By STELLAMARIS ASHINZE

Google Maps on Monday highlighted 15 favourite tourist attractions on street views that people can visit while at home and get the same experience as visiting the places.

Mr Taiwo Kola-Ogunlade, Communication Officer, Google, West Africa, in a statement in Lagos said the sites offered wonderful and colourful places for people to learn and explore.

Kola-Ogunlade said that when Google Maps turned 15 in February, the Street View team published a list 15 favourite Street Views to celebrate.

He said that the views created similar experiences as visiting the place.

He identified Yosemite’s El Capitan as one of the tourist attractions, saying that with a famous climber, one could go on mountaineering on “Go mountaineering in Yosemite” without taking a 3,000-foot climb up El Capitan.

Kola-Ogunlade said the other is “Float through the International Space Station in Space View”.

"All but one of our Street View Image Collections have something in common: – gravity but with the right stuff and collaboration with National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), we were able to overcome unique obstacles to bringing everyone a taste of what it is like to be an astronaut,” he said.

He said that with Horse Around with Us at Mongolia’s Lake Khovsgol Ice Festival, one could spend a bone-chilling winter in Mongolia by going outside and having a festival on an ancient frozen lake.

Kola-Ogunlade said Google took Street View to the party and hopped on a horse-drawn sleigh for the sweetest of rides across a glacial playground.

“We partnered with world-renowned alpine photographers, skiers, mountaineers, climbers and runners to collect the Street View of Western Europe’s highest peak so that one can run on a summit, ice climb up a serac and ski knee-deep.

“Other google tourists’ attractions are Cherry blossom Season, a world famous Bathe in La Sagrada, Stroll through the Majestic Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi, drift with the Ilulissat Icefjord in Greenland.

“Also included are “Cruise through the Amazon’’, “Visit the Floating Homes of the Uros in Lake Titicaca”, “Take in the Eiffel Tower” and “Gaze up at the Northern Lights and Meander through Machu Picchu,’’ he said.

Kola-Ogunlade said that the places were tourist attractions for kids as well as for adults during the lockdown. (NAN)

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