Virtual travel through cities. Virtual trip to the most interesting places on the planet
Many of us love to travel, discover new places, and get many vivid and unforgettable experiences from an exciting trip. At the same time, we do not always have the opportunity to visit where we would like, to walk along the streets of beautiful cities and enjoy all the wonderful flavor of those places. Google met such users by launching an online service in 2007 that allows them to take a virtual trip through the streets of many cities around the world. In this article I will talk about the Google Maps Street View service, explain how to use it, and inspect streets and houses online.
Google Street View – street view in Google Maps
Google Street View (Google Street View) is a technology based on the work of the Google Maps and Google Earth services that allows you to view panoramas of the streets of many cities around the world.
The service was launched in 2007, and initially included photographs of some US cities. Nowadays, its capabilities allow you to enjoy the panorama of the streets of many cities of the Old and New Worlds.
The creation of such panoramas is usually carried out using a specialized vehicle on which a spherical camera is placed, which carries out continuous shooting at 360 degrees.
The photos obtained in this way are processed by Google and posted on the specified service, allowing one to construct breathtaking panoramas of the streets of many cities around the world.
And while most of the photos are taken by car, there are many photos taken by pedestrians, trekkers, tricycles, snowmobiles, all-terrain vehicles, boats, and even submersibles.
When there is a pedestrian instead of a car How to see streets and houses in Google Maps
To view streets using Google services, you can use both the stationary network service “Google Maps” and the capabilities of the mobile application “Google Street View”.
To view the streets of a city (take, for example, the city of Moscow), do the following:
- Launch the Google Maps service using your PC’s browser (you can also simply enter the name of the city and the desired street in the search bar of the Google search engine, you will be offered to view this place on Google maps);
- Find the city you need on the map (enter its name and street in the search bar, or find the city you need by moving the map and zooming accordingly using the mouse wheel);
- Find the street you need, and then click on any place (a marker will appear there). Now select a small photo of this street at the bottom of the screen, and you will switch to viewing mode for this street;
- To activate the street view mode, you can also select the little man icon on the right, and, holding down the left mouse button, drag it to the street we need;
- To move along the street, move the cursor to the desired location on the street and press the left mouse button. Those places where you can move are indicated by an “X” icon. At the same time, arrows behind and in front of you indicate that you can move in the indicated directions;
- By holding the left mouse button and moving the mouse in the desired direction, you can look around and admire the local sights (you can also use the “+” and “-” keys next to the icon on the right to zoom in and out);
- To return to the general view of the city, click on the “back” arrow at the top left.
Is it possible to view streets on Google in real time?
Many users would like to enjoy viewing the desired streets and cities in real time using services like Google Maps. Unfortunately, it is currently not possible to implement this (except perhaps in those places where cameras are installed), since the card services of Google, Yandex and their competitors use photographs taken weeks, months, or even years ago.
The actual implementation of such tasks would require the use of many satellites, which, at the moment, are used primarily for military purposes.
Conclusion
In this material I described the specifics of using the Google Maps service for street viewing. This service can be useful for getting to know the sights of various cities around the world, for building optimal routes and solving other similar problems. Take a virtual trip to various cities around the world, and perhaps you will want to personally go to the place you like in order to fully enjoy its amazing beauty. After all, it's worth it.
The webcam will allow you to visit both inside and outside the National Aerospace Administration: you will walk through the launch pads, see how the spacecraft and main shuttle engines are assembled, and you will get to the Museum of the Apollo 14 space module, which visited the Moon.
2. Coliseum(Italy)
This camera will invite you to wander through the remains of the legendary Roman stadium, where 3,000 gladiators could fight at the same time. The Colosseum is over 1900 years old and is still open to the public.
3. Palace of Versailles(France)
The Palace of Versailles is an example of how French kings lived in grand style. The splendor of the palace made such a strong impression on Peter I that after visiting it, he conceived the idea of building the famous ensemble in Peterhof. The webcam will take you through the territory of the palace and the park area, where 3,600 courtiers simultaneously lived.
4. Taj Mahal(India)
The Taj Mahal is a symbol of Shah Jahan's love for his wife Mumtaz Mahal, glorified by poets. The webcam can be zoomed in so close that you can see the floral patterns and the finest Arabic script decorating the walls of the palace.
4. Galapagos Islands(Ecuador)
This webcam will offer you a lot of exciting things: dive into the depths of the blue lagoon and see fur seals, walk around the island and take a closer look at huge turtles and unique birds - frigate birds with a bright red throat pouch.
Internet giant Google has opened a virtual door to its holy of holies - data centers. The webcam will take you to the places where the Internet is stored.
