Best British Museum Virtual Tours

If you’re missing a visit to your favourite British museums and galleries, you can enjoy an array of them from the comfort of your home with these virtual tours…

Thanks to a little digital innovation and online platforms such as Google Arts & Culture, your favourite British museum may be more accessible than you think. From Tate Britain to The V&A, we bring you the best British museum virtual tours available right now.

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Best British Museum Virtual Tours

The British Museum

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‘Driven by an insatiable curiosity for the world’, The British Museum is one of the most celebrated institutions complete with an extensive archive spanning art, history and culture. Founded in 1753 – older than the USA – and the world’s oldest national public museum, it is itself a piece of British history, in which you’ll find the likes of the Rosetta Stone and the Elgin Marbles. Many of the museum’s collections are now available to view online, including the Oceania (art and artefacts from the Oceania region) and Prints and Drawings galleries, whilst you can experience virtual reality tours via Google Arts & Culture.

Tate Britain

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Formerly the National Gallery of British Art, Tate Britain – the oldest gallery in the Tate collection – celebrates British art and artists past and present, where you’ll find works and rooms dedicated to the likes of Tracey Emin and David Hockney. ‘Walk through British art’ over on the Tate website, where you’ll explore a variety of the gallery’s works spanning 1545 to the present day, or turn your attention to the Turner Collection, the most extensive selection of works by painter Joseph Mallord William Turner, now available to view online amongst an array of free virtual exhibitions provided by the gallery. If you’ve exhausted Tate Britain’s online offering, we recommend checking out Tate Modern’s virtual Andy Warhol exhibtion and the Modern Art and St Ives collection.

V&A

If you missed the V&A’s highly anticipated Kimono: Kyoto to Catwalk, you can view the kimono-dedicated exhibition online, as well as via a five-part curator tour on the V&A YouTube channel. There is also plenty more to be found on the museum website, from an enchanting and historic wedding dress collection to post-war design and paintings, including the Raphael Cartoons. If that’s not enough, you’ll also find an array of online exhibitions available on the Google Arts & Culture platform, from ‘Balenciaga: Master Craftsman‘ to the museum’s expansive Gallery of Fashion.

The National Gallery

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Home to over 2,300 works of art, The National Gallery is currently offering three virtual tours to be enjoyed from the comfort of your sofa; a Google virtual tour of the museum’s ‘Renaissance masterpieces’, a virtual reality tour of the Sainsbury Wing which houses an array of early Renaissance paintings spanning 1200 to 1500, and a virtual tour comprising 18 rooms and 300 paintings. That’s more than enough to keep us busy until the gallery reopens.

Dulwich Picture Gallery

A must-virtual-visit for art enthusiasts, the Dulwich Picture Gallery is the longest standing public art gallery in England, dating back to 1811. Whilst you can’t currently visit in person, do explore the gallery’s online collection of works comprising those of Rembrandt, Bacciarelli, Canaletto and many more. You can also enjoy a virtual 360º room view of the gallery via Google Arts & Culture.

British Fashion Council

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It might not be a museum, but fashion lovers will delight in the British Fashion Council’s Google Arts & Culture online exhibitions, where you’ll find digital displays dedicated to the likes of Vivienne Westwood, ‘The craftsmanship of Alexander McQueen’ and ‘The heritage, craftsmanship and innovation of Burberry’.

National Galleries Scotland

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For those who can’t get to Scotland’s National Galleries, the extensive collections are available to view online. View the works of Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, William Blake, and Andy Warhol, to name but a few, or head to Google Arts & Culture, where you’ll find a considerable array of works spanning the Scottish National Gallery, the Scottish National Portrait Gallery and Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art.

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