This is the first of a series of pieces about Things To Do During Self Isolation, curated from the some of the first-class ideas currently circulating.  This one focuses on some cultural and educational websites that you can enjoy from the comfort of your own sofa. 

Future pieces will look at how to keep children occupied, how to work from home, how to encourage good mental health and ease anxiety and other community tips and ideas.  We would love to hear from you with suggestions to share with fellow LEH alumnae, so please email them in to us at: alumnae@lehs.org.uk.

Google Arts & Culture ­(https://artsandculture.google.com/) has teamed up with over 2,500 museums and galleries around the world to bring you virtual tours and online exhibits of some of the most famous museums around the world.

The incredible collection includes the British Museum in London, the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, the Guggenheim in New York City, and literally hundreds of more places where you can gain knowledge about art, history, and science. This collection is especially good for students who are looking for ways to stay on top of their studies while schools are closed.

British Museum, London
This iconic museum located in the heart of London allows virtual visitors to tour the Great Court and discover the ancient Rosetta Stone and Egyptian mummies. You can also find hundreds of artifacts on the museum’s virtual tour.

Guggenheim Museum, New York
Google’s Street View feature lets visitors tour the Guggenheim’s famous spiral staircase without ever leaving home. From there, you can discover incredible works of art from the Impressionist, Post-Impressionist, Modern and Contemporary eras.

Musée d’Orsay, Paris
You can virtually walk through this popular gallery that houses dozens of famous works from French artists who worked and lived between 1848 and 1914. Get a peek at artworks from Monet, Cézanne, and Gauguin, among others.

NASA, America
Who hasn't dreamed of visiting NASA? You don't have to be a scientist to get inside the gates of the Langley Research Centre in Virginia, the Glenn Research Centre in Ohio and the Space Centre in Houston. Simply go online to tour everything from flight simulations to supersonic wind tunnels, and let all your childhood dreams come true. For more information visit nasa.gov.
 
The National Gallery, London
If you're in the mood for a bit of art and culture, you'll be spoilt for choice with The National Gallery's online offerings. Take a tour of 18 gallery rooms with over 300 paintings, including works by Titian, Veronese, and Holbein. Captivated by one particular piece? There's also the opportunity to learn more about each of the paintings on view. For more information visit nationalgallery.org.uk.

Acropolis Monuments, Greece
Even without recommendations to practice social distancing and limit travel, it's not every day you get to fly to Athens to see the Acropolis. Explore the archaeological site via an interactive tour online and learn about the most prominent monuments, including the Parthenon and the Temple of Athena Nike. For more information visit acropolisvirtualtour.gr.

Guggenheim Museum, America
Never got round to seeing one of New York's most famous art museums? Fear not, Google’s Street View can transport you to the Guggenheim’s famous spiral staircase with the chance to view everything from the Impressionist, Modern and Contemporary eras. If that's not enough to keep you busy, the online collection also has 1,700 artworks by more than 625 artists, as well as works from Venice and the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao. For more information visit https://artsandculture.google.com/partner/solomon-r-guggenheim-museum
  
The Louvre, France
Although we can't actually jet off to France to see some of the famous landmarks, seeing The Louvre online is the next best thing. As one of the world’s largest art museums, it offers plenty of entertainment to keep you busy for months. Go online and learn about everything from Egyptian Antiquities to the remains of the Louvre's Moat, built by French king Philippe Auguste. For more information visit louvre.fr.

Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
Explore the masterworks from the Dutch Golden Age, including works from Vermeer and Rembrandt. Google offers a Street View tour of this iconic museum, so you can feel as if you’re actually wandering its halls.

Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam
Anyone who is a fan of this tragic, ingenious painter can see his works up close (or, almost up close) by virtually visiting this museum – the largest collection of artworks by Vincent van Gogh, including over 200 paintings, 500 drawings, and over 750 personal letters.

The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles
European artworks from as far back as the 8th Century can be found in this California art museum. Take a Street View tour to discover a huge collection of paintings, drawings, sculptures, manuscripts, and photographs.

Uffizi Gallery, Florence
This less well-known gallery houses the art collection of one of Florence, Italy’s most famous families, the de'Medicis. The building was designed by Giorgio Vasari in 1560 specifically for Cosimo I de'Medici, but anyone can wander its halls from anywhere in the world.

There are thousands of museum Street Views on Google as well, plus an opportunity to look round famous historical and heritage site, allowing you to explore the Statute of Liberty, the Taj Mahal or the Eiffel Tower, to name but a few.
 
Special features on Google Arts & Culture currently include stories ‘Four Things To Do With Your Camera Phone’, ‘The Weird and Wonderful World of Dinosaurs’ and a novel way of looking at the art world, called ‘Explore by Colour’.

#MuseumMomentofZen
If you are into your social media, there’s a great thought-provoking and hopefully calm-inducing hashtag to check out on both Instagram and Twitter, which allows institutions to share particularly zen artworks online to provide a moment of calmness amidst the current global anxiety.  For more information click here.

And if you are missing the great outdoors, you can even go "outside" with incredible virtual tours of some of America's best national parks.

Don’t forget, we’d love to hear from you with suggestions to share with fellow LEH alumnae, so please email them in to us at: alumnae@lehs.org.uk.