallery, as well as other exhibitions like the one on Saint Francis. The Uffizi can also be explored via Google Art and Culture .

7. Reina Sofia, Spain

If you like 20th-century Spanish artists like Pablo Picasso and Salvador Dali , then the Reina Sofia in Madrid is the museum for you. However, if Spain is out of your reach, why not check out this virtual tour and the museum’s online resources.

Reina Sofia’s Rethinking Guernica is an online space devoted to material related to Picasso’s masterpiece Guernica. Also, the museum’s Gigapixel is a project offering a selection of hi-resolution artworks by artists like Dali, Miro, Mason, Picasso, Santos, and more.

Other multimedia like podcasts, lectures, and short video documentaries on the Reina Sofia are available here .

8. Acropolis Museum, Greece

The Acropolis Museum is home to the archaeological treasures of the Acropolis of Athens . The museum offers a series of online activities and resources.

You can browse through its collection and discover the history of the Parthenon marbles thanks to the museum’s collaboration with Google Art and Culture .

Also, the museum offers a series of online interactive games that are ideal for young explorers interested in the secrets of classical antiquity.

9. The State Hermitage Museum, Russia

The Hermitage in St Petersburg is one of the richest museums in the world with more than three million items in its collections. The museum’s exhibition includes everything from Egyptian and Greek, to Renaissance and Modern art.

You can visit all of the museum’s rooms with a virtual tour and experience the Hermitage without wearing your wintertime clothes to go to Russia.

10. Pergamon Museum, Germany

Berlin’s world-famous institution offers a comprehensive range of online and virtual material. You can take a virtual tour of the museum or play around with a 3d model of the Pergamon altar , the jewel of the museum and a marvel of Hellenistic art .

Worth seeing is also the colorful Ishtar Gate from Babylon.

11. British Museum, United Kingdom

The British Museum grew out of the cabinet of curiosities of the British collector Hans Sloane and now includes a massive collection of more than eight million items.

There are many ways to experience the museum online. The best are to take a virtual tour  or visit its virtual galleries .

The British Museum also offers other resources like online access to its collections, podcasts, audio tours, videos, and more.

If you are interested in finding more ways to explore the British Museum from the comfort of your home, then you should read this British Museum blog .

12. Tate Britain, United Kingdom

Tate Britain houses one of the largest collections of J.W. Turner’s paintings which you can now explore with this virtual tour.

The museum’s website provides audio tours of the museum and various online tours on various themes.

13. National Museum Of Anthropology, Mexico

The National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City is devoted to the history of Mexico’s prehispanic civilizations.

Explore the past of the American continent and take a virtual walk at the museum’s rooms with this free online virtual tour .

14. The Met, U.S.A.

The Metropolitan Museum is another institution that has partnered with Google Arts and Culture to offer free online museum tours to a worldwide audience.

Also on the museum’s website, you will find multiple online resources like The Met 360° , a series of six short videos inviting viewers to virtually experience the Met’s architecture and art.

Worth exploring is also the Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History offering more than 1,000 essays on art and global culture using the Met’s collection as a point of reference.

15. MoMA, U.S.A

New York’s leading institution on modern and contemporary art is also offering free online museum tours and resources.

There is a comprehensive virtual tour of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) available on Google Arts and Culture.

Furthermore, the museum has a series of online resources and projects available on its website that allow you to explore its collections and exhibitions. An absolute highlight is the 3D model of Van Gogh’s Starry Night .

16. J. Paul Getty Museum, U.S.A.

Los Angeles is only a second away. Just click here and you will immediately teleport to the virtual tour of the J. Paul Getty Museum.

Take a look at the museum’s website for other online resources and access to its collection.

17. National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, South Korea

Dive into the history of Korean modern art with this virtual tour of the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art and travel to Seoul without buying a plane ticket.

Don’t forget to check the Online Museum section at the museum’s website which offers interviews with artists and curators, exhibition guides, and more.

18. Museu National, Brazil: A Virtual Tour Against Destruction

Brazil’s National Museum made headlines in 2018 when a good part of its building was destroyed in a fire.

However, thanks to a Google Arts and Culture virtual tour , you can still travel in space and time to take a virtual peek at the museum and its collections before the destruction of 2018.

History of Museums: A Look at The Learning Institutions Through Time

By Antonis Chaliakopoulos MSc Museum Studies, BA History & Archaeology Antonis is an archaeologist with a passion for museums and heritage and a keen interest in aesthetics and the reception of classical art. He holds an MSc in Museum Studies from the University of Glasgow and a BA in History and Archaeology from the University of Athens (NKUA) where he is currently working on his PhD.

