Top 50 World's Most Visited Tourist Attractions by Travel + Leisure

This month Travel + Leisure Magazine published a ranking of the 50 most visited tourist attractions in the world. Forbes published a similar list in 2007 and at the time many agreed that the attractions listed deserved a ranking in the top 50. When the two lists are compared there are some surprises and omissions.

One obvious difference between the two rankings is the preponderance of attractions in the United States on the Travel + Leisure list. There are 28 compared to the Forbes ranking which listed only 19. Left off the T+L list were Pyramids of Giza (Egypt) 4 million and the Taj Mahal (Agra, India) 3 million. While others like Stonehenge (England) at 1 million visitors did not have the attendance to make either list.

Times Square (photo: TheHopefulTraveler)

Trafalgar Square in London which ranked number four on the Forbes list is excluded from the Travel + Leisure because of the methodology to determine the list. The local tourism bureau could not provide estimates that distinguished between visitors and locals. Similar to the Forbes ranking, Travel + Leisure defined "tourist attractions" as cultural and historical sites, landmarks and officially designated spaces. So Minnesota's Mall of American with 40 million visitors is exempt. Also excluded are sights that draw exclusively religious pilgrims.

Some things remained constant on the Travel + Leisure ranking, France contains the most popular attractions after the United States and that visitors have a continued fondness for Mickey Mouse.

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. Count how many you have visited. I have a feeling this list will be much debated.

1) Times Square (New York City, NY) annual visitors 39.2 million
2) Central Park (New York City, NY) 38 million
3) Union Station (Washington, DC) 37 million
4) Las Vegas Strip (Las Vegas, NV) 29.5 million
5) Niagara Falls (New York State and Ontario, Canada) 22.5 million
6) Grand Central Terminal (New York City, NY) 21.6 million
7) Faneuil Hall Marketplace (Boston, MA) 18 million
8) Disney World's Magic Kingdom (Orlando, FL) 17 million
9) Disneyland Park & Disney's California Adventure (Anaheim, CA) 16 million
10) Grand Bazaar (Istanbul, Turkey) 15 million

Grand Bazaar (photo: SteveButler/flickr)

11) Tokyo Disneyland (Tokyo, Japan) 14.5 million
12) Pier 39 (San Francisco, CA) 14 million
13) Notre Dame Cathedral (Paris, France) 13.7 million
14) Golden Gate Park (San Francisco, CA) 13 million
15) Forbidden City (Beijing, China) 12.8 million
16) Epcot (Lake Buena Visa, FL) 10.8 million
17) Disneyland Paris Resort (Marne-la-Valee, France) 10.5 million
18) Sacre Coeur Basilica (Paris, France) 10.5 million
19) Tsim Sha Tsui Waterfront (Hong Kong) 10.1 million
20) Victoria Peak (Hong Kong) 10.1 million

View of Hong Kong from Victoria Peak (photo: hanneorla/flickr)

21) Pike Place Market (Seattle, WA) 10 million
22) The Zocalo (Mexico City) 10 million
23) Disney's Animal Kingdom (Lake Buena Vista, FL) 9.7 million
24) Disney's Hollywood Studios (Lake Buena Vista, FL) 9.6 million
25) Great Smoky Mountains National Park (Tennessee/North Carolina) 9.4 million
26) Great Wall of China (China) 9 million
27) South Street Seaport (New York City, NY) 9 million
28) Navy Pier (Chicago, IL) 8.7 million
29) Musee du Louvre (Paris, France) 8.5 million
30) National Air and Space Museum (Washington, DC) 8.3 million

National Air and Space Musuem (photo: ChadBendall/flickr)

31) Universal Studios Japan (Osaka, Japan) 8.2 million
32) Sydney Opera House (Sydney, Australia) 7.4 million
33) Everland (Gyeonggi-Do, South Korea) 6.9 million
34) National Museum of Natural History (Washington, DC) 6.8 million
35) Eiffel Tower (Paris, France) 6.7 million
36) Lincoln Memorial (Washington, DC) 6 million
37) Bourbon Street (New Orleans, LA) 6 million
38) Universal Orlando / Islands of Adventure (Orlando, FL) 5.9 million
39) Palace of Versailles (Versailles, France) 5.9 million
40) British Museum (London, England) 5.8 million

Lotte World (photo: krispyfreak/flickr)

41) Lotte World (Seoul, South Korea) 5.6 million
42) Grauman's Chinese Theatre / Hollywood Walk of Fame (Hollywood, CA) 5.5 million
43) French Market (New Orleans, LA) 5.4 million
44) Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York City, NY) 5.2 million
45) Hong Kong Disneyland (Hong Kong) 5.2 million
46) The Colosseum (Rome, Italy) 5.1 million
47) Ocean Park (Hong Kong) 5.1 million
48) Sea World (Orlando, FL) 5.1 million
49) Tate Modern (London, England) 5.1 million
50) Universal Studios Hollywood (Universal City, CA) 5.0 million

Universal Studios Hollywood (photo: crabers.crab/flickr)

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.