Right now pretty much the whole country is shut down because of Coronavirus. So finding the perfect virtual field trips from around the world is a great idea right now for lots of reasons. But when all of life gets somewhat back to normal, this list is just as effective.
We cannot take field trips around the world with our students, even when all is right with the world. But we can still expose our students to some of the most amazing places in the world without having to leave the classroom.
So I researched what the top tourist areas are in the United States as well as their corresponding (when possible) top tourist areas in the world and came up with this list.
Following are the top 8 places to visit in America and in the world along with access to the best virtual field trips. Just click on the names of the Attractions to go straight to their official websites for more information.
Table of Contents
Chimelong Ocean Kingdom, Hengqin (China)
The Chimelong Ocean Kingdom in China is the largest and best aquarium in the world. It was built and opened in 2014 as part of the Zhuhai Chimelong Resort. It is the 10th most visited theme park in the world. The resort as a whole houses theme parks, luxury hotels, business conventions, tourism, and sports facilities all on one very large property.
As for the aquarium, besides being the largest with 12.87 million gallons of water (one tank alone with 6.99 million gallons of water!), it also holds 5 Guinness World Records. They are as follows:
- Largest total water volume (12.87 million US gallons)
- Largest single tank volume (6.99 million US gallons)
- Largest underwater dome (39 feet in diameter)
- Largest viewing window width (118 feet)
- Largest viewing window height (27+ feet)
- Most whale sharks on premises (5 or 6 depending on the report)
This last virtual field trip video below is longer than the others but did an amazing job of making you feel like you were touring right along with this family. And the number of amazing attractions they captured was enough to make my son refuse to give me back my computer to work on this article!
Georgia Aquarium, Atlanta Georgia, USA
Out of over 200 aquariums worldwide, the best and biggest aquarium in America is the Georgia Aquarium.
The Georgia Aquarium is the biggest and best aquarium in America. It has thousands of living animals (the actual number is not published). And it has more than 10 million gallons of water to house those animals and was the largest aquarium in the world until the Marine Life Park was constructed in Singapore in 2012 and Chimelong Ocean Kingdom in 2014.
The Georgia aquarium is the only aquarium in the world that houses whale sharks that are not in Asia. They live in a 6.3 million US gallon tank.
These videos are the official virtual field trip videos that the Georgia Aquarium has released in light of limited education due to Coronavirus. They will be continuing to release them, I believe, on a daily basis, so check on their Youtube channel frequently for the newest videos!
Another great feature you will find on the Georgia Aquarium website is several live webcams featuring various areas of the park. Here are the current ones:
- Beluga Whale
- Piranha
- Southern Sea Otter
- Jellyfish
- Ocean Voyager
- Indo-Pacific Barrier Reef
- African Penguin
- California Sea Lion
The website also puts up scheduled feedings and other special features of things that they staff is doing while the park is closed. And you are able to watch all of those things on the webcams!
Finding the best zoo in the US and the world proved to be way harder than finding the best aquarium. There are mixed reports, awards and reviews everywhere and no definitive answer. So I went by the two places that got the most reviews for being the best.
San Diego Zoo, San Diego, California, USA
The San Diego Zoo was actually deemed the #1 zoo in the world according to their website. And I actually did see that on Trip Advisor–and on Youtube. So maybe this was the elusive definitive information I was looking for.
Anyway, while being at the zoo would be amazing, their website actually has an amazing lineup of live webcams and educational videos featuring various areas of the zoo. This makes their site a perfect stopping place for a perfect virtual field trip for your students.
Here is what the webcams feature:
- Baboon
- Polar Bear
- Ape
- Koala
- Giraffe
- Burrowing Owl
- Elephant
- Tiger
- Condor
- (Not live) Panda
And here is the link to the list of 20 videos. Each of the videos is really short and the perfect amount of info for your kids to take in and get a good working knowledge.
Even better than those resources is the series of 30 videos on Youtube called San Diego Zoo Kids TV. The first video explains the purpose of the series. It is to bring the zoo to kids that are in hospitals all over the country that can’t go out to the zoo.
Grab a couple of tissues for that first video that explains the series. It would also be a great time to have a conversation with your kids about these children. And then enjoy the 29 other videos that feature some amazing aspects of the park. I’ll get you started right here:
Nongnooch Tropical Garden, Chonburi Province, Thailand
When I started researching botanical gardens, it got very difficult because every one was better than the last one. If only I could go to each one of them at some point in my life. But then that’s what virtual field trips are for, right?
