London sites dominate the 2024 most-visited attractions list

The total number of visits to 400 ALVA sites in 2024 was 157.2 million, which was a 3.4% increase on the previous year. Mixed sites that are a combination of both indoor and outdoor elements saw the biggest increase of 2.4% in visitors compared to a 1% increase in outdoor attractions.

Nine out of the top ten attractions are based in London, with the British Museum taking the top spot for a second year in a row. It welcomed just under 6.5 million visitors through its doors which was an increase of 11% on 2023 figures.

In second place was the Natural History Museum in South Kensington, which also experienced an 11% increase in visitors, followed by Tate Modern in fourth with 4,603,025 visitors. The Southbank Centre was in fifth place with close to four million visitors.

Windsor Great Park was the only visitor attraction in the top ten outside of England’s capital, achieving third place after welcoming close to 5.7 million people in 2024. The typical attraction in London saw a 3% rise on visitor numbers on average. 

The top 20 most visited attractions in 2024

Notable increases in London 

The National Portrait Gallery, which reopened in the summer of 2023, moved up nine places to 18th, following a 36% increase with 1,578,065 visitors, while Young V&A welcomed 596,100 visitors and moved 35 places to 63rd – which resulted in an increase of 47% in its second year of reopening.

Buckingham Palace (limited Summer Opening) moved up 18 places to 58th with 646,832 visitors following a record-breaking year, with the palace welcoming the most visitors ever for its Summer Opening, while UK Parliament saw a 196% increase and rose 112 places to 66th position after welcoming just over 560,000 people.

Entertainment appeared to be a hook for visitors with the Royal Albert Hall seeing a 5% increase and welcoming close to 1.8 million people – making it the highest generally paid-for venue in London.

Following the success of Barbie: The Exhibition, which was the Design Museum’s third most visited in its history, it continues to host the record-breaking Tim Burton exhibition – the most popular exhibition in the museum’s 35-year history.

The V&A in South Kensington saw its busiest summer since 2018 - welcoming over 1 million visits between July and September, in part thanks to the hugely popular Taylor Swift Songbook trail.

Most visited attractions across the UK

In Scotland, the most-visited free attraction continued to be the National Museum of Scotland, which moved up one place to 11th and saw a 6% increase to 2,314,974 visitors, followed by the National Galleries Scotland which had a record-breaking year and welcomed close to two million people. 

The largest percentage increases in Scotland included Craigievar Castle, which reopened after a period of closure due to repairs and saw a 285% increase. Moving 21 places to 321st position, and after being mostly closed until August 2023 due to works, 39,692 visitors went to Caerlaverock Castle with a 114% increase – moving 13 places to 313th place. Edinburgh Castle retained its spot in the top 20, coming in at number 15.

In Northern Ireland, Titanic Belfast continued to be the most-visited attraction in the country with a 10% increase to 881,573 visitors moving up eight places to 35th spot. Giants Causeway moved up one place to 53rd with 684,146 visitors and Hillsborough Castle saw the largest percentage increase of 20% to 109,639 visitors.

In Wales, the most visited attraction was St. Fagan’s National Museum of History with 600,690 visits (62nd place). It was followed by the National Museum Cardiff with 373,382 visits (117th place), while the highest percentage increase was WWT Llanelli (Wildfowl and Wetland Trust) which saw 8% more visitors (61,705).