Virtual Tours: Traveling Digitally

Thanks to the revolutionizing technology, we can now travel the world in non-conventional ways. Most nations offer visual insight into their country with virtual tours. A virtual tour can give us a simulation of what the place would be like if we visited it in person. It doesn’t take nearly as long to explore a place digitally. So in no time at all, you can be traveling all over from the comfort of your own residence.

Modern technology has made virtual travel possible. By tilting your smartphone, you can tilt the view to a new angle, helping you feel like you are really at the location. A narrated tour can help you feel like a tour guide is showing you around. Virtual tours have come a long way over the last few decades, so there is no reason you can’t explore far away places for little to no cost.

Benefits of Virtual Tours

Destinations are Accessible Anywhere on the Globe

The most obvious benefit of virtual tours is that they can be made from any location in the world. Even if you live in an isolated area, you’d still be able to visit the place of your dreams. It allows you access to remote places from the comfort of your own home.

Virtual Tours are Always Available

Internet tours can be made at any time. When you travel physically to a place, lousy weather, opening and closing times, and traffic can ruin your experience. However, with a virtual tour, even if your destination is closed, you’d have the opportunity to visit.

Choosing the Best Location

Depending on your budget, you may not have the ability to tour many locations in person. By first taking virtual tours of different places, you can get a preview of many places. Then you can spend your budget wisely, visiting the places your really want to see in person.

Visits for Seniors and the Disabled

Some tourist attractions are difficult to navigate, especially when they’re full of rough terrain. A virtual tour can help senior or disabled people visit locations they are unable to see in person.

Alternative to School Field Trips

Teachers can utilize internet tours in place of field trips. Even though it’s not physical, virtual tours have the same learning effects on students. For one, online tours can be performed in a controlled school environment, which might place it higher on the safety index.

Areas that are Worth Touring Virtually

If you’re new to virtual tours or you have no idea where to visit, you’ve come to the right place. Here are some great places in the United States of America to explore.

New York City

Famously called the Big Apple, New York City, is one of the best places to be explore. Specific periods like Christmas and the New Year experience high levels of activity, but you won’t worry about traffic if you visit digitally. When you’re in New York, you can visit Wall Street, the Empire State Building, and Central Park.

While you are exploring the city virtually, check out its art museums. An online platform is showcasing a dozen of New York’s best art galleries. This virtual tour gives you the opportunity to learn about the portion of art and the minds behind them.

National Parks

Every National Park in the US is different from one another. However, they all offer relatively the same levels of peace and serenity. Parks like the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Yellowstone National Park, and Zion National Park receive millions of visitors every year. Visiting them virtually helps you skip the crowds.

The Grand Canyon’s virtual tour displays bright images of significant areas people focus on in the physical tour. The sight of the rocks which exhibit a glow when the sun sets is one you’d never forget. You could also choose to visit the Colorado River while on this tour. The Grand Canyon is amazing to see in person, but a virtual tour is still a good way to see and learn about the magnificent canyon.

Aquarium’s

Observing aquatic animals has this unique ability to relax your body. If you want to get fascinated with underwater creatures, Seattle Aquarium and the Monterrey Bay Aquarium in California offer live cameos of their aquatic life. Visiting online is a great way to see some cool animals, without leaving your home.

Art Murals in Florida

Streets in St. Petersburg, Florida are designed with art murals that feature a great range of colors. At least half a thousand murals can be observed when you walk through these streets. On the virtual tour, you’d be able to select a particular artistic mural to learn every bit of information about it.

National Historic Sites

There are 423 National Park sites in America and only 63 are National Parks. The majority of the sites are Historic Sites, which offer a ton of insight into America’s past. We highly recommend checking out these sites, but if you can’t make it in person then visit digitally. Each site has a wealth of information about the sites importance in history, the local people, and how the land has changed over time. It is a great way to learn about America.

Mount Rushmore is that location where everyone with a love for US history visits. The National Park Service has partnered with the Kacyra Family Foundation and CyArk to do a 3D scan of the mountain. The faces of the four great American presidents can be seen on the virtual tour. When visiting Mount Rushmore online, you’d be able to view the attraction from every possible angle. It also hosts a hitch-like progression that makes it seem like you’re walking through the site.

