Part One: Top galleries & museums with virtual tours

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We now have to be way more inventive when it comes to getting our travel on – and when getting our culture fix. It is way too easy to become a couch ridden slob who goes through all 10 seasons of Friends in a week while living off fast-food deliveries. At least, that’s what we fear for ourselves.

But one way to change things up is by taking a virtual tour of one of Europe’s best museums and art galleries. Some of them are even guided. Walk through an empty Louvre or British Museum while sitting at home in your PJs. We’ve got to be creative people.

That’s why we teamed up with Holidu, the search engine for holiday rentals, to bring this list of 10 different European galleries and museums with virtual tours.

Le musée du Louvre, Paris

We begin our online travels in the City of Light! Even if Paris has lost its status as the most visited city in the world in recent years, its museums remain crazy popular. The Louvre Museum is the world’s largest art and antiques museum, holding world famous pieces such as the Mona Lisa or the Victory of Samothrace, and is actually the most popular museum in Europe on Instagram. Either wander aimlessly in the Museum and get lost amongst the artworks or their themed tours.

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Even if you’ve been to the Louvre before, you likely didn’t see it all

State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg

Next up, we fly east over Europe and land in St. Petersburg, the imperial capital of Russia for nearly two centuries, which is also home to the largest museum in the world in terms of exhibits. The State Hermitage collection comprises more than three million works of art and artefacts of world culture, all of which can be viewed virtually on their extensive online platform.

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Take a peak inside this grand building

Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam  

Hop on a ferry and we are off to the Netherlands, more particularly to Amsterdam where the Rijksmuseum is located. If you are finding the name difficult to pronounce, it simply means “Amsterdam State Museum”. It is the most important museum in the country, both in terms of the number of visitors and the number of works on display. It is dedicated to the fine arts, crafts and history of the country.

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Check out all the Van Gogh your heart desires

Musée d’Orsay, Paris

Our second trip to the French capital brings us to the Musée d’Orsay, a museum which holds the largest collection of impressionist and post-impressionist works in the world. The online collection allows you to feast your eyes upon a variety of works from oil paintings and canvas works, to themes surrounding impressionism and French history.

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The Musée d’Orsay building is worth checking itself (not just the art).

British Museum, London 

You can even go exploring some of London’s museums and galleries from home – with the massive British Museum being up the top of our UK list. Older than the United States itself, this museum contains one of the most important collections in the world, illustrating the evolution of Man from his beginnings to present day. Scroll through the ages as you explore art, history, religion, conflict and more.

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You don’t even have to virtually cross the Channel to get a look at some ancient artefacts. All images courtesy of Holidu.

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