Natural History Museum most visited indoor UK attraction for second year in a row

The October half-term period was the busiest week for the museum, with 139,798 visitors. Credit: PA

The Natural History Museum was the most popular indoor attraction in the UK for a second consecutive year, with more than 4 million people walking through its doors in 2022, research shows.

The South Kensington museum had 4,654,608 visitors last year, more than three million above the previous year’s figure of 1,571,413, a report by the Association of Leading Visitor Attractions (Alva) found. The museum was closed for five months in 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The October half-term period was the busiest week for the museum, with 139,798 visitors.

Among the popular attractions which drew in crowds was the return of Dippy the Dinosaur following a four-year tour of the UK.

The 85ft-long (26m) plaster cast of a diplodocus skeleton, which was first put on display in the London museum in 1905, was seen by 1,060,813 visitors when it came back as part of a new installation from late May 2022 to January 2023.

London museums made up the top three most visited in 2022, with the British Museum coming in at second place with 4,097,253 visitors, while Tate Modern clocked in 3,883,160 visitors.

Windsor Great Park, which is the green space beyond the castle and the only Royal Park owned and managed by The Crown Estate, was the most popular outdoor attraction, with 5,636,844 visitors in 2022, according to Alva.

It was an increase of more than 200,000 on the previous year, which saw 5,400,000 people visiting the grounds.

The Natural History Museum’s director Doug Gurr said the museum was "thrilled" to have become the UK’s most popular indoor attraction for a second year running.

The British Museum was the UK's second most visited indoor attraction. Credit: PA

“It is testament to our innovative and inspiring public programme of events and exhibitions, which included Our Broken Planet: How We Got Here and Ways to Fix it, Dippy Returns and Wildlife Photographer of the Year, as well as the dedication of our visitor experience team who work so hard to ensure visitors have a brilliant day out," he said.

The Our Broken Planet: How We Got Here and Ways to Fix It display, which engaged audiences with the planetary emergency, was also seen by 1.2 million visitors during its run from May 2021 to August 2022.

The popular Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition also garnered 148,671 visitors.

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