Anyway, back to Nongnooch topical garden. It is situated on over 600 acres, bought by Mrs. Nongnooch Tanascha and her husband in 1954 to grow their own gardens based on the flora that had amazed them around the world. It was finally opened to the public in 1980 so that Mrs. Nongnooch could share her pride and joy with the world.
Her passion for the gardens resulted in being most likely the best botanical garden in the world.
Nongnooch Botanical Garden is known as the Wildest Botanical Garden in the World. This video will make you want to put it on your bucket list sooner than later!
Longwood Gardens, Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, USA
The Longwood Gardens are situated on over 400 acres of land in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania. There are a whopping 21 indoor gardens, 27 outdoor gardens, and 4 fountain gardens to date. You can access pictures of each one of these on their vast website.
They have constant events going on here. And besides all of the North American flora, you can experience specimens from Australia and South Africa. There is almost too much to do here even virtually. You could definitely do some binge watching.
I will get you started here:
Colonial Williamsburg, Williamsburg, Virginia, USA
I have to admit, this one is only a half hour from my house and my family has been there countless times. Just going there for Independence Day every July is more than amazing. To hear the fife and drum corps as they walk through literally makes everybody stop in their tracks to watch and wonder. Feeling the beat and the sound of the drums and fifes literally through your body is unlike anything you’ve experienced before in such a setting. It’s absolutely amazing.
But it’s also absolutely amazing to see Colonial Williamsburg at Christmas time. And at Springtime when all of the new flowers and plants are emerging. Aaaand in the fall when leaves are turning every bright hue imaginable.
So actually, it is always a good time to check out Colonial Williamsburg. And I bet you can find all of these online.
There are webcams on their website (click here) so you can see what is going on at various places around the living colonial community at any given time. I have to say it was very weird to see the whole thing totally empty. It is public space so there is never nobody there, at any time of the day or night.
Here are a couple of my favorite virtual field trips for Colonial Williamsburg. My kids had a great time watching them and comparing them to when they were there. It was a unique and fun experience!
Also, if you check around the resources on their website, you will see tons of activities for your kids.
Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt is for sure the ultimate virtual field trip. There is no school in America that is taking a casual day trip to go see it, as amazing as that would be.
Ancient Egypt has fascinated me since I was a little girl. And with or without Coronavirus, I have still never made it there. So this is a perfect virtual field trip even in a normal school setting.
Egypt was one of the longest lasting nations, lasting for thousands of years. It was most notably a nation when Upper and Lower Egypt were unified by Pharoah Menes in the 3000’s BC. It remained a world leader until the 330’s BC, when Alexander the Great invaded.
The Egyptians were known for their advanced civilization. They did things like brain surgery, and of course, the pyramids, which we still cannot duplicate with our current technology. Also notable is the fact that they developed the 365-day calendar that we still use today.
If you watched a video every day for the rest of your life (regardless of how old you are now), you would not have enough days left to see them all. So I will just share a couple of them with you.
Conclusion
So this is my list of some of the most perfect virtual field trips in the world. I hope that you and your families (and students if you are using this in your classroom) enjoyed them all. We had a great time with them!
Let me know which ones were your favorites or what your other favorite virtual field trips around the world are.
If you liked this article, I think you will like the following ones as well:
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Exactly … here’s what you need, the right aspirations to take the kids on beautiful virtual school trips …
YES YES YES. this is exactly what I’ve been looking for. Seen so many museums that are posting virtual tours and I was thinking it would be great to have a record of them all somewhere. Definitely going to share this with my audience.
My biggest problem was that I had so many incredible options and could only include so many. The options were literally limitless. I hope you enjoy these!
I love these! We’ll be trying some out for sure. I love that there are so many virtual tours available. It helps keep us busy.
Yes! I had two huge problems getting this article done: I spent sooo much time watching the videos because they were all so good (and there were so many more incredibly good videos that I couldn’t post), and there were so many options for virtual field trips. I could write hundreds of these posts and still not run out of material. But it is a very time-consuming post to write, lol.
so much to learn in a great way without all the travel that it would other wise take thanks for sharing this great program
This is AWESOME. I’m definitely going to have to check these out. Thank you for sharing this with us friend. Hope you’re staying safe!
Things are good here. Hope you are doing well too!
Virtual field trips are such a great idea! I did not know such a thing existed but I am defo gonna check those all out!
Love these ideas of the virtual field trips. For hubby and I, we have been watching travel bloggers for YouTube.
That’s awesome! There is so much variety on youtube!
This is great! I’ll have to try some of these. I’ve also heard of many museums that have virtual tours.
Yes, Nyxie! I think lots of museums all over the world are doing it now. That was such a hard article to write because I had way too much material and had to figure out how to pare it down.
