Explore Cultural Institutions From Around the World At Home

Craving an escape from winter? We hear you! And while jetting off to the tropics isn't possible these days, you can explore art and history or immerse your mind in top-notch performances—all for free and from your couch. Here are our favourite ways.

Explore art collections around the world

Start at home with the Group of Seven’s paintings at Ottawa’s National Gallery of Canada and more than 800 photo stories marking milestones in Canadian history.

Immerse yourself in the Guggenheim Museum’s extensive “Collection Online” of over 1,700 works—including those from the Dada and Cubist movements—from its galleries in New York, Venice and Bilbao.

Tour the Musée d’Orsay in Paris and soak in the former railway station’s stunning architecture in-between marveling at the 278 masterpieces available for viewing.

Chronologically browse the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City for a comprehensive view of its pre-Hispanic heritage.

Tour six continents and two-million years of history at the British Museum and get up close with the ancient Rosetta Stone and Chinese objets d’art.

Walk through the grounds of The Vatican Museum and enjoy peaceful 360-degree views of Michelangelo’s ceiling in The Sistine Chapel.

Through the Google Arts Project, you can visit museums from Istanbul to India, but don’t miss South Africa’s Johannesburg Art Gallery, Africa’s largest, to learn about the role of photography during the apartheid era.

Travel to outer space

For space and science buffs, look no further than NASA’s Langley Research Center and Glenn Research Center’s virtual tours or download Space Center Houston’s app, which offers augmented reality experiences through which you can explore the moon and watch Saturn V launch.

Watch performances of Shakespeare, Beethoven and ballet

Join New York’s Metropolitan Opera for its “Nightly Met Opera Streams,” which feature encore presentations of performances from the past 14 years. Expect to see some of opera’s top singers.

Alternatively, brush up on your Beethoven with the Berlin Philharmoniker’s Digital Concert Hall offering front row seats to concerts and films. You can also watch a modern adaptation of Romeo and Juliet filmed at Shakespeare’s famous Globe Theatre in London or wait for the new season of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Shows Must Go On!, which streams a full-length musical production for a limited time every weekend.

Back on home soil, the National Ballet of Canada has introduced the Spotlight Series, a curated program of digital performances available for 30 days from the video release date.

Get more with CAA

When you’re ready to travel again, speak with a CAA travel consultant to plan your next trip. You can also find inspiration for your next holiday with CAA’s Virtual Visits, where you can discover exciting new travel experiences, as well as hear from CAA’s panel of experts and partners who can answer questions about safety protocols and planning tips.

Image Credit: ©Monika Rittershaus, ©The Trustees of the British Museum, NASA/JPL-Caltech, Photo by Karolina Kuras