Frequently Read Together

Free Art Online: 9 Amazing Resources To Enjoy At Home

Impressionist Art for Dummies: A Beginners Guide

Expressionism: 10 Iconic Paintings & Their Artists

The British Museum is the largest museum in the UK. It is located in London and has a collection of over 7,500,000 objects from all over the world. The museum was founded in 1753 and is one of the largest and oldest museums in the world. The museum houses many world-famous exhibits such as the Rosetta Stone, the Lewis chess pieces, the Sutton Hoo treasure, the Benin bronzes, the Parthenon sculptures and the Egyptian mummies. You could spend your entire stay in the English capital visiting the galleries, but to make sure you get the highlights, the must-sees, we recommend you get professional guidance from the team of Free Tours we offer here at GuruWalk. The first thing you'll notice about the British Museum is the building itself. The British Museum was Norman Foster's first major public commission and the only one he completed in the city. The building is a dome of glass and steel, reflecting and amplifying daylight. The central space of the museum is an atrium that rises to a height of 60 metres (197 feet), employing a new technique in which pre-stressed concrete was poured in long continuous sections. What about the museum's contents? We could start with the King's Library. The King's Library is a collection of over 26,000 books and pamphlets. In 1757, King George II donated his library to the library. It includes many famous texts of English literature, including a copy of the first edition of Sir Isaac Newton's Principia Mathematica and Shakespeare's First Folio. And from here, does the Rosetta Stone ring a bell? The Rosetta Stone is a beautiful artefact that provides an insight into the life of the ancient Egyptians. It has been on display in the British Museum in London since 1802. This artefact is one of the most important discoveries in history and was made when Napoleon Bonaparte invaded Egypt and ordered his troops to Alexandria after defeating the Mamluk forces in Cairo. The British Museum also has many other pieces of Egyptian history. The Ancient Egyptian rooms of the British Museum are a must-see for anyone interested in Egyptian history. The museum offers interactive exhibits, many artefacts and some informative videos. Visitors to these rooms can explore the different periods of Ancient Egyptian history on display. They can also gain some knowledge about the people who lived in ancient Egypt and what their lives were like. The same goes for the rooms specific to Ancient Greece or the Mesopotamian cultures of the Middle East.

Want to share your culture with travelers from all the world?

Free walking tour near london, others cities to visit after london, find other guruwalks in london, where are you traveling to.

Please enable JavaScript in your web browser to get the best experience.

Enjoy the latest news and stories from the British Museum.

• Curator's corner
• Exhibitions and events
• Museum stories
• Objects in focus

Solstice, sunshine and the sacred

Beyond sand and spices: introduction to 'Silk Roads'

A 3D puzzle: conserving the Aswan cartonnage

The biggest challenge: conserving Michelangelo's 'Epifania'

Bodies are Sacred: a collaborative artwork inspired by Michelangelo

Women to the front

Introduction to 'Michelangelo: the last decades'

What a relief! Revealing Roman craftsmanship

Pythons, porcelain and power: an artist's fascination with snakes

The dye detective: unravelling Myanmar's history

How to make an Iron Age shield (out of bark)

Food, family and heritage: the Rangoon Sisters

You've got it! Cracking puzzles for all

The BEST British Museum Tours in London!

Step into the captivating realm of antiquity with our expert-led guided tours of the British Museum, where each artifact tells a story spanning centuries of human civilization. Embark on a journey through time as you explore iconic treasures like the Rosetta Stone, unlocking the mysteries of ancient languages, and stand in awe before the enigmatic beauty of Egyptian mummies, echoing tales of a bygone era. Delve deeper into the rich tapestry of history as our knowledgeable guides illuminate the significance of each exhibit, providing fascinating insights into the cultures and societies that shaped our world. From the majestic sculptures of ancient Greece to the intricate artifacts of Mesopotamia, every corner of the museum holds a wealth of knowledge waiting to be uncovered. As you wander through the hallowed halls of the British Museum, you'll encounter relics from civilizations past, each offering a glimpse into the lives of those who came before us. Trace the footsteps of pharaohs along the Nile, marvel at the craftsmanship of Roman artisans, and ponder the mysteries of lost civilizations as you traverse the vast expanse of human history. Our guided tours offer more than just a cursory glance at the exhibits—they provide a deeper understanding of the cultural significance and historical context behind each artifact. Whether you're a seasoned history buff or a curious traveler eager to learn, our expert guides will enrich your museum experience with captivating stories and scholarly insights.

