“I miss our travels,” said my daughter a few days ago. Exploring Greece and visiting museums or ancient monuments are not possible right now. Since the corona crisis has kept us home in our Athenian suburb, history and culture seem far away. That is why we started exploring virtual tours in Greece.
Virtual Tours, exploring from home
If you cannot travel to your favorite place, virtual tours can fill the gap. They are also a great resource for planning your next trip. In Greece, several museums, archaeological sites, and other organizations have stepped up their online game, putting (kid-friendly) virtual tours right at our fingertips. Through these virtual tours, we get to explore Greece at any time that we want and without waiting lines or summer heat. Combine these advantages with the fact that kids love anything on an iPad or tablet, and you have a winning solution. Finally, a virtual tour is a great gift for anyone who loves travel but cannot get to the actual place right now!
My 10 favorite virtual tours in Greece
There are quite a few excellent online tours available. To make things easier for you, I have listed my 10 favorite virtual tours in Greece. Travel with kids from the comfort of your own living room, happy exploring!
1 Virtual Tour of the Acropolis in Athens
The Acropolis is the name of the hill on which ancient Athens was founded. When the first inhabitants left the top and moved to the foothills of the Acropolis, temples and sanctuaries were erected. The most famous of all is the Parthenon temple, dedicated to goddess Athena – the patron goddess of Athens city. The Acropolis is the best-preserved monument of the ancient world in Greece and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Discover the most famous monument of Greece during a virtual tour of the Acropolis in Athens. Engaging audio commentary (in English) combined with satellite views will travel you to the most captivating ancient citadel, right from the comfort of your sofa.
For more information and for booking your Virtual Tour of the Acropolis, please click here.
2 Google Arts and Culture
This part of Google features content from over 2000 leading museums and archives who have partnered with the Google Cultural Institute to bring the world’s most famous museums, sites and other cultural attractions to your living room. Explore 360° videos of Greece and the rest of the world and visit the Acropolis Museum, Naxos, Ancient Corinth and other places in Greece.
3 The National Archaeological Museum
The largest museum in Greece, the National Archaeological Museum, features over 11,000 exhibits, that provide the virtual visitor with a panorama of ancient Greek culture from prehistory to late antiquity.
4 National Geographic
I can’t think of a brand more suited to offering free insight in (Ancient) Greece than National Geographic. From artistry to politics, Ancient Greece left a considerable impression on world history and this is a great tool to teach your kids how the legacy of Ancient Greece has evolved over thousands of years with short videos and more. Have a look at this virtual tour of an Ancient Greek cult.
Virtual Tours in Greece
5 Visit the Ancient Agora, The Temple of Zeus and the Acropolis
The self-guided audio tours of Clio Muse allow you to remotely visit renowned museums and sites in Greece and beyond from home. Follow the street cats in Athens or explore the impressive Ancient Agora and the Temple of Zeus without leaving your house! No special equipment or apps are needed, you can buy and view them on your browser.
6 You Go Culture
For anyone interested in Greek history and culture, this high-quality platform with free virtual tours is a must-exploring! The beautifully designed website has videos and other resources for myths, arts and crafts, destinations and experiences in Greece. With videos of music and wonderful places as well as tours and lots of cultural information by the E-Learning Center of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. Great for parents and older kids.
7 The Benaki Museum
The Benaki Museum also offers museum fans a virtual tour through its exhibits. Thanks to its online collection, you can virtually wander the museum’s exhibit spaces and permanent collections of ancient Greek, Roman and Byzantine art. At Benakids, children can read a letter from the Toys of the Benaki Museum, while staying at home and participating in a drawing contest.
8 Greece from Home
Greece from home is a platform with videos of Greeks from around the world, Greek-inspired music, mythology, cuisine, arts, crafts, fashion, sport and style. The YouTube channel also offers cooking classes of renowned chefs and a selection of videos of destinations and experiences from around Greece.
9 Basil and Elise Goulandris Foundation
Help your kids to get inspired by the artworks in the online collection, of the Basil and Elise Goulandris Foundation where they will meet several artists who drew inspiration from their favorite everyday objects. In We create from home, kids and teens up to 15 years old are invited to create their own artwork that will be exhibited in the museum when it opens again. My kids love it! For terms of participation, head over to the website.
10. 360 Tourist Net / Free Virtual Tours in Greece
The 360 Tourist Net website offers a dazzling amount of virtual tours around the world. Click on the Greek flag and find 165 free virtual tours in Greece. By clicking through the photos, similar to Google Street View, we were able to travel from the port to Hydra island. A great way to prepare for a trip!
11 Ancient Olympia
At the Archaeological Site of Olympia you can make a virtual tour while you are on the site. Using a pair of virtual reality glasses in front of the ruins of every temple you can see how it looked like thousands of years ago.
Have you tried any virtual tours in Greece? What is your experience with your kids, did they like it? Let me know in the comments!
PS. If you want to learn more about Greece and its history and culture, try reading some Greek mythology with your kids. Click here to find our recommended 20 best Greek Mythology books for kids.
3 Comments
This article is great! If it help, you can teach your child to read,
this video reveals how any child aged 2-9 can quickly learn to read at
home: https://bit.ly/36nmkge
wow excellent post. I miss travelling too and i can’t wait to travel to Greece this year with my wife and 2 kids. I hope the situation with the Corona to be better until July.
Your recommended virtual tours are great, i was also searching online to find virtual tours of Greece and i discovered something amazing that i think it is very interesting.
At the Archaeological Site of Olympia you can make a virtual tour while you are in the Site. Using a pair of virtual reality glasses in front of the ruins of every temple you can see how it looked like thousands of years ago. I think kids would love something like that when we go there.
Here is the website i found this on: https://www.olympiabackintime.com/
Also i found a great game for kids about Ancient Greece here : https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/z7nrydm/articles/z2ngf82
Keep up the good work and i hope soon everyone will be able to travel again.
Thank you very much for your kind comments and feedback. My aim is to provide as much information as possible to parents and feedback is always helpful. I will insert your suggestions in the post! Let me know when you are able to get to Greece!