Each year, millions of tourists flock to all parts of the UK, keen to visit a host of attractions. Now, new figures have revealed the most popular tourist attractions in the UK in 2024. According to the Association of Leading Visitor Attractions (Alva), the UK's most popular attractions enjoyed an increase of 3.4% in visitor numbers last year.

However, numbers were still below their pre-pandemic levels, with 157.2 million visits to 400 Alva sites last year compared to 169.7 million visits in 2019, a decrease of 8.8%. For the second year running, the most visited attraction in the country was the British Museum, which welcomed over 6 million visitors through its doors.

The total figure of 6,479,952 was an 11% increase on 2023 visitors.

London's Natural History Museum took second place with 6,301,972 visitors, also an 11% increase on the previous year. In third place was Windsor Great Park, a part of the Crown Estate, which was the top-ranked outdoor attraction. London sites dominated the top 10, including the Tate Modern, Tower of London, Kew Gardens and the Royal Albert Hall.

In 11th place was the National Museum of Scotland, which welcomed 2,314,974 visitors in 2024 and remained the nation's most popular attraction.

The Edinburgh museum, which focuses on Scottish history and culture, features archaeological finds and medieval objects alongside artefacts from science, technology and art.

In Northern Ireland, Titanic Belfast remained the most visited site with a 10% increase to 881,573 visitors, finishing in 35th place overall in the UK.

Located on the site of the former Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast, the attraction tells the story of the doomed RMS Titanic liner, which sank on her maiden voyage in 1912.

Wales's top attraction was St Fagans National Museum of History, with 600,690 visits, taking 62nd place overall.

Alva director Bernard Donoghue told BBC News that 2024 was "a year of steady but not significant growth".

He said: "The long economic recovery" from the lockdown was central, alongside "the effects of the cost-of-living crisis" and "modest inbound visitor numbers to the UK".

"The recovery of visitor attractions and the broader cultural and heritage economies remains fragile but visitors have shown that in their leisure spending they still prioritise day trips to loved attractions."

Elsewhere, Buckingham Palace saw its highest visitor numbers ever for its summer opening, the few weeks each year where the public are able to visit the monarch's London residence.

Since opening its doors during the summer for the first time in 1993, no single year has ever exceeded the 646,832 visitors in 2024.

In spite of its limited visitor period, it finished in 59th on the list.

After being named Museum of the Year, the Young V&A saw 596,100 visitors in 2024, a 47% increase after reopening in 2023.

It followed a three-year closure for the museum, based in London's Bethnal Green, which placed 18th on the overall list.

Visitors to the capital's National Portrait Gallery increased by over a third to propel it into seventh place, while Pitt Rivers in Oxford and The Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge both saw visitor numbers increase by over a quarter.

The full list of the UK's top 20 most visited attractions in 2024 (total visitors):

British Museum (6,479,952)

Natural History Museum (6,301,972)

Windsor Great Park (5,670,430

Tate Modern (4,603,205)

Southbank Centre (3,734,075)

V&A South Kensington (3,525,700)

National Gallery (3,203,451)

Somerset House (3,074,736)

Tower of London (2,902,385)

Science Museum (2,827, 242)

National Museum of Scotland (2,314,974)

Kew Gardens (2,273,976)

Royal Museums Greenwich (2,255,753)

National Galleries Scotland: National (1,999,196)

Edinburgh Castle (1,981,152)

Royal Albert Hall (1,753, 371)

Westminster Abbey (1,717,296)

National Portrait Gallery (1,578,065)

The Barbican Centre (1,541,194)

St Paul's Cathedral (1,493, 184)