7. The White house(USA)
This webcam will invite you to visit the official residence of the President of the United States. You will walk along red carpets, look into a large number of rooms and see the atmosphere in which the American head works.
8. Diagon Alley
The wizards at Google take you through Diagon Alley from the Harry Potter movie. You will see the scenery and take in the sights of the street with the complete feeling that you have been on the set yourself.
9.
This is the first aircraft to appear on Google Street View. And for a reason. The richest people on the planet travel on board the Emirates A380. All that remains is to turn on the camera.
10. Everest Base Camp(China-Nepal)
A unique place that you shouldn’t talk about, but it’s better to see everything with your own eyes. The mountain air is breathtaking.
11. Wilson Island(Australia)
The Great Barrier Reef is like an outlandish forest with its own flora and fauna. You can see it with your own eyes right now.
12. CERN(Switzerland)
CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research) is the world's largest physics laboratory. This is where the Large Hadron Collider is located. Using the camera, you will be able to view all the details of this grandiose structure from different angles and visit any point in the center. Everything takes on completely different shapes and sizes when you look at the collider with your own eyes.
13. Islands of Indonesia
Undoubtedly, virtual travel cannot and should not replace real travel with all its gamut of vivid sensations and impressions. But they help us see any corner of the earth for free, even if you yourself will never be able to visit there. In addition, this is a very convenient way to receive a lot of useful information in advance and plan your future trips.
You can fly in the stratosphere over the entire planet or over the roofs of Paris and St. Petersburg, look into the halls of the British Museum or the Kremlin treasury, find yourself among the mountains and waterfalls of Iceland or in the amazing underwater world of the Galapagos Islands... Stop dreaming, there are no more barriers in front of you!
1. Panoramas 360cities.net
Just as poets describe the world with poems, artists with paintings, composers with music, so the website 360cities.net describes the world with picturesque panoramas.
Tens of thousands of photographs from all corners of the earth are collected here, and not only ours - there are even panoramas of other planets from one interesting rover. Here you will enjoy virtually traveling around the capital of Nepal, Kathmandu, or exploring the panorama of London, which was filmed in such high resolution that you can see the faces of people in the windows of houses.
2. Google Photo Tours
Of course, the ability to view streets on GoogleStreetView maps will not surprise anyone for a long time. But not everyone may know that the participants in this project are also interested in creating photo tours and entire virtual trips.
These photo tours give you the opportunity to walk around Taj Mahal, look at Dubai from the world's tallest 800-meter skyscraper Burj Khalifa, over the whole of Paris from one of three observation decks Eiffel Tower or be transported to Mexico to the pyramids Chichen Itza. There are also unusual journeys, for example, a descent into a salt mine similar to an underground palace in Wieliczka (Poland)) or diving into the real underwater world in dozens of different places, for example, Galapagos Islands.
To travel around Russia, take a look at RusMap.net (Google services are used) - this is a clear and accessible service for those who often go on business trips, love to travel, or are just about to hit the road. Regardless of your goal, Rusmap will make the trip as pleasant and comfortable as possible.
The “panorama” option allows you to take a virtual walk through the cities of Russia. Perhaps such an online journey will be the impetus for taking a real one.
3. Google Street View app
When I travel, I often use the Street View app. It is available for Android and iPhone. The application allows you to view many panoramas located on the world map.
There are panoramas of users and panoramas of Google itself. The service is developing rapidly and the number of panoramas is increasing before our eyes.
I myself observed the fascinating process of creating a panorama using special equipment. But each of you will be able to add your own panoramas using your smartphone and obeying the commands of the application.
4. Yandex panoramas
The Yandex company is also actively developing its mapping service, and on its maps you can take a bird's eye view of the cities of Russia and the world. For example, fly over Palace Square in St. Petersburg or over the Assumption Cathedral in Vladimir.
Yandex maps are perhaps more visual than Google; there is a mode for viewing a panorama and a map at the same time.
5. Air Pano
The amazing project of another Russian team, Air Pano, is a rare case of professional enthusiasts creating products at a level that was previously only achievable by wealthy Internet corporations. Spherical aerial panoramas, or rather entire air excursions Air Pano, will easily give both Google and Yandex a run for their money in terms of the beauty and quality of the footage.
Filming is carried out from literally everything that can fly: from airplanes and hot air balloons to airships and radio-controlled drones. Now the site has about 2000 panoramas from the most picturesque corners of the world. Here you can visit the island of Java on the Bromo volcano or see the Kremlin from the air from different angles, admire the northern lights in Iceland or admire one of the islands of Hawaii, visit Petra in Jordan and even look inside the famous Treasury.
In addition, when viewing a panorama, you can switch to another camera by simply clicking on the helicopter symbol.
