Virtual tours were once an emergency measure. They are now a permanent fixture of American cultural life. Google Arts & Culture alone partners with more than 2,000 institutions across 80 countries, which means most of the great collections in the United States can be explored online for free, room by room, painting by painting, from anywhere. The technology that began as a stopgap has matured into a genuine way to study a collection before ever buying a ticket.
US museums lead the field. They hold some of the deepest art, natural history and science collections on earth, and many of them have invested heavily in 360-degree tours, high-resolution online catalogs and Street View walkthroughs. This guide ranks the 20 best museums in the USA that offer a real virtual tour, then explains how a luxury traveler can turn that digital preview into a first-class visit in person. Each entry covers what can be seen from a screen and what makes the trip itself worth taking.
How these 20 museums were ranked
Ranking museums is never neutral, so the criteria here are stated plainly. Four things mattered. First, the significance of the collection, measured by depth, rarity and influence. Second, the quality of the virtual experience, whether that means a navigable 360 tour, a vast online catalog or a strong presence on Google Arts & Culture. Third, 2025 attendance, drawn from The Art Newspaper's annual survey and each institution's own figures. Fourth, the in-person experience, because a virtual tour is a preview and not a replacement. Art museums dominate the upper ranks, but natural history, science and a few specialist institutions earn their place too.
The 20 best US museums to explore with a virtual tour
1. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City
The Metropolitan Museum of Art is the most visited museum in the country and the natural place to start. The Met 360 Project offers cinematic walkthroughs of The Met Cloisters and the great halls, while the online collection holds hundreds of thousands of works. Look for the Temple of Dendur, the European paintings galleries and the arms and armor court. The Met drew more than 5.7 million visitors in its 2025 fiscal year, so a member preview hour or a weekday morning is the way to see it without the crowds. General admission for adults is 30 dollars, with pay-what-you-wish access for New York State residents, and the museum is closed on Wednesdays.
2. Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York City
MoMA put more than 106,000 of its roughly 200,000 works online, one of the largest free digital collections of modern art anywhere. Virtual Views and the online catalog let a visitor study Van Gogh's Starry Night, Picasso's Les Demoiselles d'Avignon and Monet's Water Lilies before arriving. In person, the building itself rewards slow looking. A timed-entry ticket booked for the first slot of the day keeps the marquee galleries quiet.
3. Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, Washington
For a true walk-through experience, the museum of natural history on the National Mall is hard to beat. Its self-guided virtual tour moves room by room through current and permanent exhibits, including the Deep Time fossil hall and the Hope Diamond. Admission is free, as at every Smithsonian, which makes this one of the great value visits in Washington. Early entry is the trick, since school groups arrive mid-morning.
4. National Gallery of Art, Washington
The National Gallery of Art ranked second among US museums in 2025. Its online collection and virtual features cover the only Leonardo da Vinci painting in the Americas, a deep Impressionist holding and the sculpture garden. Admission is free. The West Building's domed rotunda and the underground concourse linking it to the East Building reward an unhurried in-person visit.
5. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York City
Frank Lloyd Wright's spiral is one of the most photographed interiors in New York City, and the Google Arts & Culture tour lets a visitor descend the ramp virtually before walking it. The online collection leans heavily into modern and contemporary art. In person, the building is the masterpiece, so the move is to ride the elevator to the top and walk down.
6. J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles
The Getty Center and the Getty Villa together form one of the richest free art destinations in Los Angeles, with augmented-reality and online gallery experiences that bring the collection home. The Getty had a hard 2025: the January wildfires closed the Villa for roughly half the year and cut overall attendance by close to 60 percent. With the Villa reopened, the Center's hilltop gardens, Richard Meier architecture and Van Gogh Irises make the trip up the tram essential. Admission is free; parking is the only charge.
7. Art Institute of Chicago
The Art Institute of Chicago rose roughly 15 percent in attendance in 2025, one of the strongest years of any US museum. Its online collection is among the best built, with high-resolution images and scholarly notes covering its famous Impressionist and Post-Impressionist galleries. Seurat's A Sunday on La Grande Jatte and Hopper's Nighthawks are the anchors. In person, the Modern Wing and a members' early hour are worth planning around.
8. Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, Washington
The most visited science museum on the Mall offers a detailed virtual tour of its galleries, letting a visitor stand beneath the Spirit of St. Louis or the Apollo command module from a screen. Admission is free, though the museum now uses free timed-entry passes, which need to be reserved in advance even for the in-person visit.
9. Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Washington
A landmark of both architecture and scholarship, this museum partners with Google Arts & Culture on 3D artifact models and online exhibitions that trace African American history from slavery to the present. The digital experience includes interactive timelines and curator-led video. Free timed passes are essential in person, as demand remains high years after opening.
10. The National WWII Museum, New Orleans
Designated by Congress as the country's official World War II museum, the National WWII Museum runs an ambitious digital program. Its online collections, the ww2online.org oral-history archive and distance-learning galleries let visitors explore firsthand accounts from anywhere. In person, the multi-pavilion campus and its immersive galleries are among the most moving experiences in New Orleans, and a guided tour adds depth that the exhibits alone cannot.
11. Whitney Museum of American Art, New York City
The Whitney's focus on American art makes it the place to understand 20th and 21st-century work in the United States. Online features cover the collection and the Renzo Piano building in the Meatpacking District. The outdoor terraces, with their views over the Hudson and the High Line, are the reason to go in person at golden hour.
12. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
One of the largest museums in the country, the Museum of Fine Arts holds a celebrated Impressionist collection and a deep Egyptian gallery, much of it browsable online. Boston rewards a slow visit, and a weekday afternoon avoids the school groups. The Art of the Americas wing is the highlight for first-time visitors.
13. Philadelphia Museum of Art
Famous to many for its steps, the Philadelphia Museum of Art is a serious encyclopedic collection with strong online access to its European and American holdings. The recently renovated core galleries are the in-person draw. A visit pairs naturally with the nearby Barnes Foundation for a full day of art.
14. The Field Museum, Chicago
The Field Museum offers a virtual tour led by Sue, the most complete Tyrannosaurus rex ever found. Its natural history galleries cover everything from Egyptian mummies to the evolving planet, and much of it is explorable online. In Chicago, pairing the Field with the nearby Museum of Science and Industry makes for an exceptional family weekend.
15. SFMOMA, San Francisco
The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art holds one of the West Coast's strongest modern and contemporary collections, with a robust online catalog and digital stories. The Snohetta-expanded building and its living wall are the architectural draw, and the seventh-floor sculpture terrace is the quiet reward in person.
16. Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA)
The largest art museum in the western United States, LACMA spans antiquity to the present and shares much of its collection online. Chris Burden's Urban Light installation is the most photographed spot in Los Angeles, and the campus is in the middle of a major architectural transformation that makes each visit different.