Step into a treasure trove of human history and culture at the British Museum, where every artifact tells a fascinating story waiting to be discovered.

1 Tour Found

Price - Lowest First

Price - Highest First

Most reviewed

Most Popular

British Museum Guided Tour in London

Admire this world-famous historic collection with the help of an expert guide

OUR BEST SELLING TOURS AT A GLANCE

Most Popular Tours

Ultimate palace of versailles tour from paris.

Breeze past the lines for the palace and gardens with a friendly English speaking guide

Privileged Entrance Vatican Tour with Sistine Chapel

Skip the line and gain direct access to the Raphael Rooms, Creation of Man, and St. Peter's Basilica

St. Mark’s Basilica & Doge’s Palace Half-Day Tour with Gondola Ride

Explore St. Mark's Square's most iconic attractions with skip-the-line tickets and an expert guide

Semi-Private Vatican Tour with Sistine Chapel

Enjoy a premium and exclusive tour of the Raphael Rooms, St.Peter's Basilica, and more!

Privileged Entrance Colosseum Tour with Roman Forum & Palatine Hill

Skip the line at the Colosseum, plus Arch of Titus, Temple of Julius Caesar, and more!

Ultimate Venice in a Day with Murano and Burano

Do more in a day: St. Mark's, Doge's Palace, glassblowing and lacemaking demos, and a gondola ride

Venice in a Day Tour with Gondola Ride

Visit St. Mark's Basilica, Doge's Palace, Rialto Bridge, and the hidden areas of Venice

Subscribe for New tours

All our destinations.

• Social media
• Artificial Intelligence
• Cybersecurity
• Small business
• Software and Apps
• Kim's column
• All shopping
• Kim's Picks
• Find a station

• Kim’s column
• Kim’s Picks
• Get Komando Community – 30 days free!

50+ museums you can visit online for free

By Kim Komando

It’s been a while since the pandemic first hit, but there are still lasting effects around the globe. You may not be free to travel wherever you like this summer, but you can still gain access to beautiful, educational, curious and historical sites from around the world.

Ever wanted to visit London, Tokyo or Paris? While pictures and videos online can’t convey the experience of being there, we found the next best thing. Tap or click here to take a virtual drive around your favorite city .

Many museums have gone virtual, so you can enjoy the experience from the comfort of home. The beauty of these virtual tours is they give you a chance to access galleries you might never be able to view otherwise. If there’s a collection you’ve been waiting to see, or if you love learning and seeing new things, check out these 50+ virtual museums you can “visit” absolutely free.

1. The Louvre – Paris, France

There’s plenty more to the Louvre than Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa. The Louvre is among the most important landmarks in Paris and the most visited museum in the world. Tap or click here for the virtual tour .

2. The Metropolitan Museum of Art – New York, USA

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, often called the MET, offers 200,000 works of art on its Google Arts & Culture page alone. Tap or click here for the virtual tour .

3. The British Museum – London, UK

Check out this iconic museum, which features a permanent collection of 8 million works. Tap or click here for the virtual tour via Google Maps.

4. The National Gallery of Art – Washington, USA

Enjoy beautiful works of art or stroll through the attached Sculpture Garden at this national art museum in Washington, DC. This virtual tool consists of a series of photos on the museum’s website. Tap or click here for the virtual tour .

5. Vatican Museum – Rome, Italy

If you’ve always wanted to see the famous Sistine Chapel, now’s your chance. Tap or click here for the virtual tour .

6. Museum of Modern Art – New York, USA

The Museum of Modern Art, also known as MoMa, is one of the largest and most influential modern art museums in the world. Explore more than 90,000 pieces from the museum’s online gallery. Tap or click here for the virtual tour .

7. Uffizi Gallery – Florence, Italy

The Uffizi Gallery features a gorgeous collection of Italian renaissance art. Tap or click here for the virtual tour .

8. Rijksmuseum – Amsterdam, Netherlands

Amsterdam is among the top 10 cities in the world that boast the most museums in a single city. Enjoy more than 150,000 works from this impressive museum. Tap or click here for the virtual tour .

9. J. Paul Getty Museum – Los Angeles, USA

The J. Paul Getty Museum, also called The Getty Center or simply The Getty, is known for its architecture, gardens and beautiful views overlooking Los Angeles. Tap or click here for the virtual tour .

