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Bon Voyage! Shop and visit anywhere in the world with these live virtual tours© Courtesy

Shop and visit anywhere in the world with these live virtual tours

There’s no need to pack your bags this spring break!


Shirley Gomez
Senior Writer
MARCH 19, 2021 3:24 PM EDT

There’s no need to pack your bags this spring break; now, you can cook, shop, and visit anywhere in the world with live virtual tours. Imagine getting up-close with sloths and monkeys at the Toucan Ranch in Costa Rica, or what about exploring and shop at Japan’s largest fish market with a local guide.

Would you like to learn how to cook traditional dishes from your favorites countries? That’s not a problem! Newly launched service, Amazon Explore, connects travelers with thousands of local experts to virtually transports them to other parts of the world through exciting, vibrant, and customized live streaming experiences.

Would you like to visit the set of your favorite tv show? Thanks to On Location Tours, now you can visit Monica, Rachel, Phoebe, Chandler, Ross, and Joey during the Friends Virtual Tour.

Right now, this is the safest way to remove a few things from your bucket list without spending tons of money. Find below destinations to visit and activities to do overseas from the comfort of your home.

Get up-close with wild animals in Costa Rica at the Toucan Rescue Ranch© Amazon Explore

Family-friendly excursions

Get up-close with wild animals in Costa Rica at the Toucan Rescue Ranch

Get up close and personal with macaws, owls, parrots, sloths, spider monkeys, toucans, weasels, and more at the Toucan Rescue Ranch. Join your guide on a virtual tour of the ranch and learn about its history, mission, and rehabilitation programs for its animals.

You’ll also get inside access to animal enclosures, the ranch’s clinic, and other rehabilitation areas. By booking this experience, you will be helping this rescue center to save more beautiful animals.

Ice hotel tour, a completely frozen fantasy© Amazon Explore

Family-friendly excursions

Ice hotel tour, a completely frozen fantasy

The only ice hotel in North America opens every winter, from January to March. Made entirely of snow and ice, this architectural marvel is a wonder to behold. Explore the beautiful grand hall, chapel, ice slide, rooms, and suites. This virtual tour is sure to impress even the most discriminating with its incredible beauty and grandiosity. A true gem to be explored, this ice hotel is one of only two ice hotels in the entire world!

F.R.I.E.N.D.S. Virtual Tour© On Location Tours

Visiting a tv set

F.R.I.E.N.D.S. Virtual Tour

On Location Tours has launched a Friends Virtual Tour, where YOU can be your cast member alongside Monica, Rachel, Phoebe, Chandler, Ross, and Joey! This activity is perfect for those desperate to beat the winter (and quarantine) blues.

The Friends Virtual Tour is the latest from Georgette Blau, founder of On Location Tours, one of the world’s largest TV and movie tour companies, based in New York City. With Covid-19 shutting down tourism, On Location Tours had to “pivot” their business model to ensure everyone’s safe experience.

The tour is approximately 40 minutes long and features 18 locations from the acclaimed series. In addition to seeing the notorious Friends NYC apartment building, which sits on the sixth floor above Central Perk, you’ll pass by the Museum of Natural History, where Ross works as a paleontologist.

Peruvian Pisco: a live virtual cocktail class from Lima, Peru© Amazon Explore

Cooking experience in Peru

Peruvian Pisco: a live virtual cocktail class from Lima, Peru

Get to know Peruvian culture through its boozy creation! Learn to make the national drink of Peru, the Pisco Sour and Chilcano drink, from the comfort of your home. Follow along with your host as you learn about the Pisco Sour‘s distillation and cultural history. Discover the importance of stainless steel in the creation process of Peru’s national drink and other fun facts.

By the end of your experience, you will be able to create an exciting home-bar atmosphere with your new cocktail knowledge. Presented by Intrepid Urban Adventures.

Virtually learn to make fresh pasta with the Toscana Mia sisters in Italy© Amazon Explore

Cooking experience in Italy

Virtually learn to make fresh pasta with the Toscana Mia sisters in Italy

Italian cuisine, well known for pasta and pizza, includes various dishes that can accommodate different tastes and food restrictions. Most importantly, with valuable tips, everybody can cook the Italian way!

Simonetta and Paola, the Toscana Mia sisters, have taught Italian cooking classes to people of all skill levels over many years. In this virtual experience, they‘ll share their love for Italian cooking with you and teach you how to prepare your traditional Italian dish! During your session, you’ll learn how to make fettuccine with a traditional mushroom or tomato sauce.

You’ll get step-by-step instructions to make the dish, learn more about Italy and its food, and chat with the Toscana Mia sisters!

Japanese cooking 101: a live-streamed sushi and miso soup demonstration© Amazon Explore

Cooking experience in Japan

Japanese cooking 101: a live-streamed sushi and miso soup demonstration

Learn the basics of Japanese cooking from a home kitchen in Tokyo with this virtual demonstration of iconic dishes. Your host, Mayuko, is number one on the TripAdvisor list for Food and Drink activities in Tokyo. She’ll teach you the secrets of sushi making as well as the strategy behind selecting ingredients.

You’ll also get a primer on making miso soup from scratch and preparing sushi rice--all while asking your burning questions about Japanese cuisine.

Virtually shop for artisan goods made by Argentine native communities© Amazon Explore

Shopping in Argentina

Virtually shop for artisan goods made by Argentine native communities

Join Signature Tours on this shopping experience at Facón, a store specializing in handicrafts made by native communities from all over Argentina. Follow your host through this unique store and learn about the shop owner, who travels all over Argentina and hand selects the items he sells.

Tour the shop and discover unique pieces such as colorful rugs, ponchos, clay pottery, leather goods, wooden furniture, masks, and more items by indigenous artisans and their sustainable way of living. Help support and empower rural communities, discover what the word Facón means, and go gaucho chic.

Virtually shop Quebec's charming Little Champlain Street© Amazon Explore

Shopping in Canada

Virtually shop Quebec’s charming Little Champlain Street

At the heart of Lower Town Old Quebec, the cobblestone Quartier Petit Champlain is one of the oldest commercial streets in North America.

Take in the romantic setting and old-world architecture with your host as you shop local art galleries, fashion and home accessories boutiques, jewelry stores, and souvenir shops for unique items made only in Quebec. Get a taste for the city’s French heritage and see some historical sites along the way as you experience the charm that’s made Little Champlain famous for centuries.