The Secret Door: discover the best secret places in the world in 360º

Years ago, when Google Street View was still quite fresh, we discovered this door: The Secret Door . A mystical door that gives you random access to Google Street View's hidden treasures. And that 'random' is what makes it so magical!

Behind the door you will find beautiful interactive panoramas of places captured with the Street View cameras and with The Secret Door you can enter. An ideal pastime if you want to see more of the world and be surprised, without leaving your home or even your armchair.

Deep into the sea without a snorkel? Check!

What is Google Street View?

Street View by Google Maps is a virtual representation of our surroundings on Google Maps, which consists of millions of panoramic images. Street View's content comes from two sources: Google and contributors. This gives people who use the internet the opportunity to explore the world virtually.

Previously, Google's Street View was simply a handy roadmap tool to find your way. Over time, this expanded and you can now also enter many museums, companies, (natural) parks, squares and buildings. You can also discover life below sea level, the Amazon rainforest, the Swiss Alps and other wonders of the world in pixels.

Random surprise

The Secret Door shows it all to you randomly. The website opens the door to a random interactive panorama from the Street View collections. It really gives a feeling of both magic and childlike discovery, you're never quite sure which country you'll end up in. Fun for yourself, also fun for children who want to discover the world. Just click on the door and you'll be somewhere completely different. At the top left of your screen you will find the Maps pin that you can click on to see where exactly you are.

Note : it is an old page and does not have 'https', which is why some browsers give an alert. And sometimes 'random' isn't very random. We also lost the door for years due to privacy issues, I believe, but thanks to my sister ❤️ we found it again. The idea remains brilliant!

The next click takes us to a tiny, messy shop in a remote corner of Canada.

Want to get started yourself?

Which can! You can contribute to Street View yourself with special software for both iOS and Android. Do you want to know if a Google car will pass by your street anytime soon? That is also -approximately- known. You can find this and more here on the Google Street View page . Who knows, we may soon be able to visit you virtually!

And there is more

Last but not least, here is a list of famous museums from all over the world that you can visit virtually. You can go through and view them via Google Arts & Culture . How about the British Museum in London or just stroll through the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam? And guess where we are below...

Tell me, where did you come from?

Leave a comment and tell us where you ended up the very first time you clicked on The Secret Door . And sign up HERE for our weekly Happy Thoughts newsletter so you never miss anything fun again!

The author: Mariko Naber

Branding expert and online entrepreneur Mariko is the happy brain behind Happlify. Together with partner Mark, she runs Happlify, Sell your stuff online and branding agency Loaded ink BNO . She loves feel good, random acts of kindness, meatballs, chocolate mousse, family time, sea, piña colada, sugar & spice and everything nice.