The British Museum has topped the Association of Leading Visitor Attraction’s (Alva) annual round-up of attendance figures for the sixth consecutive year, with 5.6 million visitors in 2012.
The total represents a 4.7% fall on 2011, despite the popularity of the exhibition Grayson Perry: The Tomb of the Unknown Craftsman.
The list of the top 10 most visited attractions featured nine in London, including St Paul’s Cathedral and the Tower of London.
The National Museum of Scotland (NMS) was the first Scottish attraction to make the top 10. The museum welcomed 1.9 million visitors last year, which was 29.1% more than in 2011.
Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum in Glasgow finished just outside the top 20, with more than a million visitors – a 5.8% rise on 2011.
The most visited English museum outside London was the Museum of Liverpool, with more than a million visitors.
Many attractions suffered a fall in visitor figures in 2012, which Alva put down to a combination of the weather and the Olympics. 27 of the 30 attractions that suffered double-digit declines were gardens or outdoor attractions.
The figures do not include museums in Wales (except for National Trust properties) or Northern Ireland.
The total represents a 4.7% fall on 2011, despite the popularity of the exhibition Grayson Perry: The Tomb of the Unknown Craftsman.
The list of the top 10 most visited attractions featured nine in London, including St Paul’s Cathedral and the Tower of London.
The National Museum of Scotland (NMS) was the first Scottish attraction to make the top 10. The museum welcomed 1.9 million visitors last year, which was 29.1% more than in 2011.
Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum in Glasgow finished just outside the top 20, with more than a million visitors – a 5.8% rise on 2011.
The most visited English museum outside London was the Museum of Liverpool, with more than a million visitors.
Many attractions suffered a fall in visitor figures in 2012, which Alva put down to a combination of the weather and the Olympics. 27 of the 30 attractions that suffered double-digit declines were gardens or outdoor attractions.
The figures do not include museums in Wales (except for National Trust properties) or Northern Ireland.
