These 16 Famous Museums Are Offering Virtual Tours

UPDATED May 13: These kid-friendly museums in NYC and across the globe are offering virtual tours and exhibits, so you can experience culture from your couch.

For many of us, visiting a museum is a luxury we take for granted. While this city offers some of the world’s most masterful works, we rarely take the time out of our busy schedules to see them. That’s why it’s fortunate (and perhaps ironic) that now, while we’re staying home with time to spare, is the time we can lose ourselves in exhibits. The following kid-friendly museums have put their exhibits online for easy virtual viewing. And you don’t just have to stay local—check out some of the world’s greatest institutions. Who said quarantining had to lack culture?

Virtual Tours of New York’s Kid-Friendly Museums

American Museum of Natural History

If you’re nostalgic for that big blue whale, check out these 2,160 items from the American Museum of Natural History’s collection—from dinosaur skeletons to insects. The museum is also offering previously recorded tours on its Facebook and Twitter accounts.

Children's Museum of the Arts

The kids are the stars in Children's Museum of the Arts' collection of more than 2,000 pieces of children’s art from around the world. There’s also a rotating series of contemporary artwork by emerging and established artists, including Leon Bibel’s monochromatic seemingly simply prints, and With Liberty and Justice for Some, a group of diverse portraits of U.S. immigrants.

The Cloisters Museum and Gardens

Now is a perfect time to “wander” through the Cloister’s magnificent monasteries (located in the Bronx but now online), where art and architecture of medieval Europe is on virtual display.

The Frick Collection

The elegant Frick displays 201 works of art on its site, from Rembrandt to Gainsborough, including the Italian paintings and bronzes, Dutch 17th-century works of art, and Chinese porcelains. Every Wednesday at 5pm, a curator will take viewers on virtual journeys to cultural and historic sites relevant to Frick and its history. The episodes premiere for members first and then are posted on the Frick YouTube channel the following week. 

The Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum

While the Intrepid is usually a hands-on experience, kids can still check out the Concorde G-BOAD and the Submarine Growler, as well as learn about technologically groundbreaking aircrafts and American innovation and bravery.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Met’s collection is like a best-of from the last 5,000 years of world art, from Coco Chanel’s designs to A New Look at Vermeer. Think of it as that history class you never took, that’s now available from your couch.

New York Botanical Garden

While NYBG’s gates are temporarily closed, it’s bringing the power of plants to you with a virtual walk through the Spring Landscape. Plus, the garden has a variety of ways to connect with plants and plant-lovers while you’re stuck inside.

The New York Landmarks Conservancy

The conservancy is offering a video series called Tourist In Your Own Town, which includes virtual tours of historic landmarks, including President Theodore Roosevelt’s birthplace and the Dyckman Farmhouse Museum.