Here in London we’re fortunate that many of our world-class museums are totally free to enter. You can gaze upon a sphinx at the British Museum, gawp at a Picasso at the Tate or be awestruck by a Ming vase at the V&A, all for zero pounds and zero pence. So it’s no wonder that two of the capital’s museums are some of the most visited institutions in the world. 

A new list has revealed the world’s 20 most popular museums. The Themed Entertainment Association (TEA) Global Experience Index for 2025 said that museums around the world attracted ‘consistently large audiences’ last year, with some UK spots seeing significant growth in visitors. 

London’s  (NHM) and  were two of the planet’s most visited museums last year. In seventh place worldwide, the NHM received 7,117,000 visits in 2025. Only a few places behind was the British Museum in 13th, which had 6,440,000 visits in 2025.  

Last year, the world’s top three most popular museums were all in China. Beijing’s Palace Museum and Summer Palace, plus Xi’an’s Museum of Emperor Qin Shihuang’s Mausoleum Site (ie The Terracotta Army) made up the top three, with 19,000,000, 17,381,000 and 10,970,000 visits respectively. You can read more about the non-London museums on the list here.

The TEA index said that museums around the world had more than 161.4 million visits last year, which was a 5.4 per cent increase from 2024. 

The world’s 20 most popular museums in 2025

1. Museum of Emperor Qin Shihuang’s Mausoleum Site, Xi’an, China 
2. Musée du Louvre, Paris, France 
3. Palace of Versailles, France
4. Shenzhen Nanshan District Museum, Shenzhen, China 
5. Natural History Museum, London, UK 
6. Opium War Museum, Dongguan, China 
7. National Museum of China, Beijing, China
8. Gyeongbokgung Palace, Seoul, South Korea
9. National Museum of Korea, Seoul, South Korea 
10. Prince Kung’s Mansion Museum, Beijing, China 
11. Chengdu Wuhou Shrine Museum, Chengdu, China 
12. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, US 
13. Shenyang Palace Museum, Shenyang, China 

The 25 best museums in London. 

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