British Museum retakes crown for the UK’s most visited attraction

The British Museum has retaken its top spot as the UK’s most visited visitor attraction, boosted by last summer’s China history exhibition. The last time the museum was the UK’s most visited attraction was in 2019.

British Museum (c) ianVisits

According to figures from The Association of Leading Visitor Attractions (ALVA), visits to their reporting sites across the UK were up by 19% on the previous year to just under 150 million, but they are still down by 11% on pre-pandemic numbers.

Indoor attractions saw a 23% increase in visitors compared to a 2% increase in outdoor attractions.

The most-visited attraction in the UK was the British Museum, which saw 5.82 million visits – a 42% increase on 2022 numbers, which they attributed in part to the success of China’s Hidden Century exhibition that ran from May to October. The Natural History Museum was the second most visited attraction in the UK, and the Tate Modern was fourth, both increasing visitor numbers by 22% over the previous year.

Despite only being open for half the year from June 2023, the newly refurbished National Portrait Gallery welcomed 1.16 million visits.

The biggest jump in visitor numbers to London venues was at the City of London’s Guildhall Art Gallery, which more than doubled the number of people visiting the free gallery in 2023 compared to the previous year. That can be partially attributed to the recovery in the City of London’s commuter traffic, but the City has also been pushing hard with a marketing campaign to bring in visitors to the Square Mile.

Unsurprisingly, Westminster Abbey saw a surge in visitors during the Coronation year, despite having to close for several weeks for the Coronation itself. Buckingham Palace also saw a big jump in visitors, doubtless aided by the Coronation afterglow.

Commenting on the 2023 ALVA visitor numbers, Laura Citron, CEO of Visit London said: “2023 was a big year for London’s tourism sector, with attractions across the city reporting almost a quarter increase in visitors. Alongside the increase, we saw big milestone reopenings like the Young V&A and the iconic National Portrait Gallery, showing that London is truly back with a bang.” adding that “Our research shows that experiences are a key reason why visitors come to London. That’s why our Visitor Experience strategy prioritises building London’s offer of more innovative experiences to ensure that there is something for all visitors to enjoy.”

ALVA rankings for London venues: