These are the world’s 20 most-visited museums – and five are in Europe

Published on 30 October 2026 - 7:00 GMT+1

From state museums covering a country’s history to archaeological sites that give a glimpse into the past, museums are a great introduction to a new destination.

In some cases, it’s the entire reason for the trip, and the most popular museums can rack up millions of visitors annually.

Now, the Themed Entertainment Association (TEA) has published its annual index looking back at visitor numbers for 2025, and five of the top 20 most-visited museums are in Europe.

China dominated the list overall with 12 entries, including the number one spot: Beijing’s Palace Museum, which saw 19 million people walk through its doors last year.

TEA attributed this to its large domestic audience as well as the fact that 91% of the country’s 7,188 registered museums offer free entry.

Of the remaining eight, there are two apiece in France, the UK, and South Korea, as well as one each in the US and Vatican City.

The top 20 most-visited museums worldwide

Palace Museum, Beijing, China – 19,000,000
Summer Palace, Beijing, China – 17,381,000
Museum of Emperor Qin Shihuang’s Mausoleum Site Museum, Xi’an, China – 10,970,000
Musée du Louvre, Paris, France – 9,046,000
Palace of Versailles, France – 8,400,000
Shenzhen Nanshan District Museum, Shenzhen, China – 7,455,000
Natural History Museum, London, UK – 7,117,000
Vatican Museums, Vatican City – 6,934,000
Opium War Museum, Dongguan, China – 6,929,000
National Museum of China, Beijing, China – 6,900,000
Gyeongbokgung Palace, Seoul, South Korea – 6,887,000
National Museum of Korea, Seoul, South Korea – 6,507,000
British Museum, London, UK – 6,440,000
Prince Kung’s Mansion Museum, Beijing, China – 6,120,000
Sanxingdui Museum, Guanghan, China – 6,080,000
Chengdu Wuhou Shrine Museum, Chengdu, China – 6,030,000
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, US – 5,984,000
Nanjing Museum, Nanjing, China – 5,860,000
Shenyang Palace Museum, Shenyang, China – 5,852,000
China Science and Technology Museum, Beijing, China – 5,530,000

The most-visited museums in Europe in 2025

Unsurprisingly, given France is the most-visited country on the planet, the top museum in Europe is the Louvre in Paris, which saw nine million visitors over the course of 2025, placing it fourth overall.

Coming in fifth overall was another contender from France, the Palace of Versailles, with 8.4 million visitors.

Seventh place went to London’s Natural History Museum, with 7.1 million visitors, followed by the Vatican Museums, with 6.9 million people visiting.

The final European entrant is the British Museum in London, which came 13th overall thanks to its 6.44 million visitors.

Writing about museums in continental Europe, the report notes that “attendance remained at high and relatively stable levels as most major museums completed their post-pandemic recovery”.

Several museums in the UK saw major growth with the opening of new exhibitions or wings, like the Sainsbury Wing at the National Gallery, and Our Story with David Attenborough at the Natural History Museum.