You’ll soon be able to take a virtual trip to London as Google Earth adding 3D imagery of the whole city

London may be an expensive tourist destination, but Google will soon offer the next best thing to hopping on a plane: complete 3D imagery of the entire city. The London Evening Standard reports that every building in London will soon be included.

A Google Maps spokesman said: “Using 45-degree aerial imagery, we’re able to recreate entire metropolitan areas in 3D. This means every building, not just the famous landmarks, the terrain, and any surrounding landscape of trees are included to provide a much more accurate and realistic experience of the city” …

All you’ll need to to view the imagery is to search for London in either Google Maps or Google Earth, then zoom in. Once you reach a certain zoom level, buildings will switch to the 3D view.

Google has not yet given a specific date for making the imagery live, only stating that it is coming ‘soon.’ Currently major landmarks are in 3D while the rest of the city is 2D.

Notable London landmarks you might want to include in your virtual tour are the Houses of Parliament, the London Eye, Tower Bridge, the Tower of London, Buckingham Palace, the Shard and the Gherkin.

Via Engadget