The panoramas are not only colorful, but also educational. Many are marked with the names of visible objects.
6. Youtube 360 video files
360-degree video provides even greater immersion and full presence. You can easily look to the right or left, for example, when passing the palaces on a boat in Venice.
You can search for 360 degree videos on Youtube, but you can also search on Air Pano.
You will be surprised what miracles a good photographer can create using the time lapse technique (slow motion). This is a great way to show even familiar places in a completely new light and inspire travel.
Excellent collections of such videos are collected on vimeo.com. Hundreds of videos give you the opportunity to visit the most beautiful places on the planet. You can admire the golden pagodas of mysterious Myanmar, the northern beauty of Norwegian sunsets, romantic views of the famous Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco or other stunning shots from around the world.
Another global Google project is dedicated to art. It’s called: Art Project. Behind the modest name lies an incredible exhibition - tens of thousands of paintings from the best museums in the world. Moreover, each one is filmed in such high resolution that you can, for example, examine in detail every stroke of Van Gogh’s “Starry Night” or look into the eyes of the International Space Station. You will have the feeling that the camera is somewhere very close, and not 400 km from the surface of the planet.
The image changes slowly but surely throughout the day and you can see for yourself that our blue planet is in perfect order. However, it should be noted that the video is only available when there is a signal with the Earth, otherwise you will only see a splash screen. Sometimes on video you can see the life of astronauts and their spacewalks.
10. Webcams around the world
If you look out of the ISS window - it’s high and scary, you can look at something more “down to earth”. For example, visit the Maldives or London's legendary Abbey Road, or hang out for a couple of hours watching pandas at Zoo Atlanta. The website earthcam.com has a huge collection of webcams around the world - from New York to Bangkok. A great opportunity to track the changing time zones on the planet.
On the website http://a-russia.ru/ you can see many web cameras from different interesting corners of Crimea and other places in Russia.
To my great surprise, I discovered that many people are not familiar with such a concept as “ Street panoramas» on the maps. I hasten to fill this gap.
For the first time, the opportunity to travel through city streets without leaving your computer appeared on Google maps, and for obvious reasons it remains the most advanced on this service.
In the window below you can make virtual walk around the city of Moscow. Use the navigation arrows in the upper left corner of the image. You can change the viewing angle using the arrows on the keyboard. To move around the image, you can click in the image area. Arrows on city streets show routes. You can change your position on the city map by dragging the yellow man in the lower right corner of the image with your mouse:
State Tretyakov Gallery
And in this interactive window you can take a virtual online walk through the halls of the Tretyakov Gallery! In the upper left corner of the image you can switch between floors of the museum, which is very convenient:
Cathedral of Christ the Savior
“Street panoramas” can be compared to studying cities from satellites in real time. After all, typing into the search “ Moscow from satellite in real time» Users probably want to see the nearest streets or even their home from the best angle. Unfortunately, this cannot be done from a satellite in real time, unless you use special equipment.
And for ordinary users who don’t want to bother with unnecessary problems, “Street Panoramas” will come in handy; they act as a full-fledged replacement for satellite maps, plus they give a complete overview of the place we need.
And if you want to walk around such megacities as New York, Paris, London, Madrid, Rome, Barcelona and Prague without leaving your home, then be sure to check out our articles:
London 3d
New York 3d
In addition to walking, this service allows you to:
— travel around the city and see the sights;
— plan a trip route in an unfamiliar place, looking at junctions and road signs with your own eyes;
— look around the house when looking for a new place of residence;
— print a photo of the place you need.
Have a nice trip!
Undoubtedly, virtual travel cannot and should not replace real travel with all its gamut of vivid sensations and impressions. But they help us see any corner of the earth for free, even if you yourself will never be able to visit there. In addition, this is a very convenient way to receive a lot of useful information in advance and plan your future trips.
You can fly in the stratosphere over the entire planet or over the roofs of Paris and St. Petersburg, look into the halls of the British Museum or the Kremlin treasury, find yourself among the mountains and waterfalls of Iceland or in the amazing underwater world of the Galapagos Islands... Stop dreaming, there are no more barriers in front of you!
1. Panoramas 360cities.net
Just as poets describe the world with poems, artists with paintings, composers with music, so the website 360cities.net describes the world with picturesque panoramas.
Tens of thousands of photographs from all corners of the earth are collected here, and not only ours - there are even panoramas of other planets from one interesting rover. Here you will enjoy virtually traveling around the capital of Nepal, Kathmandu, or exploring the panorama of London, which was filmed in such high resolution that you can see the faces of people in the windows of houses.
2. Google Photo Tours
Of course, the ability to view streets on GoogleStreetView maps will not surprise anyone for a long time. But not everyone may know that the participants in this project are also interested in creating photo tours and entire virtual trips.
