It's official: England's most-visited attraction is in London
The British Museum saw 6.5 million visitors in 2024, making it the most popular free attraction in all of England and the most visited attraction in the country overall. That figure is up 11 percent compared 2023.
If you're not one of those millions and millions of people who have already seen the British Museum for themselves, check out our guide to it here. If you've not got long, Time Out' s contributing writer Alex Sims advises that 'a great way to see all the big hitters and get a feel for the place is by picking up one of the great museum maps that give you timed routes around the labyrinthine institution. The hour-long route is a great whistle-stop tour around the museum's best-known objects.'
Looking forward, the museum has big plans to build on its immense popularity last year. Its Western Galleries are getting a huge makeover and it will apparently start undergoing the 'biggest transformation of any museum in the world'.
Nine out of England's top ten most visited free attractions for 2024 belong to London. The Natural History Museum came in second place with a total of 5.9m visitors (you can find everything you need to know about that here) and the Tate Modern earned third place with 4.6 mill, which was down three percent compared to the year before (we've got an in depth guide to that, too).
As for the English attractions that charge an entry fee, London landmarks still came out on top. The Tower of London was the most visited paid-for attraction in 2024 with 2.9m people checking it out and Kew Gardens was the runner-up with 2.3m (an impressive 15 percent increase on its 2023 headcount).
Overall, VisitEngland discovered that attractions across England enjoyed a 1.4 percent increase in footfall from 2023 to 2024. But visitor levels are still a whopping 27 percent less than what they were in 2019.
The top 10 most visited attractions in England in 2024
British Museum
National History Museum
Tate Modern
Brighton Pier
V&A
National Gallery
Somerset House
Science Museum, London
Royal Museums Greenwich
National Portrait Gallery
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