The world's best museums without leaving your sofa

They say every crisis is also an opportunity. For art lovers, this lockdown has been a chance to discover (or remember) that many museums have excellent virtual tours for exploring their collections without leaving the sofa. A screen will never be the same as having the canvas right in front of your eyes, but beggars can't be choosers, right?

We begin our virtual tour of the world's most prestigious museums in Italy. The Vatican Museums are one of the most important (and most exhausting) cultural centres in the world. Thanks to the tour we can visit their hundreds of masterpieces... without breaking a sweat. One of the advantages of a virtual visit is that you're not obliged to see everything in one day to get your money's worth out of the ticket: the Raphael Rooms and the Sistine Chapel are a click away.

We cross the pond without taking a transatlantic flight and drop by a charming little museum in Mexico City to meet one of the most important artists in the country's history. The Frida Kahlo Museum, also known as the Blue House because of its cobalt blue walls, is devoted to the life and artistic miracles of the Mexican painter.

A little further north, we cross the border without asking Mr. Trump for permission to enjoy one of the best museums in California: the J. Paul Getty Museum. It has areas dedicated to ancient art, drawing, manuscripts, sculpture, photography and painting. Among its most popular canvases you'll find some by Cezanne, Rubens, Turner and Van Gogh.

Fancy getting to know one of Asia's most fashionable cities? The National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Seoul can be a good way to start getting to know the culture of South Korea. It opened its doors in 1969, devoting a good part of its rooms to the history of art in the Asian country. But it also has artworks by international artists such as Joseph Beuys and Andy Warhol.

On our museum trip around the world we don't want to miss the chance to head down to Australia and visit a curiosity that, while it doesn't have much to do with art, is refreshing at a time when the urge to enjoy the outdoors is almost uncontrollable. We're talking about the Australian National Surfing Museum, dedicated to the important work Australia has done in spreading this sport. To enjoy the most legendary boards in history... and the odd shark.

Back in Europe, we're wrapping up this trip with a stop in London, one of those capitals with so many interesting museums that you always have to save one for the next trip. Well then: now we can see (almost) all of them without booking a hotel. Tate Britain lets us explore, for example, an extensive collection of Turner artworks. Or would you rather get lost in the National Gallery looking for Van Gogh's Sunflowers or Van Eyck's Arnolfini Portrait?

A tour of the world's best virtual museums wouldn't be the same without a stop at the Louvre, would it? Unlike most of the museums described here, the Parisian museum has its own virtual programme, independent of Google Arts & Culture. With this virtual tour of the Louvre you'll manage something no visitor has ever been able to enjoy before: having the Mona Lisa all to yourself. Now you just have to find her...