The most popular museums in the world have been voted on … by feet.
In an age where technology is turning most traditions upside down, museums have done a wonderful job to stay relevant and reposition themselves as a source of engaging entertainment. In fact, their resurgence might be due to the fact they are something of an antidote to the tech chaos that surrounds us most of the time.
Based on the 2015 global visitor data just released, the much-loved Louvre is again everybody’s favourite with almost nine million pairs of eyes exchanging glances with the Mona Lisa last year.
Of the top 20, London has been hailed as the world’s museum hotspot with six entries led by the British Museum at number-five overall.
By sheer weight of domestic visitors, the National Museum of China in Beijing saw it claim number-two spot.
The museum regarded by many as the most startling they’ve ever seen, The State Hermitage in St Petersburg, Russia, continues to climb up the rankings with a 13% increase in visitors to 3.7 million last year.
In the Asia-Pacific data, only the National Gallery of Victoria (free entry) made the top 20 in the region with just over two million visitors in 2015.
The world’s top 20 museums
- Louvre, Paris, France (8,700,000 visitors)
- National Museum of China, Beijing, China (7,290,000) FREE
- Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, Washington DC, US (6,900,000) FREE
- Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, Washington DC, US (6,900,000) FREE
- British Museum, London, United Kingdom (6,821,000) FREE
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, United States (6,300,000)
- Vatican Museums, Vatican, Vatican City (6,002,000)
- Shanghai Science & Technology Museum, Shanghai, China (5,948,000)
- National Gallery, London, United Kingdom (5,908,000) FREE
- National Palace Museum (Taiwan), Taipei, Taiwan (5,288,000)
- Natural History Museum, London, United Kingdom (5,284,000) FREE
- American Museum of Natural History, New York, United States (5,000,000)
- Tate Modern, London, United Kingdom (4,713,000) FREE
- National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., United States (4,104,000) FREE
- National Museum of American History, Washington, D.C., U.S. (4,100,000) FREE
- State Hermitage, St. Petersburg, Russia (3,668,000)
- Musee d’Orsay, Paris, France (3,440,000)
- Victoria and Albert Museum, London, United Kingdom (3,432,000) FREE
- China Science and Technology Museum, Beijing (3,360,000)
- Science Museum (South Kensington), London, United Kingdom (3,356,000) FREE
