50 Most Popular Tourist Attractions In The World

50 Most Popular Tourist Attractions In The World

Have you ever wondered what tourist attractions and places of interest receive the most visitors worldwide. Well, back in 2007, Forbes Traveler released a ranking of the world’s 50 most visited tourist attractions. This includes both international and domestic tourists. The following list will show you the most popular tourist attractions in the world, based upon the number of visitors. Now obviously those with paid attendance figures will be more precise than those that are free to the public. Some of those listed here are more obvious than others and some may even surprise you.

See how many you’ve heard of or even recognize…..

#1 - Times Square

 

New York City, NY, USA
35 million
http://www.timessquarenyc.org/
http://timessquare.com/
___________________________________________________________________________

#2 – National Mall & Memorial Parks

 

Washington, D.C., USA

25 million

http://www.nps.gov/NAMA

http://www.nps.gov/mall

___________________________________________________________________________

#3 – Disney World’s Magic Kingdom

 

Lake Buena Vista, FL, USA
16.6 million
http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/
http://www.wdwinfo.com/
___________________________________________________________________________

#4 – Trafalgar Square

 

London, England, UK

15 million

http://www.london.gov.uk/trafalgarsquare/

http://www.ionthesquare.co.uk/

___________________________________________________________________________

#5 – Disneyland Park

 

Anaheim, CA, USA
14.7 million
http://disneyland.disney.go.com/disneyland
http://www.wdwinfo.com/disneyland/disneyland-theme-parks.htm
___________________________________________________________________________ 

#6 – Niagara Falls

 

Ontario, Canada & New York State, USA

14 million

http://www.niagarafallsstatepark.com/

http://www.niagara-usa.com/

___________________________________________________________________________

#7 – Fisherman’s Wharf / Golden Gate National Recreation Area

San Francisco, CA, USA
13 million
http://www.visitfishermanswharf.com/
http://www.nps.gov/goga
___________________________________________________________________________

#8 – Tokyo Disneyland/DisneySea

Tokyo, Japan
12.9 million
http://www.tokyodisneyresort.co.jp
___________________________________________________________________________

#9 – Notre Dame de Paris

Paris, France
12 million
http://www.notredamedeparis.fr/
___________________________________________________________________________

#10 – Disneyland Paris

Marne-La-Vallee, France
10.6 million
http://www.disneylandparis.com/
http://www.disneylandparis.co.uk
___________________________________________________________________________

#11 – Great Wall of China

Badaling area, China
10 million
http://www.travelchinaguide.com/china_great_wall/
http://www.greatwall-of-china.com/
___________________________________________________________________________

#12 – Great Smoky Mountain National Park

Tennessee/North Carolina, USA
9.2 million
http://www.nps.gov/grsm
http://www.gatlinburg.com/things-to-do/national-park/
___________________________________________________________________________

#13 – Universal Studios Japan

Osaka, Japan
8.5 million
http://www.usj.co.jp/e/
___________________________________________________________________________

#14 – Basilique du Sacre-Coeur de Montmartre

Paris, France
8 million
http://www.sacre-coeur-montmartre.com/
http://www.paris.org/Monuments/Sacre.Coeur/
___________________________________________________________________________

#15 – Musee du Louvre

Paris, France
7.5 million
http://www.louvre.fr/llv/commun/home
http://www.paris.org/Musees/Louvre/
___________________________________________________________________________

#16 – Everland

Kyonggi-Do, South Korea
7.5 million
http://www.everland.com/MultiLanguage/english/
http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/SI/SI_EN_3_1_1_1.jsp?cid=264235
___________________________________________________________________________

#17 – The Forbidden City/Tienanmen Square

Beijing, China
7 million
http://www.beijingtrip.com/attractions/square.htm
http://www.travelchinaguide.com/attraction/beijing/tianan.htm
___________________________________________________________________________

#18 – Eiffel Tower

Paris, France
6.7 million
http://www.tour-eiffel.fr/teiffel/uk/
http://www.paris.org/Monuments/Eiffel/
___________________________________________________________________________

#19 – Universal Studios/Islands of Adventure

Orlando, FL, USA
6 million
http://www.universalorlando.com/amusement-parks/islands-of-adventure.html
___________________________________________________________________________

#20 – Sea World Florida

Orlando, FL, USA
5.7 million
http://www.seaworld.com/orlando/
___________________________________________________________________________

#21 – Pleasure Beach

Blackpool, England, UK
5.7 million
http://www.blackpoolpleasurebeach.com/
___________________________________________________________________________

#22 – Lotte World

Seoul, South Korea
5.5 million
http://www.lotteworld.com/Global_eng/Main.asp
___________________________________________________________________________

#23 – Yokohama Hakkeijima Sea Paradise

Japan
5.4 million
http://www.seaparadise.co.jp/english/
___________________________________________________________________________