10. Musée d’Orsay – Paris, France

This museum boasts French art from 1848 to 1914, including paintings, sculptures, furniture and photography. Tap or click here for the virtual tour .

11. Prado Museum – Madrid, Spain

The Prado Museum is known for housing the world’s most comprehensive collection of Spanish paintings. Tap or click here for the virtual tour .

12. The Dalí – Florida, USA

Check out the museum that houses Salvador Dalí’s surrealist paintings, including The Persistence of Memory. Tap or click here for the virtual tour.

13. Dalí Theatre-Museum – Girona, Spain

Wondering how deeply the Dalí Theatre-Museum is dedicated to its legendary namesake? Dalí’s crypt is located beneath the theater. Tap or click here for the virtual tour .

14. NASA – Ohio, USA

A virtual museum at NASA should come as no surprise. NASA has been posting photos and information online for a long time. Explore innovative technology and learn a little more about space exploration. Tap or click here for the virtual tour .

15. NASA – Virginia, USA

There is more than one NASA museum, and this one is based in Virginia. This is NASA’s oldest field center and it borders Langley Air Force Base. Tap or click here for the virtual tour .

16. Pinacoteca di Brera – Milan, Italy

This museum is home to a public painting gallery. It is known for hosting Italian paintings dating from the thirteenth to the twentieth century. Tap or click here for the virtual tour .

17. State Hermitage Museum – St. Petersburg, Russia

This museum features art and culture. It was founded in 1763 and is the largest art museum by gallery space in the world. Tap or click here for the virtual tour .

18. National Women’s History Museum – Virginia, USA

Learn about trailblazing women throughout history at this museum. Women have contributed to everything from the arts to math and science and have not received the credit they’re due. Pay your respects and educate yourself at this fantastic museum. Tap or click here for the virtual tour .

19. Egyptian Museum – Turin, Italy

This museum specializes in ancient Egyptian archaeology, anthropology, history and culture. Tap or click here for the virtual tour .

20. Guggenheim Museum – Bilbao, Spain

The Guggenheim Museum is considered “a monument to modernism.” The breathtaking architecture draws crowds from around the world, and now you can see it on your computer screen. Tap or click here for the virtual tour .

21. The Guggenheim Museum – New York, USA

There are 5 Guggenheim museums located around the world, but when people mention “The Guggenheim,” they are usually referring to the one in New York. This location boasts modern and contemporary sculptures and paintings. Tap or click here for the virtual tour .

22. Natural History Museum – London, UK

This museum dates back to 1881 and is commonly referred to as “the Natural History Museum.” Learn about natural history and explore the gorgeous architecture in this 360 tour. Tap or click here for the virtual tour .

23. Van Gogh Museum – Amsterdam, Netherlands

Play a Vincent van Gogh board game or print color pages of the Dutch master’s works through this virtual museum experience. Tap or click here for the virtual tour .

24. Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History – Washington, USA

The Smithsonian is among the most popular destinations on the planet and is the world’s largest museum, education and research complex. It’s dedicated to preserving heritage, discovering new information and sharing resources. Tap or click here for the virtual tour .

25. National Museum of the US Air Force – Ohio, USA

Want to learn more about the United States Air Force? Visit the National Museum of the US Air Force in Dayton, Ohio. Tap or click here for the virtual tour.

26. The Spy Museum – Washington DC, USA

This museum documents the role that espionage has played throughout history. It includes a public display of artifacts that were used by historical and contemporary spies. Tap or click here for the virtual tour .

27. Tate Modern – London, UK

The Tate Modern houses the UK’s national collection of international modern and contemporary art. Enjoy pieces from modernism in the early 1900s to the works created today. Tap or click here for the virtual tour .

Looking for pro photography shots or inspiration, tips and advice to drive your own photography goals? Check out  Dreamstime  for all the pro images and inspiration you need .

28. The National Gallery – London, UK

The National Gallery is an art museum that keeps more than 2,300 paintings from the mid-13th century to the year 1900. Tap or click here for the virtual tour .

29. Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum – Madrid, Spain

This museum is known as part of the “Golden Triangle of Art,” which includes the Prado and Reina Sofía national galleries. Tap or click here for the virtual tour .

30. Vienna State Opera – Vienna, Austria

The Vienna State Opera is an opera house that seats more than 1,700 guests. It is one of the world’s leading opera houses and is known for the performances of works by famous playwrights such as Richard Wagner and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Tap or click here for the virtual tour .

