While some areas are starting to open up after months-long COVID-19/Coronavirus quarantine, my home in the San Francisco Bay Area is still a long way off from reopening. While I fully support continued safety precautions and social distancing, it doesn’t make it easy! Being stuck in one place for so long has got me climbing the walls, and every nature documentary, blog post, and Instagram photo of the outside world just makes my wanderlust worse. But while I can’t physically travel anywhere right now, I can still wander virtually, and that’s what this post is all about. When quarantine is getting on my nerves and I just want to get out of the house, or my fibromyalgia has me in too much pain to get outside and walk the dog, I can still see the world through my computer with virtual tours. I don’t have fancy headsets or anything like that - all of these videos are designed so that anyone with a computer (or smartphone) can explore some of the most beautiful places in the world. Each of these places is worthy of being on your bucket list, and although you likely can’t get out to see them just yet, you can still get a taste of what they’re like right here and now (and you don’t even have to put on your hiking boots to do it). 1. The Hidden Worlds of the National Parks (USA)This first tour is actually five in one! Google partnered with the US National Parks service to create five ranger-led virtual tours, featuring Alaska’s Kenai Fjords, Hawai’i’s Volcanoes, New Mexico’s Carlsbad Caverns, Utah’s Bryce Canyon, and Florida’s Dry Tortugas. My personal favorite was Alaska’s Fjords, but all of them are awesome experiences, with lots of information on the parks. My advice to you would be to turn your volume up, resist the urge to jump ahead to see what’s next, and listen to all the stories the rangers have to share - it will be a much richer experience. Having been to Bryce Canyon and Carlsbad Caverns myself, I think that (while of course it’s no substitution for the real thing) they do a good job of immersing you in the beauty of some of America’s best national parks. 2. Zhangjiajie National Forest Park (China)AirPano might just be my new favorite website, and you’ll be seeing a lot of them in this article - their virtual tour of Zhangjiajie National Forest Park has some of the most breathtaking views I’ve ever seen. Founded in 1982, Zhangjiajie is the oldest protected area in China, and is widely regarded as the inspiration for James Cameron’s Avatar. Towering quartz-sandstone pillars draped in lush greenery compose this fascinating natural wonder. I loved flipping through the photos at the top of the page, but there’s a good narrated 360 degree video, too, which you can find here. 3. Namib Desert (Namibia)Stretching across 31,000 square miles in the Namib-Naukluft national park in southern Africa, the Namib Desert is a rust-colored wonderland and the fourth largest park in the world. Some of the largest dunes in the world can be found in the Sossusvlei area, as well as one of the most unique sites in the area: Deadvlei, a wasteland in the middle of the dunes made of bleached, salty-white clay and dead acacia trees (it looks way cooler than it sounds). 4. The Grand Canyon (USA)One of the most popular National Parks in the United States is Grand Canyon, a mile-deep landmark in the arid southwest. Its scenic overlooks reveal layers upon layers of red rock, stretching down to show millions of years of natural history. AirPano gives beautiful bird’s eye views of the canyon, but to really experience what it’s like close up, you’ll need to go into Google’s Street View Trek, where you can walk Bright Angel Trail down into the canyon itself. 5. Ban Gioc - Detian Falls (China and Vietnam)One of the most majestic waterfalls in the world, Ban Gioc – Detian Falls on the Quây Sơn River straddle the border between China and Vietnam. Thirty meters high, it is the fourth largest waterfall along an international border (after Victoria, Iguazu, and Niagara). I’ve always been a sucker for waterfalls, but this one really takes the cake: water cascades over mossy, tiered rocks in a lushly forested landscape surrounded by towering peaks. It looks like something out of a fairy tale (or maybe Avatar again). 