British Museum loses UK’s top tourist attraction title to popular site

The UK has plenty of iconic landmarks and attractions across the country for tourists to check out during their visits. 

For the last two years, the British Museum in London has been the most popular site, attracting 6.5million visitors in 2024 and 5.8million in 2023.

The public museum features over eight million works and is dedicated to two million years of history.  

But new figures by the Association of Leading Visitor Attractions (ALVA) reveal another spot has taken the crown. 

The Natural History Museum, in South Kensington, is the UK’s top tourist attraction for 2025.

Last year, a whopping 7.1million visitors explored its vast range of exhibits – a record breaking number of visits for any museum or gallery in a year. 

The figure is also an impressive 13 per cent increase from 2024, which saw 6.3million visitors. 

Guests to the Natural History Museum can gaze at the impressive 25-metre blue whale skeleton named Hope which is suspended in the central hall. 

Entry is completely free and the museum is open seven days a week from 10am to 5.50pm.

Natural History Museum director Dr Doug Gurr expressed how ‘thrilled’ the organisation was about the news. 

He said: ‘These exceptional results reflect our unwavering focus on delivering a fantastic day out for every visitor, as well as the dedication of our colleagues who work tirelessly to create unforgettable experiences and world-class exhibitions.

‘We should all take heart from these figures. Welcoming 7.1 million visitors demonstrates the enormous public appetite to engage with the wonders of the natural world and UK cultural attractions. 

‘That’s why we are committed to creating more space to welcome visitors through our NHM150 campaign – opening a brand-new or revitalised permanent gallery every year until our 150th anniversary in 2031.’

The British Museum still ranked at a very respectable second place, bringing in 6.4million visitors in 2025, down just one per cent from the previous year. 

In third place, the Crown Estate, Windsor Great Park saw a 12 per cent drop in tourists and brought in nearly five million visits.

Windsor Great Park is one of the country’s leading rural estates and boasts 1,000 years of history. The estate is spread across 15,800 acres of forests, grasslands, lakes and gardens.

Another London spot, the popular art gallery Tate Modern ranked fourth and saw 4.5million visitors last year, experiencing just a two per cent fall from the year before. 

Entry to the gallery is free and it is open seven days a week from 10am. Some exhibitions require an additional charge. 

The National Gallery ranked fifth, with 4.1million visits – a 29 per cent surge from 2024.

Located in Trafalgar Square, London, it was founded in 1824 and is now home to more than 2,3000 paintings. 

Another London spot, the Southbank Centre, followed with 3.4million visits to its concert halls, galleries and indoor spaces and the V&A in South Kensington ranked seventh with 3.3million visits.

Meanwhile, Somerset House, the Tower of London and the Science Museum rounded off the top ten attractions. 

Other notable landmarks include the Royal Albert Hall, which ranked 17th overall but brought in 1.7million visitors.

It hosted the Grand Sumo Tournament last year which saw top sumo wrestlers from Japan take over the capital.

The London Transport Museum experienced a record-breaking year with 449,599 visitors and ranked in 97th place – its highest annual total since its opening in 1980 and up six per cent on 2024.

Over in Scotland, the most-visited free attraction continued to be the National Museum of Scotland.

The venue saw 2.3million visits and moved to 12th place, followed by Edinburgh Castle which continued to be the most visited paid for attraction in Scotland with a three per cent increase in visitors to around 2million, putting it in 15th place.

In Northern Ireland, the Titanic Belfast was the most-visited attraction and experienced an eight per cent increase to 953,554 visitors. It ranked 35th overall. 

Meanwhile, in Wales St Fagans National Museum of History was the most visited and ranked 77th with 570,207 visits. 

Bernard Donoghue OBE, director of ALVA, said: ‘Visitor attractions are the places that people prize most and provide the experiences that people, even in a cost-of-living crisis, are most loathe to give up. 

‘Our visitors want to spend special time, with special people in special places.’

He continued: ‘In a time of unpredictable futures, uncertain economics, global insecurities, economic challenges, and an ongoing cost-of-living crisis, the UK public are more tactical than ever in deciding how they spend their leisure pounds and their leisure hours. 

‘Their expectations of a great visit are higher now than they have ever been. The day trip to an attraction now competes within the family budget with free things to do, as well as subscriptions to streaming channels. 

‘The competition has never been greater, the choice never so broad.’