Virtual travel experiences

TRAVEL THE WORLD VIRTUALLY

Perhaps your travel plans were foiled. Maybe you’re planning and preparing for an overseas adventure down the track. Or you could just be travel lovers like us, looking to curb your wanderlust from the confines of your living room. These virtual tours of bucket-list destinations are ideal if you’re feeling trapped at home or want to know what to expect when you visit the real thing. All you need is the internet and imagination.

Unable to visit Europe as planned this year, instead, Kirsty Russell’s family tested virtual tours of the best galleries and museums. Here are her top picks.

VATICAN MUSEUMS

Look up at Michelangelo’s most famous masterpiece on a virtual tour of the Sistine Chapel. The available options are organised by location; click your way through various halls and galleries including the Raphael Room.

LOUVRE

This Parisian icon offers different curated, themed virtual tours. The whole family will love discovering the Egyptian Antiquities online (not just the mummies!) and budding history buffs will enjoy exploring the remains of the medieval moat.

MORE AWESOME VIRTUAL TRAVEL EXPERIENCES

JERUSALEM

Take a walking tour through Jerusalem, complete with voiceovers and labelled highlights including the Western Wall and Chapel of the Holy Sepulchre.

Samsungvr.com/view/ Wv_0tcndBOG

ANGKOR WAT

You usually have to compete for sunrise views of Angkor Wat. Have the temple complex to yourself with these 360-degree panoramas. Compatible with VR headset or mouse and computer screen.

virtualangkor.com

JAPAN

Japan’s National Tourism Organisation has released a virtual 360-degree film showcasing travel highlights such as bamboo forests and sushi-making demos.

visitjapan-europe. jnto.go.jp/en/ experience/vr/

ACROPOLIS

Ancient architecture meets modern technology with 360-degree virtual panoramas of key spots in this Greek site. You can also follow a drone video tour.

TOWER OF LONDON

From the Normans to the Tudors, you can navigate different pinpointed locations on this famous site on the River Thames.

CHILE

Download the free Chile 360 App for images and footage of the South American nation’s top icons, from the Atacama Desert to Easter Island.

appchile360.cl

ART GALLERIES

In what can only be described as an art-lover’s heaven, Google has collected top art museums in its Google Arts Collection. Van Gogh Museum, Tate Britain, MoMA and Uffizi Gallery are featured, with images of their best-known pieces.

artsandculture.google.com

WORLD HERITAGE SITES

Google Earth has awesome 3D virtual tours listings, including 30 major World Heritage sites (think Stonehenge, Taj Mahal and Great Pyramids) and 31 US National Parks (including Yellowstone, Yosemite and Grand Canyon).earth.google.com

YOUTUBE

Trawl the travel channels of Youtube and you’re sure to find plenty of video tours. Virtual Travel is one such channel, with tours of Petra and Kruger National Park (among others) that place you in the driver’s seat.

youtube.com/virtualtravel

KIDS PICKS

We spoke to 13 year old Emily about her favourite holidays, what challenges she faces when travelling and where she’s excited to visit in the future.

Please tell us about your favourite holiday so far?

Every year, my Dad’s cousin and his family and my family holiday together.

They have three girls a little bit younger than me and we love spending time together. They live in Melbourne, so we only get to see each other once a year.

Each year our parents choose somewhere different to travel to. This way we get to explore and experience different cultures.

In July 2017, we all went to Vietnam for two weeks. We stayed in Ho Chi Min City, Da Nang, Hue and Hoi An.

What made that holiday so enjoyable?

Firstly, I loved it obviously because I got to see my cousins and go overseas.

I loved that we visited many historical places and learn all about Vietnam. We did the Cu Chi Tunnel Tour, toured the Mekong Delta River, did a Historical Day Tour to Hue, shopped, visited markets, saw the Japanese Covered Bridge and visited Hoi An’s Old Town.

In Da Nang we stayed at the Hyatt and our room opened right up on to Non Nuoc Beach. It had the best pools with a water slide. We had so much fun that sometimes it was hard to leave the hotel and sightsee!

Was there anything you didn’t enjoy about that holiday?

It was so hot and humid that sometimes I found it made me feel really tired. When I used my wheelchair, it was hard as sometimes the paths weren’t always wheelchair accessible.

There was so much traffic (lots of motorbikes and scooters and cars) in Ho Chi Min, that I didn’t feel safe crossing the roads.

I didn’t always like the food in Vietnam but I did try everything.

Right clockwise:

Nuoc Non Beach, Cu chi Tunnels, Hoi An Old Town, Exploring the Hotel Ground in Da Nang, Hoi An Markets Quang Nam Province. Social Media

@emilyjprior @emilyjpriorofficial What are the challenges you face when you travel?

I travel with my wheelchair and I have been really lucky and never had any issues with my chair being damaged.

When I travelled through Vietnam, the security in the airports didn’t understand what my Ankle Foot Orthotics (AFO’s) were and always wanted me to take them off and try and walk without them.

The biggest problem I face when travelling is that paths, roads, and places are not always wheelchair accessible or easy for me to walk on.

What’s your top travel tip for other kids?

I think one of the best things to do is keep a travel diary. So that I can remember my holidays, I always write in a diary each night.

I love taking photos, collecting mementos, maps, tickets or anything that I can stick in a travel diary.

I try to take lots of photos and make sure that I get people to take photos of me too!

Our family always organises a day of exploring and the next day is spent at the hotel relaxing. This way we don’t get sick of sightseeing and we get to sleep in, swim and relax by the hotel pool.

I always pack some of my favourite things to keep me occupied and some of my favourite snacks in my carry-on luggage.

I always laminate a note about my wheelchair (to handle it with care, that it is my method of travel) in the language of the country I am visiting and attach it to my chair while it is in transit.

If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you like to go and why?

If I could travel anywhere in the world I would love to go to Paris because I really want to see the Eiffel Tower and visit the Louvre Museum and see all the famous paintings.

TOP TIPS FOR TRAILRIDER FUN

TrailRiders are all-terrain wheelchairs which open up more possibilities when it comes to bush tracks. Julie Jones shares her top tips for tackling trails with a TrailRider

1. Typically, TrailRiders are free to borrow from National Parks provided you book in advance. You will need at least two ‘sherpas’ to assist. 2. In NSW, your best bets are booking a TrailRider from Kurnell Visitor Centre to explore Kamay Botany Bay National Park or the Snowy Region Visitor Centre to explore Kosciuszko National Park. The Dorrigo Rainforest Centre also provides one for delving into the rainforest floor. 3. Three hours northwest of Melbourne, the Grampians National Park lends out a TrailRider from Brambuk the National Park and Cultural Centre. Two of Victoria’s other famously scenic regions – Dandenong Ranges and Wilsons Promontory National Park – also have motorised TrailRiders for hire, as do other Parks Victoria hotspots. 4. Book a week in advance to use the TrailRider from Cradle Mountain Visitor Centre in Tassie. If you miss out, you can always set off on the all-weather, boarded Rainforest Walk. Freycinet and Mount Field also have TrailRiders at their visitors’ centres. 5. Canberra’s Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve – perfect for echidna and platypus spotting – has a TrailRider for use in sections inaccessible in a typical wheelchair.