6. Hang Sơn Đoòng (Vietnam)National Geographic gives us an immersive tour of the largest natural cave in the world at Sơn Đoòng in Phong Nha-Kẻ Bàng National Park, Vietnam. Climb over and around towering stalagmites - the tallest of which reach seventy meters tall - through underground rivers and among delicate ferns as you listen to accompanying music and the sounds of the earth. While you can travel here instantly using this tour, in reality it takes two days to reach the entrance of the nearly six kilometer long cave, and tours are strictly limited in order to preserve its delicate ecosystem. The possibility of a cable car route, which would dramatically increase ease of access and the number of visitors, threatens the preservation of the region while also potentially benefiting the local economy. Hopefully by witnessing this beautiful cave for yourself, you can appreciate the importance of a sustainable solution, for both people and environment. 7. Cliffs of Moher (Ireland)Another top bucket list item for me, the Cliffs of Moher are one of Ireland’s most beautiful and famous natural landmarks - and a filming location in one of my favorite movies, the Princess Bride. The most visited natural site in Ireland, the Cliffs of Moher are 350 million years old. They rise 702 feet (214 m) above the sea at their highest point, and stretch for 8 kms (5 miles) along the shoreline. There’s no bad spot, but my favorite views were at twilight (pictured above) and from the top of O’Brien’s tower. I also highly recommend using full screen to really appreciate the views. 8. Giant’s Causeway (Northern Ireland)Giant’s Causeway is one of Northern Ireland’s most interesting natural landmarks, and is made of over 40,000 interlocking, geometric basalt columns, formed 50 to 60 million years ago by an ancient volcanic fissure eruption, cooled by the sea. Local legend states that the causeway was a bridge built by the great hero Fionn mac Cumhaill. The National Trust has created a series of virtual tours (complete with recordings of the land and sea) which allow you to get up close and personal with this beautiful place, and AirPano offers several birds-eye views to help you get a better scope of the size of the causeway. 9. Loch Lomond National Park (Scotland)Explore rolling hills and glistening lochs at Scotland’s Great Trossachs Forest, one of the UK’s largest National Nature Reserves at 720 sq miles (1,865 sq km). As an American, one of the most interesting aspects of this park to me was the fact that fifty percent of Scotland’s population lives within an hour’s drive of the park, and more than fifteen thousand people reside within the park itself! Of course, you wouldn’t know just by taking this tour - the land is pristine, and offers an idyllic getaway, even in virtual form. Click on the information buttons to learn more about the landscape, and use the seasonal icons at the top left of the screen to experience what the park looks like at any time of year! 10. Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park (Australia)This is one of the best tours on this list, and if you were to pick only one place to experience, let it be this one. Uluru is a massive sandstone monolith in the heart of Australia’s red centre, and one of the most sacred places in the world. It is a place where Tjukurpa (pronounced ‘chook-orr-pa’), Anangu religious philosophy and traditional law, links Anangu (pronounced arn-ung-oo) to the landscape and their ancestors. Some Tjukurpa is shared through this tour, but while many stories can be shared with non-Aboriginal people, the secret, sacred information remains only with senior Anangu and must be protected. 360-degree visuals of key sites at Uluru are combined with audio clips of Aṉangu traditional owners sharing important cultural knowledge, song and stories. Wander the red desert and get a glimpse into the beauty of this realm, and why Uluru is so important. 11. Lençóis Maranhenses National Park (Brasil)AirPano once again provides brilliant views of some of earth’s hardest to reach places, this time taking us to Brasil’s Lençóis Desert, famous for the fascinating freshwater lagoons that form between the valleys of the dunes in the wet season. Motorized vehicles are prohibited here, but you can still walk along the dunes (and, of course, enjoy views from above). BONUS: Great Barrier Reef (Australia)While only a short video, ECOVR’s mini tour of the Great Barrier Reef is as calming as it is beautiful. Swim alongside sea turtles and bright tropical fish without getting your hair wet as you admire the world’s largest coral reef (or be like me and put it on loop to fall asleep to). What do you think of VR tourism? Is it a good way to pass the time while we wait to re-enter the world, or does it not live up to the hype? I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments section below! See more adventures!Like this post? 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Hi, there! Call me Kris. I’m a world traveler, author and artist working to showcase the world's beauty and inspire you to find your confidence to see the world!
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