Top 50 Most Visited Tourist Attractions

Forbes magazine has released a 2007 ranking of the 50 most visited tourist attractions in the world. The researchers at Forbes indicate the list reveals several tourist industry truisms: A) Americans love to travel, but they prefer to stick within their own borders. B) Wherever Mickey Mouse goes, he conquers. C) Paris is the unofficial cultural theme park of the world. And D) Niagra Falls isn't just for lovers anymore. There are some surprises. Count how many you have visited or want to visit.
Click on the name of an attraction for a link to a related website. Where an official website could not be found, the link is to an information or ticketing website. For Niagara Falls, the links are under the location name since there are different websites for the Canadian and American Falls. If a ranking includes two attractions (such as Tokyo Disneyland / DisneySea), links are included for both.

1) Times Square (New York City, NY) 35 million
2) National Mall & Memorial Parks (Washington, D.C.) 25 million
3) Disney World's Magic Kingdom (Lake Buena Vista, FL) 16.6 million
4) Trafalgar Square (London, England) 15 million
5) Disneyland Park (Anaheim, CA) 14.7 million
6) Niagara Falls (Ontario, Canada & New York State) 14 million
7) Fisherman's Wharf / Golden Gate National Recreation Area (San Francisco, CA) 13 million
8) Tokyo Disneyland / DisneySea (Tokyo, Japan) 12.9 million
9) Notre Dame de Paris (Paris, France) 12 million
10) Disneyland Paris (Marne-La-Vallee, France) 10.6 million
11) The Great Wall of China (Badaling area, China) 10 million
12) The Great Smoky Mountain National Park (Tennessee/North Carolina) 9.2 million
13) Universal Studios Japan (Osaka, Japan) 8.5 million
14) Basilique du Sacre-Coeur de Montmartre (Paris, France) 8 million
15) Musee du Louvre (Paris, France) 7.5 million
16) Everland (Kyonggi-Do, South Korea) 7.5 million
17) The Forbidden City / Tiananmen Square (Beijing, China) 7 million
18) Eiffel Tower (Paris, France) 6.7 million
19) Universal Studios / Islands of Adventure (Orlando, FL) 6 million
20) Sea World Florida (Orlando, FL) 5.7 million
21) Pleasure Beach (pictured above) (Blackpool, England) 5.7 million
22) Lotte World (Seoul, South Korea) 5.5 million
23) Yokohama Hakkeijima Sea Paradise (Japan) 5.4 million
24) Hong Kong Disneyland (Hong Kong, China) 5.2 million
25) Centre Pompidou (Paris, France) 5.1 million
26) Tate Modern (London, England) 4.9 million
27) British Museum (London, England) 4.8 million
28) Universal Studios (Los Angeles, CA) 4.7 million
29) National Gallery (London, England) 4.6 million
30) Metropolitan Museum (New York, NY) 4.5 million
31) Grand Canyon (Arizona) 4.4 million
32) Tivoli Gardens (Copenhagen, Denmark) 4.4 million
33) Ocean Park (Hong Kong, China) 4.38 million
34) Busch Gardens (Tampa Bay, FL) 4.36 million
35) Sea World California (San Diego, CA) 4.26 million
36) Statue of Liberty (New York, NY) 4.24 million
37) The Vatican and its museums (Rome, Italy) 4.2 million
38) Sydney Opera House (Sydney, Australia) 4 million
39) The Coliseum (Rome, Italy) 4 million
40) The American Museum of Natual History (New York, NY) 4 million
41) Grauman's Chinese Theatre (Hollywood, CA) 4 million
42) Empire State Building (New York, NY) 4 million
43) Natual History Museum (London, England) 3.7 million
44) The London Eye (London, England) 3.5 million
45) Palace of Versailles (France) 3.45 million
46) Yosemite National Park (California) 3.44 million
47) Pyramids of Giza (Egypt) 3 million
48) Pompeii (Italy) 2.5 million
49) Hermitage Museum (St. Petersburg, Russia) 2.5 million
50) Taj Mahal (Agra, India) 2.4 million
Most Americans will recognize the majority of these popular attractions and surpised that some have not been included. Then again the West may not know about Everland and Lotte World but these South Korean mega-parks managed a high ranking. Based on the research for this ranking, France receives more foreign tourists per year than any other country at 76 million. Spain followed with 55 million, the United States with 50 million and China with 47 million. Italy rounded out the top five with 37 million the United Kingdon not far behind. More information regarding the list and how the list was compiled is found at forbes.com. All photos from Forbes and is used for illustration purposes only.