Can’t get away this summer?  Be an armchair (or desktop) traveler and see the world with the World Wonders Project.

Google Cultural Institute has partnered with UNESCO, the World Monuments Fund and several other organizations to bring world heritage
sites of the modern and ancient world online.  By using their Street View, 3D modeling and
other Google technologies, they have made these amazing sites accessible to
everyone around the world. 

While experimenting with the site I was able to virtually stroll along the Seine in Paris, drive through Yellowstone National Park, and walk inside the Ring of Megaliths at Stonehenge, something you are not allowed to do at the actual site. In addition to Street View (which Google created using cameras mounted on tricycles that could go inside many of the sites where a car could not fit), each of the 132 sites included in the project also has 3-D views, still photos, short videos and an in-depth information page.

This is also a great tool to use before you travel – why not use a virtual tour to check out where you are going before you actually go?? It’s almost as good as being there!

(photo of Versailles from Getty Images from the World Wonders site)