31. Capitoline Museums – Rome, Italy

Also known as the “Musei Capitolini,” the Capitoline Museums of Rome are several connected museums designed by Michelangelo. Tap or click here for the virtual tour .

32. Peleș Castle – Sinaia, Romania

This Neo-Renaissance castle is designed with intricate carvings and features rooms inspired by Turkish, German, Italian and Spanish designs. Tap or click here for the virtual tour .

33. Raffaello Exhibition – Roma, Italy

This exhibition was in March 2020 created to honor the 500 anniversary of Raphael’s (Raffaello’s) death. Though the pandemic interrupted the exhibition, it’s still available for viewing online. Tap or click here for the virtual tour .

34. The Art Institute of Chicago – Illinois, USA

The Art Institute of Chicago is one of the oldest and largest museums in the world and is known to see 1.5 million visitors each year. Tap or click here for the virtual tour .

35. Museo Napoleonico – Rome, Italy

See Count Giuseppe Primoli’s collections at the Museo Napoleonico. Count Primoli is the great-grandson of Lucien Bonaparte (Napoleon’s younger brother). Tap or click here for the virtual tour .

36. Berardo Museum – Libson, Portugal

The Berardo Collection Museum, also called the Museu Colecção Berardo, is Portugal’s main modern and contemporary art museum. It was created in 2007 to display nearly a thousand pieces of Berardo’s collection and offers free entry. Tap or click here for the virtual tour.

37. Cluny Museum – Paris, France

This museum contains famous sculptures, stained glass, ivories, paintings, enamel, tombstones, tapestries and other forms of art from the 1st to the 15th centuries. Tap or click here for the virtual tour .

38. The Palace of Parliament – Bucharest, Romania

The Palace of Parliament is the heaviest building in the world, weighing more than 9 billion pounds. Tap or click here for the virtual tour .

39. Calouste Gulbenkian Museum – Lisbon, Portugal

Calouste Gulbenkian was an Armenian oil magnate who was known for collecting “only the best.” He collected one of the world’s most important and impressive private art collections that includes masterpieces from different periods and areas. Tap or click here for the virtual tour .

40. The Acropolis of Athens – Athens, Greece

The Acropolis of Athens has served as a home to kings, a citadel, a mythical home of the gods and a religious center. Tap or click here for the virtual tour .

41. The Benaki Museum – Athens, Greece

The Benaki Museum is the only museum in the country that keeps exhibits from all eras of its culture and history. It has a focus on foreign influences and provides a wealth of historical education. Tap or click here for the virtual tour .

42. Frick Collection – New York, USA

The Frick Collection is composed of paintings and other art pieces from Europe, and is internationally recognized as a premier museum and research center. Tap or click here for the virtual tour .

43. The Frida Kahlo Museum – Mexico City, Mexico

The Frida Kahlo Museum, also called The Blue House, was once the legendary artist’s home. It exhibits the personal belongings, paintings and other art pieces that inspired Frida. The museum also houses a garden, pictures, sculptures, documents, books and furniture. Tap or click here for the virtual tour .

44. Museum of Broken Relationships – Zagreb, Croatia

If the name of this museum isn’t intriguing enough, take a look at the pieces in the virtual tour. The collection is dedicated to failed romantic relationships and exhibits personal items left behind by former lovers. Tap or click here for the virtual tour .

45. National Museum of China – Beijing, China

The National Museum of China hosts a collection of the Qing-era imperial treasures, which spans from 1644 to 1912. It focuses on China’s imperial history, World War II, the Communist victory and China’s modern history. Tap or click here for the virtual tour .

46. National Palace Museum – Taipei, Taiwan

This museum boasts one of the world’s largest collections of ancient Chinese artifacts that were brought from the mainland in the late 1940s. This includes paintings, porcelain and calligraphy. Tap or click here for the virtual tour .

47. Luxembourg City History Museum – Luxembourg, Paris

The Luxembourg City History Museum, or the Lëtzebuerg City Museum, illustrates the thousand-year history of the city of Luxembourg. Tap or click here for the virtual tour .

48. National Museum of Natural History Grigore Antipa – Bucharest, Romania

Visit this museum to learn more about the world around you. It attracts scientists, children and adults from around the world. Tap or click here for the virtual tour .