California

A state with a gross domestic product running into trillions of dollars sure has a lot to offer. First, you can visit Yosemite National Park virtually. In this location alone, you can get to more than 150 significant areas. Next, you can travel online to the Grammy Museum. Situated in Los Angeles, California, the world’s most accredited recording academy allows online visitors to experience its rich music culture. On this tour, information about music, ever-changing playlists, and more is offered. Finally, you can stopover at the Sonoma Valley, where virtual wine tasting is offered. This virtual tour contains physical elements because you could choose to order a wine package.

Zoo’s

Most zoo’s have some content online for you to get a taste of what it would be like to visit. Lot’s of them have live feed camera’s streaming 24/7, so you can check in on your favorite animals. Getting to see the animals in person is the best, but visiting them on a virtual tour is still fun.

The North Carolina zoo offers an internet tour on predetermined days through a live video. The live stream is available to Facebook users with specific animals shown. The virtual tour encourages a collaborative session as questions on live chats can be made.

Visiting These Places Virtually

Admittedly, virtual visits aren’t as powerful as physical ones. Physical visits come with vast preparations, a high level of anticipation, and of course, the physical experience. However, web tours can do a great job of allowing you to feel present in the location. There are high-quality images, videos, and 360-degree tours that expose every section of the attraction to you. With Google, you can also visit several of these locations since the tech giant collaborated with many museums. All of the zones mentioned in this list offer internet tours. Below, you’ll see the main ways you can visit locations around the world virtually.

Via Virtual Tours

Depending on the location you want to visit, internet tours may be offered. These tours are beneficial because they allow you to feel the place you want to see. Visiting first virtually can help make your physical visit epic. Touching down in that location would make you feel less like a stranger. While in the location, you could also visit places you’ve been to on the virtual tour. Getting to places on a map would become more accessible because of your familiarity with the area. Plus you would know which places you want to spend your valuable time in.

Via Books and Movies

First, let’s focus on books. Some books have so much excellent descriptive quality; you’d be able to envision how a location looks like. In one moment, you would be resting on your bed, and in the next, touring the Great Wall of China. Books that can significantly increase your urge to travel include On the Road by Jack Kerouac, Love with a Chance of Drowning by Paulo Coelho, and The Lost City of Z by David Grann.

If you’re not into books, there’s an alternative way to travel the world! With movies and TV shows, you can virtually visit different places around the world. You can choose one of these available streaming services to get these TV shows and movies. Using movies as virtual tour guides, you can watch Atlantics, Columbus, Russian Ark, and Eight Miles High.

Via Google Earth

Google Earth is an internet-based tool developed by the tech giant to allow you to view places in ultra HD quality. Google Earth provides essential data about a location and will enable you to access the area as if you’re walking down the road. Several people use Google Earth to visit places they intend to go. It is a relatively cheap way to access a region from the comfort of your home. If you feel bored at home, you could call up some friends to go on Google Earth tours with you. There are several options you can choose from. You could experience the hustle and bustle of New York or the serenity associated with beautiful beaches in the country.

Via YouTube Vlogs

YouTube vlogs cover a whole lot of different niches, and this includes travel vlogs. You can watch a channel focused on travel to experience the awe of going to other places. Great travel vloggers mention tips in their videos and cover essential areas in their destinations. These guides can help you feel familiar with the region provided that you decide to travel down later. If you want to check out a particular place, type the keywords in YouTube’s search box to get search results. Even this website has a You Tube channel! Or you can just explore this site to see where one family has traveled in America.

Final Thoughts on Virtual Tours

The internet has performed its customary revolutionizing on the tourism sector. Virtual tours are made to seem like the real thing, enhanced with 360 degree-views and guides. Several popular locations in America offer virtual tours like the Art Murals in Florida, the Seattle Aquarium, Arizona’s Grand Canyon, and US National Parks. You can also visit different areas in the US by reading books, watching movies, and utilizing Google Earth. Or just keep exploring this website to read more about neat places in America.

About the Author

Jack Warner is an accomplished cybersecurity expert with years of experience under his belt at TechWarn, a trusted digital agency to world-class cybersecurity companies. A passionate digital safety advocate himself, Jack frequently contributes to tech blogs and digital media sharing expert insights on cybersecurity and privacy tools.