British Museum is UK's most popular visitor attraction

Not the Buckingham Palace or even any of the numerous high street stores, rather the British museum is the  most popular visitor attraction in the United Kingdom, this is according to the BBC.

The Association of Leading Visitor Attractions (ALVA) which provided the data lists the National Gallery as the 2nd most visited attraction, while the Southbank Centre is 3rd on the list.

Scottish attractions saw a surge in visitor numbers, thanks in part to the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow while Edinburgh's National Museum of Scotland remains the most visited free attraction in Scotland, as well as the most visited museum outside London.

The list of the top 10 most visited sites contains only one attraction outside London, with the newly-built Library of Birmingham at number 10.

The library, which was completed in 2013, attracted some 2,414,860 visitors ahead of London's British Library, which drew 1,627,599 visits.

Edinburgh Castle and Chester Zoo are the only other non-London attractions in the top 20.

Here are the top 10 most visited sites in the UK:

Sites Total Visits

The British Museum                6,695,213

The National Gallery                6,416,724

Southbank Centre                  6,255,799

Tate Modern                             5,785,427

Natural History Museum         5,388,295

Science Museum                      3,356,072

V&A, South Kensington         3,180,450

Tower of London                    3,075,950

Somerset House                      2,463,201

The Library of Birmingham     2,414,860