Virtual family days out for when you can’t get out of the house

Well, it’s a funny old time isn’t it? The covid 19 crisis has meant we’ve all had to rethink our daily lives. When your routines involve getting out and about and visiting new places on family days out, then how we interact with the world takes on a whole new focus.

But let’s not be sad. We’re actually quite enjoying not having to be anywhere right now and getting caught up on home stuff. Smaller members of the squad are relishing not having to be in school every day, though I’m sure the novelty will wear off around about June. We will get back out there soon enough and there’s plenty of time left to explore the big wide world.

In the meantime, here are 6 places you can visit without leaving your home…..

Take a virtual tour of Stonehenge

One of England’s most famous sights, Stonehenge is a an ancient wonder and one of the country’s most visited spots. Indeed we have been here and thoroughly enjoyed our visit.

You can do a virtual tour at:
https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/stonehenge/history-and-stories/stonehenge360

If you’d like to read the review of our visit with chidren, check out visiting Stonehenge with children

Visit the Natural History Museum

Google Arts & Culture have a wealth of virtual tours available. We like this one of the Natural History Museum in London as we’ve been there and it evokes memories as well as giving us something new to explore – the museum is huge and this is a great way of seeing all those things that you just don’t get the time for normally. Check it out at The Natural History Museum virtual tour

You can read about our visit at – Visiting the Natural History Museum with children

The British Museum

Ok, so we tried doing a Google virtual tour of the British Museum but it’s immense and we got lost quite quick and gave up. This >>
https://britishmuseum.withgoogle.com/ is better. It’s a stripped down version but delightfully sensitive which showcases some choice artefacts with pictures and narration. Great for children!

Go on a virtual tour of Longleat Safari Park

Longleat Safari Park has been attracting visitors since the 1960s and is home to hundreds of animals. The main attraction is the safari drive where you can see big cats, zebras and a pack of mischevious monkeys.

This 30 minute video is a highlight reel of the best bits of the drive – you can see the best of the animal antics without worrying about one of the kids needing the loo, or losing a windscreen wiper. Check it out at
https://www.longleat.co.uk/news/longleat-launches-virtual-safari

You can read about our visit to Longleat Safari Park at – https://kidsdaysoutreviews.co.uk/longleat-warminster-wiltshire/

Edinburgh Zoo webcams

Lots of zoos across the world have established and new webcam streams so we can keep an eye on our favourite animal friends, but I’ve found the webcams of Edinburgh zoo to be one of the most user-friendly and reliable. You can watch their giant panda, tigers, and penguins at
https://www.edinburghzoo.org.uk/webcams/

Here’s are five places where you can see penguins up close – penguin spotting around the UK

Up close at Chester Zoo

Chester Zoo have pulled out all of the stops and are doing virtual live tours on specific days. If you can’t join them live then you can catch up on their YouTube channel. This is the tour from the 28th March when they fed the red pandas, the giraffes, the penguins and more.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p53Glw5Nzro&list=PLezrh9gR8RL3kkND8Pz2zOHHZPRk-a2VC

Have you been to Chester Zoo? We have. Here are our top tips for visiting Chester Zoo

Further afield…..

If you want to go further afield, then Google Maps is amazing. As long as you’re happy to look at them from the nearest accessible road. Yeah ok, it’s not quite the same.

I have found youvisit.com however – It’s a site that is set up to do virtual college tours however there are some good audio-visual tours of places like Machu Pichu and London. I do like this one of Vatican City https://www.youvisit.com/tour/vatican

Over to you…..

Can you recommend anywhere else where you can do a virtual tour?