Special Report

Virtual Travel

To support those searching for armchair travel inspiration, Smithsonian magazine has compiled a collection of coverage dedicated to virtual reality experiences, digital exhibits and books that will transport you to far-off lands.

F.J. Jimenez/Getty Images

Highlights

The Brooklyn Art Library's Sketchbook Project celebrates its 15th anniversary this year.

This Library in Brooklyn Is Home to the World's Largest Sketchbook Collection

Over the last nine months, Jane Austen's House has found inventive new ways to keep Janeites diverted during quarantine.

Take an Interactive Tour of Jane Austen's House

While many people have walked by the red door on Chicago's Wells Street, very few—likely less than one or two thousand—have ever gotten a chance to see what’s behind it.

Inside Edgar Miller's Masterwork

The spectacular 13th-century Noravank monastery is situated among mountain cliffs in southern Armenia.

AT THE SMITHSONIAN

This Virtual Reality App Takes Users to Historic Armenia

Across the U.S.

Gloria Steinem in her Upper East Side apartment

Take a Virtual Tour of Feminist Icon Gloria Steinem's Historic Manhattan Apartment

Crossroads General Store, circa 1938

Explore Dorothea Lange's Iconic Photos With These Online Exhibitions

A two-page spread in a 1903 Brooklyn Daily Eagle supplement shows an aerial depiction of the "Brooklyn of the Future," complete with ferry lines and projected bridges, subways, tunnels and elevated roads.

Explore Centuries of Brooklyn's History With These Newly Digitized Maps

Jean-Michel in St. Moritz, Switzerland, in 1983

See Jean-Michel Basquiat Masterpieces Up Close in This Online Exhibition

Nancy Baker Cahill's Liberty Bell, as seen over the National Mall

This AR Artwork Reimagines Historical Spaces Across the U.S.

Pollock-Krasner House and Study Center, East Hampton, NY, Floor of Studio, 2018.

Take Virtual Tours of These Seven Historic Homes of American Artists

Jennifer Billock

Photinus carolinus, or Synchronous Fireflies, are the only species in the U.S. that flash in coordinated bursts with one another.

Watch Fireflies Flicker From the Comfort of Home

Vendors at the Queens Night Market represent more than 90 countries.

Sample the World's Cuisines With This Cookbook From a Popular New York Market

Michele Herrmann

A virtual tour isn't the same as an in-person experience, but it can still afford some great views.

Nostalgic for the North? Take a Virtual Dogsled Ride in Fairbanks, Alaska

Katherine J. Wu

Explore the U.S. From Above with Smithsonian Channel's Aerial America

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Death Valley: One of the Most Extreme Places on Earth

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Take a Trip to Glacier National Park

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How Alabama Became Home to 'Rocket City'

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The Views of the Olympic Mountains Are Truly God-Like

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This Is Actually America's First Small Town

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How Minnesota and Music Made Bob Dylan

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The Strikingly Unusual Clingstone Mansion

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The Dark History of Maine's Harbor Island

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The Volcanoes of Hawaii

International Experiences

Portrait of Dante Alighieri, Florence and the allegory of the Divine Comedy, 1465, detail.

Follow Dante's Footsteps Through Italy

Jennifer Billock

Architect Julia Morgan is best known for California’s Hearst Castle.

Six Wonders Built by Pioneering Women Architects

Jennifer Billock

A "deliberately inconvenient" twin champagne glass created by Athens-based architect Katerina Kamprani

Take a Virtual Tour of Failed Designs, From the DeLorean to Google Glass

The Cultural Office of the Embassy of Spain in Washington is hosting a photography exhibit, PHotoEspaña, posted on the fence surrounding its historic mansion.

Their Doors May Be Closed, but Embassies Are Still Showing People the World

Molly McCluskey

A screenshot of the new V&A; digital tool, which allows viewers to explore high-resolution scans of Raphael's cartoons for his Sistine Chapel tapestry sequence. Here, Jesus speaks to Simon in The Miraculous Draught of Fishes (Luke 5: 1-11).

New Online Tool Reveals Raphael's Sistine Chapel Cartoons in Stunning Detail

An aerial view of the Mauseoleum of Augustus, which was recently renovated and will open to the public in Rome in 2021.

Take a Virtual Tour of the World's Largest Circular Tomb, Augustus' Mausoleum

Encounters with the giant oarfish—the world's largest bony fish—may have inspired sailors to tell tales about fantastical sea serpents.

Meet the Real Animals Behind Mermaids, Dragons and Other Mythical Creatures

Over the last nine months, Jane Austen's House has found inventive new ways to keep Janeites diverted during quarantine.

Celebrate Jane Austen's Birthday With a 360-Degree, Interactive Tour of Her House

Grounded travelers, be thankful for these travel books released in 2020.

The Ten Best Books About Travel of 2020

Jennifer Nalewicki

The online exhibition "Missing Masterpieces" highlights 12 works of art that have been stolen or gone missing over the years. Pictured here: Vincent van Gogh's The Parsonage Garden at Nuenen in Spring (1884), which was stolen from a museum in the Netherlands in March at the beginning of the Covid-19 lockdown.

Virtual Museum of Lost Art Asks Visitors to Help Track Down Missing Masterpieces