With the world on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic, popular landmarks and destinations have temporarily shut down and sight-seeing is probably not on your to-do list this year. Wanderlust-ers, we feel your pain! Thanks to the power of technology and high-speed Wi-Fi, virtual tours have gained a lot of traction recently. Some of the most spectacular sites in the United States, for example, can be explored from within your home!
Grand Canyon, Arizona
The iconic Grand Canyon is one of the world’s natural wonders, drawing more than a whopping five million visitors annually. This steep-sided canyon is carved by the Colorado River in Arizona, measuring up to 446km long, 29km wide and with a maximum depth of over a mile. Its colourful rock layers stand as a record to billions of years of history, and it is also home to a great many species both on the ground and in the air.
In this virtual tour, ‘visitors’ will get to see some of the Canyon’s archaeological sites that have remained hidden for centuries . Excavations were conducted between 2007 and 2009 where archeologists uncovered these sites for a few days to collect information and take images, and immediately reburied the sites to protect them from any harm. This tour is the only way to experience these natural treasures.
Click here to experience the virtual tour.
Central Park, New York City
Central Park is so vast that one can wander into the woods until the sounds of the hustle and bustle of the city disappear. Located between the Upper West Side and the Upper East Side, it is the fifth-largest park in NYC and the most visited urban park in America with an estimated 36 million visitors annually. Unsurprisingly, it is also one of the most filmed locations in the world.
In this virtual tour, take a stroll through the paths that criss-cross this famous park and experience all the famous spots found within. From the Bethesda Terrace, to The Glade, the Alice in Wonderland statue and so much more!
Click here to experience the virtual tour.
Yellowstone National Park
Known for its wildlife and many geothermal features such as the Old Faithful geyser (one of the 10,000 hydrothermal features part of the ecosystem), Yellowstone National Park is widely known as the first national park in the United States clocking in at almost 3,500 square miles of wilderness.
In this virtual tour, you can start exploring some of the main attractions by taking a virtual walk to Canary Spring, exploring mud volcanoes, the Fountain Paint Pot trail and many more beautiful sights that lie across the 1,000km of walking trails that Yellowstone boasts.
Click here to experience the virtual tour.
Space Center Houston
The Space Center Houston is a leading science and space learning centre, the official visitor centre of NASA Johnson Space Centre in Houston and a Smithsonian Affiliate museum. Ever since opening its doors in 1992 it has seen over a million visitors annually.
With over 400 things to see and do including a large collection of spacesuits, Moon rocks, extensive STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) education programmes for all ages, Space Center Houston now offers a free new app for an immersive experience, made available for everyone.
Click here for more info.
EarthCam
Founded in 1996, EarthCam provides live webcam content of destinations and landmarks from all over the world. In normal times, you would be able to see the fast-paced lifestyle of New York or marriage proposals happening at the foot of the Eiffel Tower in Paris. However, in these unprecedented times, visit your city of choice and take a glimpse of how much the world has changed during this pandemic. Beaches around the world are deserted and the busy streets of New York have cleared. The “city that never sleeps” is finally taking a nap.
Click here to experience the virtual tours.
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