A recent survey released by VisitBritain showed that the historical site attracted more than 2.8 million visitors in 2015, with a price-tag of £22 (up from £20 in 2014).
Westminster Abbey retained second place, with 1.66 million visitors, while the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew Gardens this year beat St Paul’s Cathedral into third place, attracting 1.6 million visitors.
The British Museum remained the most popular admission-free attraction for the eighth year, with 6.82 million visitors passing through its doors in 2015, followed by the National Gallery (5.9 million) and Natural History Museum (5.3 million).
Despite the popularity of such London attractions, the capital city in fact saw a 3% decrease in visits to its attractions last year. London museums and art galleries in particular saw a drop in visits, with Tate Modern a drastic 18.5% down compared to 2014.
London’s relatively poor performance led to a slower annual growth rate for the country as a whole, with visits to England’s attractions just 2% up overall in 2015 (a smaller increase than the previous two years).
The Annual Survey of Visits to Visitor Attractions also indicated that revenue across the 1,459 attractions that took part in the survey grew by 5% compared to 2014.
Participating attractions increased their adult admission prices by 5% on average in 2015, though child admission prices increased by 10% year-on-year.
Most visited paid attractions in 2015:
- Tower of London (2,785,249 visitors)
- Westminster Abbey (1,664,850)
- Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew Gardens (1,622,821)
- St Paul’s Cathedral (1,609,325)
- Chester Zoo (1,516,808)
- Windermere Lake Cruises, Bowness (1,482,899)
- Flamingo Land Theme Park and Zoo (1,470,828)
- Stonehenge (1,366,765)
- ZSL London Zoo (1,265,911)
- Drayton Manor Theme Park (1,210,141)
Most visited free attractions in 2015:
- British Museum (6,820,686)
- National Gallery (5,908,254)
- Natural History Museum (5,284,013)
- Tate Modern (4,712,581)
- Brighton Pier (4,600,000)
- Victoria and Albert Museum (3,8888,374)
- Science Museum (3,356,212)
- Alexandra Park and Palace (2,800,000)
- National Portrait Gallery (2,145,486)
- British Library (1,579,570)