49. The National Museums of Ireland – Ireland

There are four national museums in Ireland, each of which offers free admission. The museums offer different experiences, so be sure to check them all out. Tap or click here for the virtual tour .

50. Titanic Experience Cobh – Cork, Ireland

This is more of an attraction than a museum, but it focuses on the ill-fated journey of the Titanic. The exhibit includes the original White Star Line offices and is the point of departure for the last passengers who boarded the Titanic. Tap or click here for the virtual tour.

51. Pacific Museum of Earth – Vancouver, Canada

The Pacific Museum of Earth tour includes fossils, a main gallery, minerals, a globe and gem gallery and more. Tap or click here for the virtual tour .

52. A collection of museums and landmarks – Dubai, United Arab Emirates

There are several museums in this collection, which include the Museum of Illusions, The Dubai Heritage Village, Dubai Museum and Al Fahidi Fort. Tap or click here for the virtual tour .

Keep reading

You can see shipwreck sites on Google Maps — including the Titanic

See a famous work of art in incredible detail with a 10-gigapixel scan

British Museum: Whether it's free to visit, why it's famous and the most famous object inside

The British Museum has 8 million objects in its collection

• 15:39, 21 APR 2022

Want the best food, film, music, arts and culture news in London sent straight to your inbox? Sign up to our weekly email.

We have more newsletters

Many of us will have happy memories of school trips to the British Museum. Gazing at the mummies with morbid fascination; eating packed lunch, crammed on benches, under that iconic glass roof. (The roof, by the way, is made up of 3,312 panes of glass, and apparently takes two weeks to clean).

Housing eight million objects, however, the British Museum is still worth a visit - with or without children. Based in Bloomsbury , its vast collection showcases "two million years of human history and culture", set across 60 galleries and three floors.

There's a lot to tackle in the building. The question is: where to begin? Here's our guide to the UK's most popular attraction.

READ MORE: Where do you get the best view from in The Shard? Everything you need to know about visiting the London landmark

Where is the British Museum?

The British Museum is located at Great Russell Street, WC1B 3DG. The nearest Tube stations are Tottenham Court Road (five minutes walking), Holborn (seven minutes), Russell Square (seven minutes) or Goodge Street (eight minutes).

For those arriving by bike, there are racks outside the main entrance on Great Russell Street. There are also Santander bikes available on the corner of Great Russell Street and Montague Street.

There's a taxi rank outside the Main Entrance, but there are no parking facilities.

Is the British Museum free?

The short answer is yes. You do need to book a ticket online , however, but you won't be charged for this.

The museum is open daily from 10am to 5pm, with the last entry at 4pm. On Fridays, it stays open until 8.30pm, with last entry at 7.30pm.

Why is the British Museum famous?

How long is a piece of string? The British Museum opened in 1759, making it the world's oldest national public museum - and 17 years older than the United States.

It started with Sir Hans Sloane, a physician and the president of the Royal Society, who amassed more than 150,000 "rarities", books, manuscripts, coins and medals. In 1753, this was purchased for the public under an Act of Parliament, creating the world's first public museum.

Now, 269 years later, the museum has around eight million objects in its care, charting two million years of human history. Much of these were acquired under colonialism, with objects taken or purchased from places which were under colonial rule. To learn more about the museum's colonial legacy, there are specific trails that can be followed inside.

The museum continues to expand its collection, and attracts more than six million local and international visitors annually. It is, as the website puts it: "driven by an insatiable curiosity for the world, a deep belief in objects as reliable witnesses and documents of human history, sound research, as well as the desire to expand and share knowledge."

Despite its eight million objects, only 1 per cent of the collection (80,000 items) are on display at any one time. Half of the collection is stored in Bloomsbury, whilst other objects are lent and displayed at other international venues.

What are the most famous objects to see at the museum?

The Rosetta Stone is the British Museum's pièce de résistance. It's a stone tablet – originally part of a larger stone slab – inscribed with a message. Crucially, this message is written in three different types of writing: hieroglyphs, Demotic (the native Egyptian script) and Ancient Greek. This meant that experts could use the stone to decipher hieroglyphics, unlocking previously unknown information about ancient Egypt. It's on display in Room 4 at the museum, but can also be visited on Google Street View and explored in 3D , for those who want to lay eyes on the stone immediately.

Of course, there are other big hitters too. The Parthenon Sculptures, previously known as the Elgin Marbles, were carved 2,500 years ago, and can be found in Room 18. They were part of the Parthenon, a temple on the Athenian Acropolis built between 447 and 438 BC as a dedication to the goddess Athena Parthenos. Significant controversy surrounds the sculptures, with continued discussion about whether they should be returned to Greece.

