How to Travel The World From Your Couch - The Pink Suitcase Traveler

Whether you’re looking for a quick escape to help pass the time or just looking for inspiration for a future trip, I’ve put together a list of some of the best virtual tours and resources out there. Visit museums, zoos and aquariums, national parks and even ride roller coasters all from the comfort of your couch.

I’m sharing a wide variety of things to do and places to see across multiple categories with options for all ages – there’s something for everyone on this list.

All tours are linked below (the pink titles are links) so, read on and find a tour to explore.

The Best Virtual Tours For All Ages

Zoo’s & Aquariums

The National Aquarium

Based in Baltimore, this aquarium offers a floor-by-floor tour.

Monterey Bay Aquarium

This aquarium features several live cams including a Coral Reef cam, Jelly cam, Sea Otter cam and Shark cam. Yes, I said shark cam so if you’re into sharks, now it can be shark week all the time!

Georgia Aquarium

Watch the Beluga whales on the live cam featured at this aquarium.

Houston Zoo

The Houston Zoo offers live web cams so check in on the animals – from giraffes, elephants, chimps and even leaf cutter ants.

San Diego Zoo

Check out the baboon cam, the condor cam, the koala cam, the panda cam, the tiger cam and more to see a variety of animals as they go about their day.

The Cincinnati Zoo

This zoo holds a daily Home Safari on its Facebook page so be sure to check in around 3 p.m. EDT. where they highlight one of their amazing animals and include an activity you can do from home.

National Parks

Yosemite National Park

Located in central California, this park is known for its granite cliffs, waterfalls, and giant sequoia groves.

Yellowstone National Park

Famously known as the home to Old Faithful geyser, this national park is located in western states, Wyoming, Montana and Idaho and was the first national park to be established in the U.S. Be sure to check out the live Old Faithful webcam, too.

Canyonlands National Park

Located in southern Utah and known for its orange-red arches, this park is full of unique scenery. A second virtual tour can be found here.

Museums

Boston Children’s Museum

This virtual tour lets you explore all three floors of the museum and walk through various rooms and exhibits. Be sure to check out the Explore-a-Saurus on the third floor.

The Louvre

Located in Paris, France The Louvre is easily recognizable thanks to its famous pyramid shape. The Louvre offers online tours for three of their most famous exhibits including the Egyptian Antiquities. If you ever get the chance to go in person, I highly recommend it. It’s amazing and beautiful and houses the Mona Lisa.

Guggenheim

Located in New York City, this museum gives you an up-close look at masterpieces from Pablo Picasso, Jeff Koons and Franz Marc. These are just a few of the 625 artists featured in the online collection with over 1,700 artworks.

Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History

The Smithsonian is one of the most-visited museums in the world. Located in Washington, D.C., this Natural History Museum, offers a comprehensive room-by-room, walking tour of well-known exhibits like the Hall of Mammals, Insect Zoon and Dinosaurs.

Getty Museum

Los Angeles’ premiere gallery features two virtual tours including a closer look at the food from the Middle Ages and Renaissance Period with the “Eat, Drink, and Be Merry” exhibit.

British Museum

The British Museum in London, England has more than 8 million objects in its collection. It’s also home to the Rosetta Stone and Egyptian mummies which is just a few of the exhibits featured on the virtual tour.

Metropolitan Museum of Art

Known as “The Met” for short, this museum is located in New York City. It’s the largest art museum in the United States and the third most visited museum in the world. The online collection features virtual tours and works from the likes of Vincent van Gogh, Jackson Pollock and Giotto di Bondone.

Museum of Fine Arts Boston

The online collection features 16 virtual exhibits, some of which are focused on fashion like the 20^th century designer fashion, 20^th and 21^st century fashion accessories and a fashion photography exhibit.

Ellis Island

This one is a “virtual field” trip video all about Ellis Island which is home to the Statue of Liberty.

The Great Wall of China

The Great Wall of China has a lot of history and stretches more than 3,000 miles across the country. Now you can take a tour and see parts of the wall with just a few clicks.

Farm Tours

Farm Fresh 360 allows you to take a peek into the daily life of farmers from raising pigs, to milking cows to tending sheep and beyond. This Canadian-based farm offers many virtual tours.

Star Atlas

This online Planetarium allows you to virtually explore over 60,000 stars, find planets and view solar eclipses. You can even enter your address to see your own little piece of the world in a virtual sense.

Egyptian Pyramids

If you’ve ever wanted to visit the pyramids now is your chance – at least to see them virtually. This tour allows you to see the pyramids from multiple vantage points, giving you an up-close and birds-eye view of what they look like.

NASA – Nasa Langley Research Center Virtual Tour

If you’re into planes and things that fly, check out the Flight Research Hanger tour. Check out the videos about the National Transonic Facility (NTF). The NTF is where the world’s largest pressurized cryogenic wind tunnel is housed.

NASA – Ohio’s Glenn Research Center

Includes tours of the Glenn Hanger, 8×6 Supersonic Wind Tunnel, Zero-G, and more.

Visit Orlando

This one site offers several tours – visit Orlando’s Icon Park, to check out the view from the Observation Wheel which is the tallest observation wheel on the East Coast at 400 ft and a weight of 3 million pounds. Then step inside Ripley’s Believe It or Not! to take a look around and check out the tunnel experience. You can also visit and explore SeaWorld Orlando, LegoLand and Universal Studios.

Rollercoasters & Theme Park Rides

Millennium Force – Cedar Park (YouTube)

I’ve been on this coaster in real life, way back in the summer of 2001, and it was the tallest coaster out there at the time. I can tell you from experience, my stomach was in my throat and I screamed the entire time loving every minute of it. The first drop is heart-stopping – you ride 310 feet up only to drop 300 feet straight down! Now you can enjoy a virtual version of this king coaster.