These are AMAZING!!! We started to visit a different online museum every day, it is great actually.
We have been doing the same. It has been so fun!
This will help your students to expand their travel curiosity. I love that you can get to see the real deal on video these will encourage them to go and learn. I think that travel is different than vacations travel makes you learn about other cultures and history and I love that.
Very true, Jessica. We have all been inspired to add things to our list. It has been a fun diversion.
I’m actually doing the same thing! Currently been exploring the internet to find some nice place to visit at after the whole quarantine period. But for now just making a virtual tour and hey, it’s actually enjoyable! I think I like the Tropical Garden in Thailand.
It’s inspirational for finding places. I have a document that I am adding to as I see places that I want to visit. It has been so much fun! And the Thailand Garden definitely went on that list!
During these difficult times, it is great to do a virtual tour! Also if you plan to visit any of these places, you can first have a ‘look’ and then decide whether you want to go there or not ! Amazing!
Yes, Priya! I have done that with almost all of the places I’ve been to in the past. I always want to know what I’m getting into ahead of time and have a good plan.
For us, travel lovers, this lockdown period is very difficult. It’s so helpful that videos and webcams like these exist, to be able to travel virtually until we will be able to get out again.
I’m sure it is hard, Joanna. But at least you can be expanding your list by watching these. When the ban lifts, you’ll have too many choices!
What a fantastic idea! I would love to go on a virtual field trip.I wish our library had something like thiss.
I have heard that the virtual trips are goodbut never actually tried. I will now try, check them out.
I love watching online field trips. My favourite ones are based in Italy
Oooh, I have always wanted to go to Italy but never made it. Maybe I should do a series, lol!
I love this! Now, I wont be bored here all day because I can actually do virtual trips. Plus, Id be able to learn new places. <3
Oh my goodness! I love this!! What a great idea!! My daughter and I watched these together and loved them! Thanks for posting!
I would love to do more of these because it was so much fun. But they take me forever to do because I sit there watching them all plus all the ones that didn’t make the list!!!
I love the idea of a virtual field trip especially with everything that is going on at the moment – these are all ace, thanks for sharing
Laura x
This is very informative and educative, too bad we don’t have such over here
But you do if you have an internet connection!
There are some great options here! You can virtually tour most of the US National Parks as well, I was reading about that the other day… While we may not be able to actually ‘go’ far, it’s a great opportunity to ‘visit’ places that we may not otherwise have the opportunity to travel to.
That’s awesome about the National Parks, Britt! That makes me think that most of the parks around the world will have the same. I will check that out. Thank you for your response!
Oh wow, you’ve got a really great list here. Thanks a million for sharing the link on the Nemophilia post 🙂 I’m going to watch some of these with my kids and share this post with friends who I know will appreciate it. Best, Lynda
I hope you enjoy them, Lynda! Thanks for checking them out.
This is a really great idea! I love going to physical field trips before when I was in primary and secondary school. But during this period, it is always important to learn and be safe at the same time.
These are great insights and very timely. With the ongoing crisis now, these would be great options
I agree. They will also be great for when everyone is back in school because most of them are places that are too far away to go to in person. It would be great to use them in conjunction with similar local attractions.
this is so cool. if i was a mom or a teacher i would so want to incorporate these virtual field trips all year long even after covid19 ends. such a great resource.
I would love to check out these virtual field trips they are so beautiful most of them are a great activity to do while we are in lockdown.
I had a great time writing the post with my son. Except we took too long to watch the videos and it took forever to get the article written! Thanks for sharing your thoughts. 🙂
These all sound really great ! With being on lockdown for so long, virtual field trips can be a huge plus. They’re a great way to make learning fun and get “out” of the house.
Yes, and we are also using them for a bucket list of where we would like to travel later!
It is so great that so many museums and attractions have put virtual tours online, that people can go on free of charge. It is a great way to fuel a bit of wanderlust and inspire children to wish to travel once this pandemic is over.
Exactly, Joanna! Many of these went on our family bucket list. And some are just great to see knowing that I will never make it there in person. We had such a great time making this article!
A great way to take a virtual field trip. Lovely video clips that make you feel your are there.
Thank you so much for sharing all of these! Since we had to cancel our Summer trip, we have been looking into some virtual options!
Hopefully it will help you add to your bucket list!
I love your list! Thank you for taking the time to share this. I’m not a teacher but I think I’ll take myself on a field trip! I’m glad you listed a section on ancient Egypt. I find Egyption history facinating. COVID shoudln’t stop us from still having fun and learning.
