28 virtual tours for kids: some of the best museum, zoo and art gallery tours for children to watch online

Step into the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History without leaving home. | Other 3rd Party

With this in mind, many museums, art galleries and zoos across the world have set up virtual tours - ideal for all ages.

From The Louvre in Paris to Washington’s Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, here we (with a little help from the team at uswitch) take a look at some of the best tours that you and the kids can enjoy from the comfort of your home.

National Museum of Scotland

Explore Egyptian antiquities and step back in time on a virtual visit to The Louvre. | Other 3rd Party

The National Museum of Scotland was the first museum or gallery in Scotland to offer a virtual tour, thanks to Google’s Arts & Culture Museum View experience. Kids and adults can find out more about the 20,000 objects on display.

Find out more and take a virtual tour here.

The Louvre

Explore Egyptian antiquities and step back in time to view the remains of the Louvre’s Moat in these comprehensive virtual tours. See more here.

Edinburgh Zoo

Check up on Edinburgh Zoo residents, such as Yang Guang the panda, Tanami the koala, the penguins and tigers on Edinburgh Zoo’s live cams. The zoo also has a Facebook page and YouTube channel for more animal fixes.

Find out more and get animal watching here.

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum

This online collection features more than 1,700 artworks from over 600 artists. This is a searchable database of the Guggenheim’s permanent collection, so if there’s a particular piece you’d like to see you can search by name. Find out more here.

Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History

Explore nature from your living room with these high quality virtual tours of one of America’s most famous museums. Simply use your mouse to navigate each room in the museum and click the camera icon for an up-close view of exhibits on display. See more here.

Van Gogh Museum

Part of Google’s Art and Culture Network, the tour takes you through the Van Gogh Museum allowing you to view the artworks up close. Find out more here.

Getty Museum

Available through Google’s Arts & Culture programme, the Getty Museum is home to an eclectic range of impressive artworks and photography, which can be viewed here.

Glasgow Women's Library

The only UK museum dedicated to women’s lives, histories and achievements has a range of online exhibitions, which can be viewed via Google Arts & Culture here.

The Vatican Museum

The Vatican Museum website contains seven virtual tours, which includes a 360 view of the famous Sistine Chapel.

Royal Collection Trust

Fine art of royals throughout history - and one of the last great European royal collections to remain intact - can be viewed online here.

Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum

Rather than a 360 tour of this Madrid museum, the multimedia section of the Thyssen-Bornemisza features short videos that delve behind the scenes.

Georgia O’Keeffe Museum

Escape to New Mexico and browse artworks from modernist artist Georgia O’Keeffe using Google’s virtual gallery, available to view here.

National Museum of Anthropology

The biggest Museum in Mexico contains the largest collection of Mexican Art in the world. Explore sculptures and exhibits using Google Arts and Culture here.

British Museum

An interactive game brought to you by the British Museum allows you to travel through time using your arrow keys or mouse. This is a completely new way to tour the museum's exhibits with informative audio descriptions. Find out more here.

National Women's History Museum

This range of online exhibits reveals women’s role in making history, from women in Nasa to Olympic champions and adventurers. See more here.

Metropolitan Museum of Art

Take a virtual walk around the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and click on each exhibit to find out more about them. Start your tour here.

High Museum of Art

View virtual exhibitions from this museum, which holds one of the most significant collections of photographs of the Civil Rights Movement, in ultra-high resolution - perfect if you want to display on your TV.

Detroit Institute of Arts

Consisting of over 65,000 works of art, use the virtual tour to view them in high resolution. See more here.

Rijksmuseum

Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam has famous works by Rembrandt, Van Gogh, and other Dutch masters. Use the virtual tour to view the must-see exhibits.

National Museum of the United States Air Force

Take a virtual, 360-degree, self-guided tour of the entire museum, complete with imagery of cockpits and the airplane interiors to get a real up-close feel for the aircrafts.

MoMA (The Museum of Modern Art)

More than 84,000 works are currently available online here, making it one of the most comprehensive virtual museum tours available on the web.

Uffizi Gallery

View ancient sculpture, artwork and artifacts complete with information about each exhibit from this famous Italian gallery, which was designed by Giorgio Vasari in 1560. Find out more here.

Street Art

Explore the stories of street art around the world, complete with video and audio descriptions that really bring the art to life. Start your tour here.

Musée d’Orsay

Take a look around this converted railway station to see works from Van Gough, Monet and Cezanne. See if you can guess which works belong to which artists.

Picasso Museum

Discover the Picasso exhibits in an innovative, interactive and highly visual way using the museum’s bespoke visual tours and 360 images.

Benaki Museum

Learn about modern Greek history through video and virtual tours guiding you through the exhibits.

National Palace Museum

Browse a collection of nearly 700,000 pieces of ancient Chinese imperial artifacts and artworks, making it one of the largest of its type in the world.

RAF Museum

A museum dedicated to the history of aviation and the Royal Air Force in particular. View exhibits such as historic hangars and the bomber hall right from your browser.