We’re living in a crazy time. Every day when I wake up and look at the news, life feels surreal (here’s our COVID-19 resource page). After spending 10 minutes watching the news on TV, I get anxious. It feels like there’s a major development every couple of minutes. Since pretty much everyone is staying home right now (including us, as we canceled all of our trips in March, April and part of May), I decided to create a post rounding up some of my favorite travel webcams from around the world to help people (sort of) travel virtually. Hopefully, a few of these offer you a moment of peace—and a reminder of how much world is out there to see once we beat this pandemic. It’s also interesting and a little eerie to see some of these places, like Times Square, with fewer people in them. Enjoy, and I hope you stay healthy and home.
Sydney, Australia
If I had to live anywhere outside of Southern California it would be Sydney, Australia, and this webcam will show you why—especially on a beautiful day like the one in the screengrab I captured when writing this post (up top). For more Sydney:
- Major League Baseball in Sydney, Australia: An Unforgettable Experience
- 7 Things to Know About Sydney, Australia
- My Sydney Detour
Los Angeles, CA
Since I live in Los Angeles, I figured I need to feature a webcam from the City of Angels. Though the weather hasn’t been very nice lately and the forecast for the next 10 days isn’t looking too promising, it’s still my home, and I love it. With the webcams provided by ABC 7 Eyewitness News (linked above), you can view live shots of downtown Los Angeles, LAX, Burbank, Long Beach, and Laguna Beach (in Orange County). Separately, you can also view this Manhattan Beach webcam. For more Los Angeles:
Miami, FL
I was supposed to fly to South Florida yesterday to visit my dad in Delray Beach and then attend the kick-off ceremony of Richard Branson’s newest venture, Virgin Voyages. But that obviously was postponed (until August). In the meantime, I (and you, too) can visit Miami virtually with the six travel webcams linked above.
Clearwater Beach, FL
Just up the state along the west coast from Miami is Clearwater Beach, voted one of the best beaches in America. Right now, Spring Break there should be in full swing, but that’s not happening. Instead, you can check out the live webcams. For more Clearwater Beach:
New York City, NY
It’s not the best place to be right now, or even this time of year. But New York City is still my favorite city in the world. It’s also home to one of the world’s most famous travel webcams: in Times Square! EarthCam’s Times Square cams feature aerial views of the action below as well the world-famous street-level camera, which is paired with audio. You can interact with both live streaming views from the HD presets as well as updating high resolution still images from the MP (megapixel) presets.
Paris, France
Is there a more iconic structure in the world than the Eiffel Tower? I don’t think so since you probably can’t travel there now you can at least check out a live webcam of it. For more Paris:
- 10 Things to Know Before Going to Paris
- The Paris Métro Is Replacing Its Iconic Cardboard Tickets With This Card
- Travel Book of the Week: “A Taste of Paris” by David Downie
- How to Get Around by Car in Paris in 8 Tips
Singapore
Singapore is one of my favorite places on Earth. I was supposed to visit last month, but I wisely canceled my trip due to coronavirus concerns. In the travel webcams linked above, you can at least check out the motorways (not much, but they’re something). For more Singapore:
Doha, Qatar
When my wife and I have traveled to Asia recently, we’ve usually turned our trips into round-the-world journeys by flying: L.A. to Toronto to Europe (usually London) to Doha to Southeast Asia (usually Bangkok) to Tokyo. All those flights are about six-hours long, which lets us break up what would be a ton of travel and see multiple destinations. (On the last leg, we’ve flown from Tokyo to L.A., which is just nine hours.) Doha, of course, is the capital of Qatar, where I’ve been multiple times. It’s located on a peninsula in the Persian Gulf. It’s about the size of Connecticut and Rhode Island combined. Doha is a modern and rapidly developing city and an interesting place to see, including by webcam. For more Qatar:
- 9 Things to Do in Qatar (Including a Falcon Market)
- Visiting The Richest Country In The World — Qatar
Antarctica
If you want to head into the cold virtually, this South Pole webcam is pretty cool. It’s provided by the U.S. Antarctica Program. Right now, it’s -56°C/-69°F on the seventh continent—and with wind chill, it’s -71°C/-95°F! If you’re like me, you’d rather see this place on your computer screen than in person. For more Antarctica:
- 10 Things You Need to Know About Solo Travel to Antarctica
- Climbing in Antarctica: A Trip of a Lifetime with Oceanwide Expeditions
Want more travel webcams?
Many more webcams are available via EarthCam here.
Have your own favorite travel webcams or places you’d like to see?
If you have your own favorite webcam to feature, please leave it as a comment below.
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