The Covid-19 pandemic has forced globetrotters to stay at home and the tourism industry to reinvent itself. While nothing will ever replace the experience of traveling and discovering a new country by chatting with its locals, tasting the local cuisine and soaking up the atmosphere there, it is still possible to have the impression to go to the end of the world while remaining behind your computer or smartphone screen, at least for a few minutes or hours.
New technologies like virtual reality and 360 ° shooting make videos and photos ever more immersive, while video conferencing tools make it possible to meet guides halfway around the world, almost as if they were standing in your living room. Platforms and travel agencies offering virtual tours have multiplied in 2020, with giants like Amazon in the front line.
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Launched in fall 2020, Amazon Explore sells virtual experiences and excursions with local chefs and guides in cities around the globe. The platform is currently not available in France, but the digital tourism business is on the rise. Other initiatives, mostly free, exist to make you travel from your sofa. Change of scenery guaranteed, without having to take the plane or even bring an augmented reality headset.
Here are 10 destinations to visit virtually from your living room.
10. A stroll through the alleys of Aix-en-Provence
The Marseille startup My Tour Live offers virtual tours to various emblematic places in the South of France, such as Aix-en-Provence, with a professional guide. They are filmed with a 360 ° camera to allow tourists to look everywhere around them, as if they were there. Depending on the destination and the price chosen, the session is replayed (accessible twice for 10 days for 4 euros) or live, with a guide-lecturer who accompanies you for 1 hour (for 10 euros).
The next live guided tour of the historic city center of Aix-en-Provence will take place on Sunday April 25 from 6.30 p.m. to 7.30 p.m., on booking. My Tour Live also organizes virtual tours of certain districts and monuments of Marseille, Ajaccio, but also Uzbekistan, for those who want to travel further.
9. A hike in Yosemite National Park in California
Yosemite National Park in Sierra Nevada, California is renowned as one of America’s most beautiful natural sites. If you dream of gazing at the tops of its giant sequoias and exploring its mountains, know that you can already do it from home. Virtual reality photographer Scott Highton has captured 360-degree panoramas in more than 250 iconic locations across this huge site, all of which are available for free on the platform. Virtual Yosemite.
For more immersion, an ambient sound accompanies each panorama. It is not possible to move forward with the arrows on the keyboard, you have to move from panorama to panorama, but Virtual Yosemite already allows you to cover a good part of the park and to learn more about the location of each photo in reality Virtual. On a smartphone, the “Gyro” button allows you to look in the direction of your choice simply by moving your device.
8. A stroll through the ruins of Pompeii
On the ProWalk Tours YouTube channel, we travel to the four corners of the world thanks to 4K videos and immersive audio (3D sound). Guides, on foot or by bike, film their 360 ° ride thanks to on-board cameras, which give the impression of being walking or pedaling when you look at your screen.
Most of the videos are shot in Italy, such as this impressive visit to the archaeological site of Pompeii which lasts more than five hours (the aches and pains less for the viewer!) Only downside: the guide does not give any explanations, which could be missing to some curious.
7. A picnic under the cherry blossoms in Tokyo
Tours By Locals, created in 2008, originally marketed private guide bookings for travelers. Pandemic forces, it has adapted and guides can now sell their services virtually on the site, tourists are becoming rarer on the spot. As of this date, 181 visits in more than 30 countries are available online on the site, between 20 and 200 dollars (between 16 and 160 euros approximately) according to experience. It is possible to share the link of the virtual tour with several friends to “travel” together.
To celebrate spring, the guide Gulay G. offers to take you on a stroll in Tokyo and have a picnic live in a park to admire the cherry blossoms, as is the tradition of Hanami. It’s a bit like making a video call with a friend halfway around the world with professional explanations of the country’s culture and history as well.
6. A cultural trip to the Salvador Dali museum in Spain
Many museums now offer free virtual tours online. That of the Dali theater-museum in Figueras in Spain is particularly worth a visit (on his computer). It is the company Matterport, specialized in 3D, which developed the virtual visit by adding many interactive elements. We can thus walk throughout the museum, by clicking on our way on information points that reveal archive photos, additional videos or even information in the form of clues and questions.
And to take a step back, the “Dollhouse” button allows you to obtain a sectional view of the atypical building and its architecture.
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5. A visit to the tomb of Ramses VI in Egypt
In partnership with the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism, Matterport also carried out several virtual tours of the remains of ancient Egypt, including that of the tomb of Ramses VI. Thanks to 3D modeling, descend into the depths of the tomb and observe the hieroglyphics on the walls and ceiling on your way, by moving your mouse. Once you arrive at the end of the corridor, you are facing the sarcophagus of the famous pharaoh, and all this for free from your living room.
4. Discovering the secrets of Barcelona with friends
As its name suggests, the platform Globetrotter VR offers guided tours in virtual reality. The guides are professionals of the trade and allow to discover more about a city and its history, as with the excursion “the secrets of Barcelona” with Jordana Recasens, an art historian and anthropologist from the city. For 19.99 dollars (approximately 16 euros), you can access the virtual tour in replay on demand, and for 29.99 dollars (25 euros approximately), it will take place live.
During the two hours to discover Barcelona, archive images, videos and concepts modeled in 3D make the visit interactive and allow you to go back in time. You can share this experience with up to 10 people live and via videoconference.
3. The helicopter flight over New York
There are experiences which, even apart from the inability to travel due to Covid-19, seem complicated to achieve. Flying over New York in a helicopter is one of them, unless you have the budget. The site YouVisit and FlyNYON make this dream come true, at least virtually, thanks to a 360 ° video filmed, which takes you from take-off on the banks of the Hudson to above the skyscrapers and Central Park.
It’s probably less impressive than in real life, but it avoids having to put up with the noise of the helicopter, and the view down is even more complete, because the camera has been placed outside the craft. Be careful, moving your mouse can almost make you dizzy.
2. A dive around the wreck of a boat in the Red Sea
360 ° cameras can also shoot underwater. The divers of the Thistlegorm Project recorded videos around the wreck of the British Merchant Navy freighter SS Thistlegorm, which sank in the Red Sea on the Egyptian coast. Famous scuba diving spot, it is possible to discover it in the dry from your sofa thanks to these immersive videos, available for free.
1. The search for wild animals in South Africa
The Discover Africa travel agency specializes in safaris on the African continent and also offers high quality virtual excursions to discover South Africa. The project South Africa 360 consists of five virtual reality experiences in different key locations across the country such as Kruger National Park, Table Mountain and Garden Route, and uKhahlamba Drakensberg Nature Reserve.
After seeing the wonderful video introductions, tourists on these 2.0 safaris can stroll through the parks through 360 ° photo panoramas, accompanied by the sounds of nature. By clicking on the points of interest, audio explanations in English appear, and sometimes, additional videos. On your way, you will come across penguins, elephants or even cheetahs if you look closely. Don’t panic, behind your screen there is no danger.
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