Rightfully, the Easter Island statue Hoa Hakananai'a in Room 24 also attracts visitors in their number, as do the Lewis Chessmen, the ivory chess pieces discovered off the Scottish island of Lewis in 1831.

The museum also houses artefacts from the Sutton Hoo, dating back to 7th century Britain, including a famous helmet believed to have belonged to an Anglo-Saxon king. In Room 93, you'll find the elaborate Samurai armour, which includes a 16th century bulletproof breastplate and helmet.

Lastly, no trip to the British Museum is complete without a visit to the Mummy of Katebet in Room 63. This is the mummified body of a Chantress of Amun, who would have sung and performed music during rituals. The mummy is more than 3,300 years old - something which is testament to the effectiveness of the Egyptians' preservation methods.

Of course, there's more to see than just the main attractions - more than you can possibly tackle in a day. But next time you visit, you'll know where to start.

Do you have a story you think we should be covering? If so, please email [email protected].

Want more from MyLondon? Sign up for our daily newsletters for all the latest and greatest from across London here.

• London History
• Things To Do
• Most Recent

National Museum of Natural History Virtual Tours

Access the tours.

The Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History virtual tours allow visitors to take self-guided, room-by-room tours of select exhibits and areas within the museum from their desktop or mobile device. Visitors can also access select collections and research areas at our satellite support and research stations as well as past exhibits no longer on display.

Virtual Tour Tips

• To navigate between adjoining rooms in the tours, click on the blue arrow links on the floor or use the navigation map in the upper right of the presentation screen.
• Look for the camera icon which gives you a close-up view of a particular object or exhibit panel.
• Try zooming in as some of the images are stitched together from individual pictures in order to create very high resolution gigapixel images.

Please note: This tour and these presentations have been tested and should work on all common devices, browsers, and operating systems (using a desktop computer with Windows, Mac, Linux or a mobile device such as an iPhone, iPad, or Android). Functionality and appearance may vary as it will adjust automatically to accommodate the most visitors. While the virtual tour has no advertising, ad blocking software or browser settings that block JavaScript and/or XML may interfere with the functionality of the virtual tour. Please let us know what you think of the tour and how the experience can be improved. Send your feedback to the NMNH Web Team .

Site Credit: Imagery and coding by Loren Ybarrondo

Equipment Used: Professional Nikon digital single-lens reflex (DSLR) camera bodies and lenses. The photography is typically done using rectilinear lenses with minimized distortion and shooting equirectangular panoramas at 22K pixels on the long side.

Software Used: No authoring software is used. The tours are hand-coded in HTML5 and JavaScript using the krpano graphics library.

• Smithsonian Institution
• Terms of Use
• Privacy Policy
• Host an Event

Moscow Free Tour

• Page active

Description

Highlights:.

• Hit the Red Square;
• Explore the nooks and crannies of Alexander Garden;
• Get a taste of the ancient Kitay Gorod;
• Learn about the tragic destiny of the Christ the Savior Cathedral;
• Roam through the heart of Moscow.

Walking Tour Itinerary:

Here are our TOP 7 things to help you start your Russian adventure or tick off before you say goodbye to Moscow.

Wander around the vast cobblestone square with rich past, gorgeous architecture, incredible GUM , bright colors of the Kremlin and swirling Saint Basil’s Cathedral .

Kitay Gorod

Walk across the Red Square to see the embankment of old Moscow river and plunge into the atmosphere of ancient Russian village where nobles preferred to settle in XV century.

Varvarka street

Walk up Varvarka street to find the landmark of Kitay Gorod - Palace of the Romanov Boyars, which was built in the XVI century and where lived the first Tsar from the Romanov dynasty.

Old English Court

Look at the Old English Court , which used to be the English Embassy in Moscow and where Ivan the Terrible confined the envoy from England, because Queen Elizabeth I refused to marry him.

Alexander Garden

Watch the solemn ceremony of the Changing of the guards , pay respect to the eternal flame at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier , and the stone Grotto , The huge fountain in the centre adds a sophisticated feel to the almost 200 year old garden.

Christ the Savior Cathedral

Walk to the cathedral which is of a great cultural value to Russians. Its marvelous exterior, enormous golden domes, colossal bronze doors and pristine white walls will touch your feelings.

