What makes a virtual vacation experience worthwhile
Before the list, a quick way to judge any experience you come across. These are the qualities that separate a memorable online getaway from a forgettable one.
- Real places. Imagery of actual streets, buildings and landscapes, rather than an invented or cartoon world, gives you the feeling of visiting somewhere that exists.
- Choice. Being able to turn, stop and wander where you like is what turns watching into exploring.
- Company. Talking to someone while you explore makes the experience far more memorable, and gives you a shared story afterwards.
- Something to do. A meal, a swim, a ski run or a painting gives the trip a shape beyond sightseeing.
- Easy access. The best experiences open in a browser in seconds, without downloads, special equipment or complicated setup.
The best virtual vacation experiences
Six experiences, each strong at a different kind of getaway. Huntaz is ours; the rest are independent services, listed for what they do best.
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1. Huntaz Virtual Vacation
Our pick: social trips with friends
Huntaz Virtual Vacation is built around travelling together. Vacations to real cities around the world are scheduled throughout the day and last 30 minutes, an hour or two hours. You join a Travel Party of up to 10 in the Departure Lounge, then explore the destination’s real streets and landmarks with party voice and chat. Follow the Party Leader or explore freely; you stay connected either way.
In many destinations you can also step into shared 3D places: a beach, a luxury restaurant, a ski resort, a desert safari, an aqua park, a painting studio and more, depending on the destination. A travel guide answers a few short questions about where you are, and afterwards you keep a private memory of the trip.
- Type
- Scheduled group trips to real cities, with shared 3D activities
- Cost
- Free account; some activities cost Huntaz Coins
- Company
- Travel Parties of up to 10, with voice and chat
- Platforms
- Web browser on desktop and mobile, no download
Good for: friends and families who want to spend time together somewhere new.
Worth knowing: vacations depart at scheduled times, so you join the next departure rather than starting whenever you like.
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2. Virtual Vacation (virtualvacation.us)
Video walks, drives and flights
An independent site, not connected with Huntaz despite the similar name. It gathers first-person videos from around the world: walking tours of more than 100 cities, driving tours, flying tours over more than 80 cities, live cams, a Virtual Window and road trips between cities. City Guesser adds a light game where you watch a street video and guess the city.
- Type
- Video tours and live views
- Cost
- Opens in a browser; the site asks for donations to keep City Guesser free
- Company
- Solo
- Platforms
- Web browser
Good for: a relaxed walk through a city with the sound on.
Worth knowing: the camera chooses the route, so you watch rather than explore.
Official site: virtualvacation.us
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3. The Louvre’s online tours
Museum tours
The Louvre publishes virtual tours of its Petite Galerie exhibitions on its own website, each opened with a “Launch virtual tour” button, with themes ranging from travelling materials and objects to the body in movement. It is a good model of what to look for from museums: tours made by the institution itself, with real rooms and real works.
- Type
- Self-guided museum tours
- Cost
- On the museum’s website; no price shown on the tours page
- Company
- Solo
- Platforms
- Web browser
Good for: a quiet cultural afternoon.
Worth knowing: tours cover specific exhibitions rather than the whole museum.
Official site: louvre.fr/en/online-tours
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4. Google Earth
3D globe
Google Earth on the web lets you explore 3D terrain and buildings in hundreds of cities and drop into 360° street-level views. It is the best way to understand the shape of a place: the mountains around a city, the curve of a coastline or how close two landmarks really are.
- Type
- 3D globe with satellite and street-level imagery
- Cost
- No price listed for the web version
- Company
- Solo
- Platforms
- Web, mobile apps and a desktop version
Good for: getting your bearings before or after a trip.
Worth knowing: there are no activities or goals; you set your own.
Official site: google.com/earth/about/versions
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5. explore.org live cams
Live nature cameras
explore.org describes itself as a philanthropic live nature cam network and documentary film channel. Its cameras show wildlife and wild places as they are right now, which gives a very different feeling from recorded tours: something might happen, or nothing might, and that is part of the charm.
- Type
- Live wildlife and nature views
- Cost
- Opens in a browser
- Company
- Solo
- Platforms
- Web browser
Good for: a calm, slow break with nature.
Worth knowing: what you see depends on the time of day and the animals.
Official site: explore.org/livecams
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6. WindowSwap
Window views
WindowSwap calls itself the calmest place on the internet. It opens a short video of the view from someone’s window somewhere in the world. It is small and simple, and it captures something tours often miss: what ordinary life looks like from inside a home in another country.
- Type
- Recorded window views
- Cost
- Opens in a browser
- Company
- Solo
- Platforms
- Web browser
Good for: a two-minute escape between tasks.
Worth knowing: there is nothing to do but look, which is the point.