#24 – Hong Kong Disneyland

Hong Kong, China
5.2 million
http://park.hongkongdisneyland.com/hkdl/en_US/home/home?name=HomePage
___________________________________________________________________________

#25 – Centre Pompidou

Paris, France
5.1 million
http://www.cnac-gp.fr/
http://www.centrepompidou.fr/
___________________________________________________________________________

#26 – Tate Modern

London, England, UK
4.9 million
http://www.tate.org.uk/
___________________________________________________________________________

#27 – British Museum

London, England, UK
4.8 million
http://www.britishmuseum.org/
___________________________________________________________________________

#28 – Universal Studios

Los Angeles, CA, USA
4.7 million
http://www.universalstudioshollywood.com/
___________________________________________________________________________

#29 – National Gallery

London, England, UK
4.6 million
http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/
___________________________________________________________________________

#30 – Metropolitan Museum

New York, NY, USA
4.5 million
http://www.metmuseum.org/
___________________________________________________________________________

#31 – Grand Canyon National Park

Arizona, USA
4.4 million
http://www.nps.gov/grca
http://www.nps.gov/archive/grca/grandcanyon
___________________________________________________________________________

#32 – Tivoli Gardens

Copenhagen, Denmark
4.4 million
http://tivoli.dk/

___________________________________________________________________________

#33 – Ocean Park

Hong Kong, China
4.38 million
http://www.oceanpark.com.hk/html/en/home/
___________________________________________________________________________

#34 – Busch Gardens

Tampa Bay, FL, USA
4.36 million
http://www.buschgardens.com/BGT2/
___________________________________________________________________________

#35 – Sea World California

San Diego, CA, USA
4.26 million
http://www.seaworld.com/sandiego/
___________________________________________________________________________

#36 – Statue of Liberty

New York, NY, USA
4.24 million
http://www.nps.gov/STLI
http://www.statueofliberty.org/
___________________________________________________________________________

#37 – The Vatican (Vatican Square)

& the surrounding museums

Vatican City (surrounded by Rome, Italy)
4.2 million
http://www.vatican.va/phome_en.htm
___________________________________________________________________________

#38 – Sydney Opera House

Sydney, Australia
4 million
http://www.sydneyoperahouse.com/
___________________________________________________________________________

#39 – The Coliseum

Rome, Italy
4 million
http://www.italyguides.it/us/roma/colosseum.htm
http://www.tickitaly.com/galleries/colosseum-rome-italy.php
http://www.rome.info/about/
___________________________________________________________________________

#40 – American Museum of Natural History

New York, NY, USA
4 million
http://www.amnh.org/
___________________________________________________________________________

#41 – Grauman’s Chinese Theater

Hollywood (Los Angeles), CA, USA
4 million
http://www.manntheaters.com/chinese/
___________________________________________________________________________

#42 – Empire State Building

New York, NY, USA
4 million
http://www.esbnyc.com/tourism/tourism_visitorinfo.cfm
http://www.esbnyc.com/index2.cfm?noflash=1
___________________________________________________________________________

#43 – Natural History Museum

London, England, UK
3.7 million
http://www.nhm.ac.uk/
___________________________________________________________________________

#44 – The London Eye

London, England, UK
3.5 million
http://www.londoneye.com/
___________________________________________________________________________

#45 – Palace of Versailles

France
3.45 million
http://en.chateauversailles.fr/homepage
___________________________________________________________________________

#46 – Yosemite National Park

California, USA
3.44 million
http://www.nps.gov/yose
http://www.yosemitepark.com/
___________________________________________________________________________

#47 – Pyramids of Giza

Egypt
3 million
http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/giza.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Pyramid_of_Giza
___________________________________________________________________________

#48 – Pompeii

Italy
2.5 million
http://www.pompeiisites.org/
___________________________________________________________________________

#49 – Hermitage Museum

St. Petersburg, Russia
2.5 million
http://www.hermitagemuseum.org/html_En/index.html
http://www.arthermitage.org/
___________________________________________________________________________

#50 – Taj Mahal

Agra, India
2.4 million
http://www.tajmahal.org.uk/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taj_Mahal
___________________________________________________________________________

How many of these have you been to?

Which ones would you eventually like to make a trip to see?

Quite a few of you will more than likely recognize many of the attractions listed above and may even be a little surprised that some other well known tourist spots are not included on this list. Then again, many Westerners may not be aware of places like Everland and Lotte World, but these mega-parks in South Korea are very well known on the other side of the world and get the definitely get the visitors.

Based on the research for visitor rankings, France receives more foreign tourists per year than any other country at 76 million. Then comes Spain with 55 million. The United States places 3rd with 50 million and China follows with 47 million. Italy rounds out the top five with 37 million. The United Kingdom is not far behind that. More information regarding the list and how the list was compiled can be found at Forbes.com.

___________________________________________________________________