Patriarch’s Bridge

Pause on the bridge and marvel at the Kremlin, river cruises, monument after Peter the Great and Red October Chocolate Factory , which is now a nightlife hub for youngsters.

About Moscow:

We picked up a list of article that might be useful and helpful to you during your stay in Moscow. These are things to do in Moscow, tips about Moscow, best cafes in Moscow and simply fun facts about Moscow. Enjoy reading!

Before coming to Moscow:

• Our fun guides sharing their observations about their tours and best practices:
• https://friendlylocalguides.com/blog/moscow-private-guides-on-tours-in-moscow
• What you should know about Moscow:  
• https://friendlylocalguides.com/blog/5-things-to-know-before-you-go-to-moscow

Off the beaten path of Moscow:

• Kitay Gorod:
• https://friendlylocalguides.com/blog/moscow-must-see-fun-facts-about-kitay-gorod
• Zamoskvorechye:
• https://friendlylocalguides.com/blog/moscow-must-see-fun-facts-about-zamoskvorechye
• White City:
• https://friendlylocalguides.com/blog/moscow-off-the-beaten-path-white-city  

The best parks in Moscow:

• Muzeon Statues Park:
• https://friendlylocalguides.com/blog/moscow-off-the-beaten-path-muzeon-park
• Gorky Park: 
• https://friendlylocalguides.com/blog/moscow-gorky-park
• Tsaritsino Park: 
• https://friendlylocalguides.com/blog/moscow-must-see-37-reasons-to-visit-tsaritsyno
• Kolomenskoe Park:
•   https://friendlylocalguides.com/blog/things-to-do-in-moscow-kolomenskoe-museum-reserve

The most historical and beautiful streets of Moscow:

• Arbat  srreet: 
• https://friendlylocalguides.com/blog/things-to-do-in-moscow-arbat-street
• Tverskaya street: 
• https://friendlylocalguides.com/blog/moscow-things-to-do-tverskaya-street
• Downtown of Moscow: 
• https://friendlylocalguides.com/blog/things-to-do-moscow-streets

What to do in Moscow:

• How to have a Real Russian Experience:
• https://friendlylocalguides.com/blog/real-russian-experience
• Things to do in Moscow:
• https://friendlylocalguides.com/blog/21-things-to-do-in-moscow
• Architectural masterpieces, hidden gems of Moscow:
• https://friendlylocalguides.com/blog/things-to-do-in-moscow-off-the-beaten-path
• Top Moscow attractions:
• https://friendlylocalguides.com/blog/top-10-moscow-attractions

Budget travel:

• How to have fun in Moscow for less than $4:
• How to save money in Moscow:
• https://friendlylocalguides.com/blog/7-ways-to-save-money-while-travelling-to-moscow

Cafes & restaurants in Moscow:

• Moscow cafes with Russian breakfast:
• https://friendlylocalguides.com/blog/moscow-cafes-with-russian-breakfast
• Best Moscow restaurants:
• https://friendlylocalguides.com/blog/best-moscow-restaurants
• Best coffee shops in Moscow:
• https://friendlylocalguides.com/blog/moscow-best-coffee-shops

Moscow Metro:

• Facts about Moscow Metro:
• https://friendlylocalguides.com/blog/fun-facts-about-moscow-metro
• Myths about Moscow Metro:
• https://friendlylocalguides.com/blog/7-myths-about-moscow-metro
• Facts about Moscow:
• https://friendlylocalguides.com/blog/fun-facts-50-facts-about-moscow
• Fun Facts about Kremlin:
• https://friendlylocalguides.com/blog/33-fun-facts-from-our-kremlin-tours
• The best flea markets in Moscow:
• https://friendlylocalguides.com/blog/moscow-best-flea-markets
• Top 5 Russian souvenirs:
• https://friendlylocalguides.com/blog/top-5-russian-souvenirs

What you get:

• + A friend in Moscow.
• + Private & customized Moscow tour.
• + An exciting pastime, not just boring history lessons.
• + An authentic experience of local life.
• + Flexibility during the walking tour: changes can be made at any time to suit individual preferences.
• + Amazing deals for breakfast, lunch, and dinner in the very best cafes & restaurants. Discounts on weekdays (Mon-Fri).
• + A photo session amongst spectacular Moscow scenery that can be treasured for a lifetime.
• + Good value for souvenirs, taxis, and hotels.
• + Expert advice on what to do, where to go, and how to make the most of your time in Moscow.

Write your review