Not much beats the excitement of planning a city trip – searching for flights or train routes, working on a rough agenda even though you know it’ll probably change as soon as you have reached your destination, deep diving on social media for the foods you must try or where to have that drink when the sun goes down.
All of that excitement is currently in a strange limbo-land with the Covid-19 pandemic. Maybe you are still planning trips but worry about when you’ll really be able to get there and enjoy the sights, sounds and buzz. We have those strong feelings as well and that urge to travel as soon as it’s deemed safe to do so.
So what can you do in the meantime to help satisfy those urges? Well luckily all around the world wonderful sights are being showcased in digital form. Below we’ve listed a few of our current favorites plus our new ‘tour guide in your living room’! – so relax and enjoy these from the comfort of your sofa!
Step out onto the roof of the Grand Palais in Paris
The Google Arts & Culture project includes more than 2,000 (!) leading museums from around the world. You can explore Art Movements, collections, artists and much more. But one of the things we really love is their ‘View From The Top’ – panoramas from the roofs of iconic buildings. Stand atop of the Grand Palais in Paris, Qutub Minar in Delhi and many more.
Explore Edinburgh Castle
Also on Google Arts & Culture, you’ll find Edinburgh Castle amongst the other stunning historical sites around the world. Have a digital wander on Castle Rock and when things get back to normality, come and join our walking tours to the stunning site.
Spot the elusive Northern Lights
This 24-hour live webcam in Manitoba, Canada is a great spot for spotting the incredible natural wonder of the Northern Lights. The website also includes a highlights reel and viewers can post screenshots of their findings too. This shot below was from the 2nd of April 2020. Be warned this webcam can become quite addictive!
Another great live webcam is of Trevi Fountain in Rome – probably the most famous fountain in the world. This Roman landmark is usually surrounded by tourists taking snaps of the Baroque masterpiece depicting Neptune atop a chariot pulled by sea horses.
Take the train from Bergen to Oslo
This 7-hour train ride through Norway is ideal for those who need to escape their self-isolation. It’s simply a railway journey with a camera fixed on the front of the train. At around the 2 hours 3 minutes mark the train exits a tunnel into a snowy dreamland and also the stop at Finse at around 2 hours 28 minutes is equally as spectacular.
Have a quick bike ride in Bora Bora
This three-minute bike ride at the St Regis Bora Bora Resort and posted by Lonely Planet is the most relaxing thing you’ll watch today. It doesn’t sound like much, but for a brief moment, you will escape that sofa and find yourself in beautiful French Polynesia.
A tour guide in your living room
Our guide partners may not be able to lead their famous FREE Tours just now, but you can still support their work with tips-based donations, just as you would in real life. Guides across the SANDEMANs network have been preparing short videos for you about topics related to their cities. As you would with the FREE Tour, if you like what they have to say, feel free to leave them a donation of your choosing!
Those are just some of our favorite digital escapes at the moment. Enjoy them from the comfort of your home, stay safe and we’ll see you soon.
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