The website of the British Royal Family includes a virtual tour of three rooms in Buckingham Palace. Buckingham Palace is the London home of the Queen of England and the administrative headquarters of the British monarchy.
The Buckingham Palace tour allows you to explore the Throne Room, the White Drawing Room and the Grand Staircase. Each of these three 360 degree panoramic tours include information on the function of the room in the Royal household and information on some of the paintings and furniture on display.
In terms of scale the Queen's house is certainly impressive but I'm not enamored with the decor. I don't know whom the Queen used for her interior design but it all seems a little too nouveau riche for my tastes. It is almost as if someone is trying a little too hard to impress. Obviously the word 'understatement' isn't in the royal vocabulary.
One person who shared the Queen's taste in outrageously opulent design was the Sun King, Louis XIV. Louis XIV's Palace of Versailles has to be one of the most magnificent buildings in the world. This Google Arts and Culture tour of the palace allows you to explore the palace using Google Street View. You can explore each individual Street View by panning around and zooming in on the 360 degree panoramic images. Move around the palace by clicking on the navigation arrows within each of the Street View scenes.
You can explore many of the world's best museums and galleries during lock-down using their virtual tours. Here are a few more that you might enjoy:
The Metropolitan Museum of Art - includes a number of virtual exhibitions
The National Gallery - London's National Gallery has a number of virtual tours
The Rijksmuseum Masterpieces Up Close - a virtual tour of the museum's Gallery of Honour
The Sistine Chapel Virtual Tour - explore the Sistine Chapel and Michelangelo's astonishing ceiling
The Smithsonian National Museum of Natural Museum - has created a number of virtual tours
The Stonehenge Virtual Tour - places you in the center of this mysterious pre-historic monument
Beijing Palace Museum - the Palace Museum has created a number of virtual tours which allow you to explore some of the museum's galleries and also some of the amazing buildings of the Forbidden City
Some photo-shopping going on! Look at the lamps on the fire place below the portrait of Queen Alexandra in the white drawing room - no cables and sockets. Then spin the view 180 degrees and look at the reflection of the same fireplace. Messy cables. Even HRH has cable management issues :-)
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