I really love the idea of Virtual Field Trips, that makes so mucg sence in times like this 🙂
This is such a great idea that will surely get kids interested in the classroom.
Thank you, it is good to have something different to enjoy and at least be able to travel a little to new places! Being on lockdown for almost 3 months now and really needed something to at least “travel” a little.
I agree. We are starting to plan our next trip now just to feel like things are getting back to normal.
I’m loving all of these virtual field trips. We have been using so many of these to keep ourselves sane.
These are perfect visual trips for the peace for mind during these time… I have saved this post so that I can share it with my family too.
That’s awesome, Monidipa. I hope you all enjoy it!
I want to see the Georgia Aquarium at Atlanta Georgia, USA. It looks so amazing! Also, Ancient Egypt looks so historic!
wow, that is quite some list!! Id love to see all these places
I am enjoying so much watching virtual tours! They are very helpful and making me fuel that desire to visit these places in the future.
It’s a great way to build your bucket list!
I love this. Also something to keep us all busy since we can not do any travel for a while
This is perfect in every sense as the world is fighting this pandemic, this will be the new norm for the entire world who love traveling.
Totally agree with you..as in current quarantine time when tourism and travelling is closed then at this time virtual field trips are really very beneficial…Thanks for sharing..such great info…
These are great ideas for field trips that can be taken during these times. I don’t know if my 3 year old students will enjoy any of these. But they sound good!
I bet they will love the aquarium ones!
The idea of having virtual field trips is great! Nice way to learn while safety is guaranteed, thank you for sharing!
My family would totally love these virtual trips. I had no ideas this was being done. I’m definitely going to check these out.
This post was really amazing. Loved it!
Hey Marie,
Great post, and so many fantastic destinations too!
If I had to pick one, it would be Longwood Gardens, which as you say, are situated on over 400 acres of land in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania.
Can’t wait for the pandemic to be over 🙂
Best, Pedro
Virtual tours sounds so much fun, It is really attractive for kids. They will love to experience this kind of virtual field trips.
We’ve been doing virtual field trips as part of my kids’ curriculum, and they’ve been really great. It’s a nice change of pace, and even though we’re still at home, the kids have a good time exploring.
Such a cool list of virtual field trips! Even if the country/world wasn’t shut down, these would still be awesome for kids to see. Most classes can’t take a in-person field trip that far away from school anyways. So this is a perfect way to experience things. Plus, it is always fun to watch something at school/home.
I love this idea! Virtual field trips are safe and you can see so much of the world that you couldn’t normally see.
These are so great and thank you for linking! I’ve definitely showed my son zoos and similar things virtually during this pandemic! Its helped so much!
This is such a wonderful idea! Thanks for sharing this 🤗My son will love it. We checked already a couple but we still have plenty on our bucketlist.
The tour of Egypt….that one is always remarkable!
This is amazing. A great addition with apps like Google Arts and Culture and other VR apps. I love exploring even if it is remote!
I like the idea of Virtual Field Trips,. This is great activity for having time with kids at home. Thanks for share this through 🙂
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These are all brilliant! Would definitely schedule these for the family to watch.
Wow, virtual trip. Visit museums whole the museum with virtual tours. This is awesome. Good idea for kids. I will definitely do this rather that saw them watching Netflix. Lol
I agree, Vera! Thank you for sharing your thoughts.
Oh my gosh, I would love to be able to travel to all of these places in-person one day, and see this all for myself. Hopefully within the next few years!
I wish the same, Emily! These were great inspirations for our bucket list!
These are really fun!! My kids will surely enjoy these!
I hope they enjoyed them! There are so many. We spent a bunch of time surfing on Youtube while working on this post. I wish I could have put all of our favorite in, but instead we will have to do another post another time.
Wow. I never thought about virtual field trips! It’s amazing how different attractions have accommodated with this move! I’d love to see the aquarium on YouTube!
I have watched it multiple times with my own kids. It is one of our favorites!
Virtual field trips sound nice and so much fun to do while staying at home due to coronavirus. Thanks a lot for sharing! I’m starting to jump on the trips right now.
Even without the current world situation, I have used virtual field trips for places that I know we will never make it to. An American class unfortunately can’t take a trip to Asia to some of the beautiful sights we have found online. I have found them so fascinating! And the kids have as well.
Wow Virtual Field Trips sounds awesome for kids especially right now were not allowed to go field trips because of the pandemic. I’m sure all kids would love this!
I haven’t been to Georgia Aquarium at Atlanta Georgia, USA. It looks so fantastic! Also, Ancient Egypt looks so historic!