Virtual Museum Tours: What It’s Like Visiting a Museum from Home
Walking through a museum without in-person visits is one of the things made possible by technology. Virtual rooms tell stories about art, history, science, and life through digital representations of originals or items initially created in a physical environment.
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Online museum tours have become interactive and entertaining because of their 3D elements, 360˚ views, VR headsets like PlayStation VR or Google Cardboard, and other modern tech. However, experiences differ based on the platform and the infrastructure used.
In this article, we’ve researched what it's like to view exhibits virtually based on online reviews and the personal opinions of our team members.
Museums You Can Visit Online
In 2024, you can explore global museums from your computer or smartphone for free or with an e-ticket.
Museums started offering virtual tours in the late 1990s when the internet and digital technologies boomed. Among the first were the Louvre Museum in France, the Smithsonian Institution in the USA, and the British Museum in the UK. At the time, virtual tours mainly offered simple static images, but now they often include 3D elements, 360˚ views, and interactive guides for a more realistic experience.
If you’re considering attending virtual exhibitions, one place to check them out is Google Arts & Culture. Here you’ll find various types of tours, displayed collections, and educational resources from the Museum of Modern Art, Uffizi Gallery, Museo Frida Kahlo, Musée d’Orsay, and many other institutions. Other places to look out for include official museum or event websites.
Virtual Museums List. Source: Google Arts & Culture
People’s Impressions About Virtual Museum Tours
Based on public reviews, virtual museum tours offer varied and interesting experiences. One visitor of the Van Gogh Museum online tour in Amsterdam writes on TripAdvisor:
Today's virtual visit to the Van Gogh Museum was one of the strangest and most beautiful experiences of my life. The fact that it was virtual made it ever so unusual, just like Van Gogh’s paintings and his life
The Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam presents the largest collection of works by Vincent van Gogh, including over 200 paintings, 500 drawings, and 750 letters. In the review, the visitor noted that the three-floor 360-degree tour quickly captivated them and the painter’s final artworks stirred strong emotions.
Ratings of “Paris' Louvre Museum Virtual Guided Tour” show that most visitors found it informative. However, some said they would have liked to be able to take virtual walks, which were not offered by the event. The tour functioned like a webinar, with a licensed guide sharing stories and facts about pieces such as paintings and sculptures through photos, polls, and an interactive chat.
As the Louvre is the largest art museum in the world, virtual tours are a great way to become familiar with its vast collection without dealing with crowds. The museum houses over 380,000 objects and displays roughly 35,000 works of art. Some of the most famous pieces of art in the Louvre include the Mona Lisa, the Winged Victory of Samothrace, and The Wedding at Cana.
Our personal experience with virtual museums is that they are informative but lack the feeling and connection that might hypnotize you in galleries. During our self-guided virtual tour of the Museo Frida Kahlo through Google Arts & Culture, we explored the historic site and collections of the Mexican artist. The museum has a special atmosphere, as Frida Kahlo was born and raised there. While it’s not comparable to an in-person visit, especially with a guide, the tour was quite informative and engaging, with detailed information about Kahlo’s works displayed on the screen. Although we didn’t use VR glasses, the option to “walk around” by moving the mouse made the visit engaging.
What Can You Expect from a Virtual Museum Tour?
If you’re planning to take an online museum tour, it’s important to know that not all experiences are the same. There are self-guided tours where you can explore digital galleries and view artifacts on your own and tours guided by human assistants or audio/video introductions. Some tours are more immersive, featuring realistic 3D simulations that support VR glasses such as Google Cardboard and Oculus. To find the best fit for your needs, read each tour's description.
Digital elements have also become part of traditional museum experiences. For example, during a Vincent van Gogh exhibition at The Musée d’Orsay in Paris, from October 3, 2023, to February 4, 2024, visitors could use a microphone to interact with an AI-powered Van Gogh displayed on a screen. The recreated artist answered questions about his life and work. This interactive experience contributed to the museum breaking attendance records, with over 793,556 visitors in roughly four months, according to Artnet.
What’s amazing about VR expeditions is that they can take place in different locations around the world. For example, on the entertainment discovery platform Fever, you can find events like “Horizon of Khufu,” a virtual journey to Ancient Egypt and the Great Pyramid of Giza, hosted in London. By putting on VR glasses, visitors can closely explore the historical site for 45 minutes.
The Future of Museums
Museum visits are becoming more accessible and interactive. Virtual tours with new technologies and storytelling methods are making experiences more personalized. Gensler, a design and architecture company, conducted a study that predicts that the museum experience will become more self-directed in the future. The company concludes:
Today’s emphasis on in-person, personal, museum-curated experiences will evolve to accommodate digital engagement (on- and off-site), self-directed entry experiences, and visitor curation
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