Official data reveals that the British Museum has been the most visited attraction in the UK for the second consecutive year. The renowned London-based museum welcomed a total of 6,479,952 visitors in 2024, an 11% increase compared to 2023, solidifying its position as a cultural hotspot.
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03-31, 2025Further good news came from the Natural History Museum, also in London, which saw an 11% increase in visitor numbers, reaching 6,301,972 and securing the second position. Overall, visitor numbers to the UK's most popular attractions increased by 3.4% year-on-year, according to data from the Association of Leading Visitor Attractions (ALVA).
Across ALVA's 400 sites, total visits amounted to 157.2 million in 2024, but this is still 8.8% lower than the 169.7 million visits recorded in 2019. Windsor Great Park (part of the Royal Collection) was the most visited outdoor attraction, welcoming 5,670,430 visitors last year, a 3% increase, placing it in third position overall.
Bernard Donoghue, Director of ALVA, described the past year as "one of steady but not stellar growth," noting that it was impacted by the "long economic recovery" following Covid lockdowns, the "impact of the cost-of-living crisis," and "constrained numbers of inbound tourists to the UK." He also emphasized that "the recovery of visitor attractions and the wider cultural heritage economy remains fragile," but that visitors have shown they continue to prioritize day trips to favorite attractions when it comes to leisure spending.
In Scotland, the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh remained the country's most visited attraction, also climbing to 11th place in the UK rankings, welcoming 2,314,974 visitors, a 6% increase. The National Galleries Scotland saw 1,999,196 visitors, a 9% increase, closely followed by Edinburgh Castle with 1,981,152 visitors. In Northern Ireland, Titanic Belfast remained the most visited attraction, with a 10% increase to 881,573 visitors (35th position overall). In Wales, St Fagans National Museum of History in Cardiff was the most visited attraction, with 600,690 visits (62nd position).
Other notable success stories include the National Portrait Gallery in London, which saw a 36% increase in visitor numbers (1,578,065) following its reopening in the summer of 2023 after three years of redevelopment, likely with many eager to see the transformed space, placing it seventh on the list. The Museum of Liverpool saw a 19% increase in visitors, climbing 12 places to 41st with 829,692 visitors; the Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford saw a 27% increase to 509,703 visitors (80th position), and the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge saw a 25% increase to 506,428 visitors (81st position).
The Young V&A museum, located in the capital, welcomed 596,100 visitors. This marks a 47% increase in its second year since reopening and placed it 18th on the list. It was also named Museum of the Year in 2024. Buckingham Palace (only open for tours for a few weeks each summer) welcomed 646,832 visitors, its highest number since opening to the public in the summer of 1993. Despite its limited opening hours, it ranked 59th on the list. The Houses of Parliament welcomed 560,317 people, a 196% increase (67th most visited).