These photo tours give you the opportunity to walk around Taj Mahal, look at Dubai from the world's tallest 800-meter skyscraper Burj Khalifa, over the whole of Paris from one of three observation decks Eiffel Tower or be transported to Mexico to the pyramids Chichen Itza. There are also unusual journeys, for example, a descent into a salt mine similar to an underground palace in Wieliczka (Poland)) or diving into the real underwater world in dozens of different places, for example, Galapagos Islands.
To travel around Russia, take a look at RusMap.net (Google services are used) - this is a clear and accessible service for those who often go on business trips, love to travel, or are just about to hit the road. Regardless of your goal, Rusmap will make the trip as pleasant and comfortable as possible.
The “panorama” option allows you to take a virtual walk through the cities of Russia. Perhaps such an online journey will be the impetus for taking a real one.
3. Google Street View app
When I travel, I often use the Street View app. It is available for Android and iPhone. The application allows you to view many panoramas located on the world map.
There are panoramas of users and panoramas of Google itself. The service is developing rapidly and the number of panoramas is increasing before our eyes.
I myself observed the fascinating process of creating a panorama using special equipment. But each of you will be able to add your own panoramas using your smartphone and obeying the commands of the application.
4. Yandex panoramas
The Yandex company is also actively developing its mapping service, and on its maps you can take a bird's eye view of the cities of Russia and the world. For example, fly over Palace Square in St. Petersburg or over the Assumption Cathedral in Vladimir.
Yandex maps are perhaps more visual than Google; there is a mode for viewing a panorama and a map at the same time.
5. Air Pano
The amazing project of another Russian team, Air Pano, is a rare case of professional enthusiasts creating products at a level that was previously only achievable by wealthy Internet corporations. Spherical aerial panoramas, or rather entire air excursions Air Pano, will easily give both Google and Yandex a run for their money in terms of the beauty and quality of the footage.
Filming is carried out from literally everything that can fly: from airplanes and hot air balloons to airships and radio-controlled drones. Now the site has about 2000 panoramas from the most picturesque corners of the world. Here you can visit the island of Java on the Bromo volcano or see the Kremlin from the air from different angles, admire the northern lights in Iceland or admire one of the islands of Hawaii, visit Petra in Jordan and even look inside the famous Treasury.
In addition, when viewing a panorama, you can switch to another camera by simply clicking on the helicopter symbol.
The panoramas are not only colorful, but also educational. Many are marked with the names of visible objects.
6. Youtube 360 video files
360-degree video provides even greater immersion and full presence. You can easily look to the right or left, for example, when passing the palaces on a boat in Venice.
You can search for 360 degree videos on Youtube, but you can also search on Air Pano.
7. Video travel on Vimeo
You will be surprised what miracles a good photographer can create using the time lapse technique (slow motion). This is a great way to show even familiar places in a completely new light and inspire travel.
Excellent collections of such videos are collected on vimeo.com. Hundreds of videos give you the opportunity to visit the most beautiful places on the planet. You can admire the golden pagodas of mysterious Myanmar, the northern beauty of Norwegian sunsets, romantic views of the famous Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco or other stunning shots from around the world.
Another global Google project is dedicated to art. It’s called: Art Project. Behind the modest name lies an incredible exhibition - tens of thousands of paintings from the best museums in the world. Moreover, each one was filmed in such high resolution that you can, for example, examine in detail every stroke of Van Gogh’s “Starry Night” or look into the eyes of noblewoman Morozova Surikov.
Many museums kindly allowed us to film not only their exhibitions, but also their premises. And now you can, without getting up from your chair, stroll through the halls of the Hermitage or the Doge's Palace in Venice, or visit the Museum of the Acropolis of Athens.
If you are a creative person, then such virtual excursions will save your time and money, and you will receive no less aesthetic pleasure from works of art.
9. Webcam on the ISS
Are you fascinated by the unknown expanses of the Universe? Then watch live broadcasts from a webcam on the International Space Station. You will have the feeling that the camera is somewhere very close, and not 400 km from the surface of the planet.
The image changes slowly but surely throughout the day and you can see for yourself that our blue planet is in perfect order. However, it should be noted that the video is only available when there is a signal with the Earth, otherwise you will only see a splash screen. Sometimes on video you can see the life of astronauts and their spacewalks.
P.S. Did you enjoy virtually walking around the world? Will such virtual excursions help you prepare for visiting some interesting places on your real travels? Do you have video panoramas in your collection that will take your breath away? Share with us your impressions and findings in the comments to this article...
And also, don’t forget to tell your friends about this new opportunity to explore the world.