Official site: window-swap.com
Shared 3D activities you can try on a Huntaz vacation
During a Huntaz vacation, the Things to Do menu opens shared 3D places where your avatar can walk, sit, wave and dance alongside your Travel Party. Which places are open depends on the destination: beach, ski, desert and ocean places appear only where they fit the destination’s country, while the restaurant, nightclub, aqua park and painting studio are available everywhere. Some activities are free, and some cost Huntaz Coins.
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Virtual Beach
Relax by the ocean, ride jet skis and explore the beach.
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Luxury Restaurant
Enjoy virtual dining and spend time with your Travel Party.
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Virtual Ski Resort
Ski, snowboard and explore snowy mountains, with timed runs just for fun.
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Virtual Desert Safari
Ride camels, quad bikes and sandboards across golden dunes.
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Virtual Yacht Charter
Charter a luxury yacht for your party and cruise the open sea.
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Virtual Aqua Park
Race down water slides, float the lazy river and meet the dolphins.
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Virtual Painting Studio
Paint at an easel, invite friends to paint with you and keep your artwork.
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Virtual Luxury Spa
Unwind in thermal baths, saunas and steam rooms, and book a treatment.
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Virtual Surf Beach
Catch waves on a surfboard, swim over the reef and play beach volleyball.
Huntaz Virtual Vacation
Why Huntaz vacations are built around company
Most online travel is something you do alone. Huntaz Virtual Vacation starts from the opposite idea: that the best part of a trip is who you are with. Every vacation has a Departure Lounge where Travel Parties form, a Party Leader who can guide the group, and party voice and chat that stay with you from the lounge to the last farewell.
The activities follow the same idea. A virtual meal, a ski run or an afternoon in the painting studio is more fun when your friends are there with their avatars, reacting with you. After a completed vacation your party’s voice stays open for a short farewell, and each traveller keeps a private memory of the places they reached.
Illustrative image (AI-generated)
A note on the Virtual Nightclub
Huntaz also has a Virtual Nightclub where travellers can dance, socialise and enjoy VIP experiences. It is for adults only: everyone entering must be at least 18, which each traveller confirms with their own date of birth, and the Party Leader confirms for the group. Their date of birth is never shown to anyone else.
Build your own themed virtual getaway
The experiences above are even better combined. Here are a few simple themes to try.
A city break
Start with a 3D flyover to see the city’s layout, take a video walk through its old town, then join a Huntaz vacation there if one is scheduled and explore the streets with friends. Finish with a meal from that country at your own table.
A slow nature day
Open a live nature camera in the morning and leave it running in the background. In the evening, spend time at a virtual beach or spa with your Travel Party, where the point is simply to relax and talk.
An art and culture evening
Take a museum’s online tour, then head to the Huntaz Painting Studio with friends and try to paint something inspired by what you saw. You keep your artwork afterwards.
An adventure night
Pick a Huntaz vacation with time for activities and try the ski slopes, the desert safari or the aqua park slides with your party, where the destination offers them. If your group wants competition afterwards, switch to a treasure hunt: our online treasure-hunting games guide explains how those work.
Which experience suits your mood?
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Time with friends who live far away
Huntaz Virtual Vacation, with party voice and chat.
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A city walk with no effort
A video walking tour on virtualvacation.us.
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Culture and art
A museum’s own online tour, such as the Louvre’s.
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The big picture of a place
Google Earth’s 3D globe.
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Something calm in the background
Live nature cams or WindowSwap.
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An online trip that is free to start
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Something more playful
Frequently asked questions
What is the best virtual vacation experience?
It depends on what you want. For time with friends, a social trip such as Huntaz Virtual Vacation; for a relaxed solo walk, a video tour; for culture, a museum’s own online tour.
Can I do virtual vacation activities with friends?
Yes. On Huntaz, your Travel Party can enter shared 3D places together, such as a beach or a restaurant, and talk with party voice while you are there.
Do virtual vacation activities cost money?
Many are free. On Huntaz, exploring, chatting and dancing with your party cost nothing, while some activities, such as rides and meals, cost Huntaz Coins. Huntaz Coins are in-game currency and cannot be exchanged for cash.
Are the places in these experiences real?
The cities and landmarks you explore on a Huntaz vacation are real places, and so are the videos, tours and cameras listed here. Huntaz’s 3D activity places, such as the beach or ski resort, are designed spaces named after the destination.
Do I need to download anything?
No. Everything in this guide opens in a web browser. Huntaz runs on desktop and mobile browsers with nothing to install.
Is the Virtual Nightclub suitable for children?
No. The Huntaz Virtual Nightclub is for travellers aged 18 and over only. The other activity places have no such restriction.
Sources and how we checked
We checked each service’s own website on 2 November 2026, and the Huntaz details against the live product on the same day. Online services change often, so check the official site before you rely on any detail here.
Your next experience is a click away.
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