The UK’s Most Popular Attractions

The Association of Leading Visitor Attractions (ALVA) has just released a list of the UK’s most popular attractions and has revealed that the British Museum in London has taken the top spot, followed by the National Gallery and the Natural History Museum – both also in London.

In fact, attractions in London dominated the top 10, with the Southbank Centre, Tate Modern, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Science Museum, Somerset House, the Tower of London and the National Portrait Gallery all making an appearance. ALVA believe that temporary exhibitions, such as Audrey Hepburn: Portraits of an Icon at the National Portrait Gallery and Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty at the Victoria and Albert Museum, have helped boost visitor numbers to these attractions, and may also have helped boost visitor numbers in general, which are up 3.2%. In fact, a staggering 65,218,272 people visited attractions in London alone in 2015!

While attractions in the UK capital have clearly been welcoming tourists and visitors, those outside of The City have also seen increases. For example, Chester Zoo saw nearly 1.7 million visitors, partly thanks to its amazing new development to recreate a tropical environment similar to the South East Asian islands. In addition, Edinburgh Castle topped the list as the most visited attraction in Scotland with over 1.5 million visitors and pitted the National Museum of Scotland to the post for the first time in five years! The UK’s wide range of wonderful gardens also welcomed more guests, including the Eden Project, the Royal Botanic Gardens of Edinburgh and RHS Garden Wisley. Many of these gardens have special winter programs, which feature light shows and rare plants, making them a wonderful place to visit no matter the season!

Bernard Donoghue, Director of ALVA, welcomed the news, saying that the strength of the dollar against the pound makes the UK a particularly affordable destination to enjoy in 2016 with ample attractions, tours and activities to enjoy.

If you’re thinking about a vacation or multi-city tour in the UK and would like us to create a personalized vacation itinerary for you, including pre-arranged tours and activities, contact a member of our friendly team at 1-347-594-5500 or click here to send an online inquiry. We create customized dream vacations to the UK and take care of all the details so that you can simply relax and look forward to your break on the British Isles.