It’s nearly spring break, and while I can’t recommend you take a trip to Disney or Cancun, I have a few ideas for virtual vacations that you might enjoy.

Amusement Parks

• Here are Point Of View videos for some of the most famous rides in Disney and other parks:
  • Hogwarts Express
  • Splash Mountain
  • Expedition Everest
  • It’s a Small World
  • Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance
  • The Beast (Kings Island)
  • Jurassic World
• Watch the shows:
  • sea lions
  • Shamu

Aquariums

• The Seattle Aquarium offers a 30 minute video tour.
• The National Aquarium‘s virtual tour is a fun way to see still images of their huge collection.
• Monterey Bay Aquarium offers 10 live web cams of jellyfish, sharks, and penguins, among others.
• The Georgia Aquarium has 8 live webcams including sea otters, beluga whales, and jellyfish.
• Shark-cam produced by Explore.org

Museums

• Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History -Among its truly fantastic exhibits, this museum’s presention of the evolution of life on earth is engaging and easy to follow.

Zoos and wildlife

• The San Diego Zoo offers 11 live web cams of various animals including babbons, koalas, and giraffes.
• Panda-cam from the Atlanta Zoo
• Kansas City Zoo penguin-cam and giraffe cam.
• Southwest Florida hosts an eagle cam which, as of today, has a nesting pair of eagles.
• Explore.org hosts a polar bear cam based in the Scandinavian Wildlife Park in Kolind, Denmark.
• The African Safari cam overlooks the main beach of the watering hole at Mpala Research Centre in central Kenya’s Laikipia County. We saw giraffes, a herd of elephants, hippos, and a crocodile.

Space

• Learn the night sky with Star Atlas which shows you the stars and the planets in real time and also in the future so you can plan what you want to look for tonight. Take a virtual tour of Mars on the Curiosity rover.

National Parks 

• Check out a live camera of Old Faithful at Yellowstone National Park which includes predictions for the next eruption.
• Acadia National Park web cam
• Joshua Tree National Park live web cam
• Remotely visit the Grand Canyon at their live web cam
• Big Bend National Park has a live web cam.
• Mount Rainier National Park‘s live web cam.
• Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park live web cam
• Turtleback Dome in Yosemite National Park web cam

Geological Finds from around the world

• Check in with an assortment of live volcano cams and compare action from one day to the next.
• Take a virtual tour of the Son Doong Cave in Vietnam.