Most Visited Museums in the World 2026: TEA Top 20 and Europe's Leaders

The TEA ranking of the world's 20 most visited museums for 2025, Europe's five leaders and tips on tickets, booking and timing

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The Themed Entertainment Association (TEA) has published its annual index of museum attendance based on 2025 visitor numbers. According to Euronews, China holds 12 of the 20 places in the ranking of the world's most visited museums, while five of the top 20 are in Europe.

For travellers planning a city break, the list also shows where queues are longest. Below are the full top 20, an overview of the European leaders and practical tips on tickets, booking and the best time to go.

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Which are the most visited museums in the world in the 2026 ranking?

The TEA list for 2025, with the number of visitors:

1. Palace Museum, Beijing — 19,000,000
2. Summer Palace, Beijing — 17,381,000
3. Museum of Emperor Qin Shihuang's Mausoleum Site, Xi'an — 10,970,000
4. Louvre, Paris — 9,046,000
5. Palace of Versailles — 8,400,000
6. Shenzhen Nanshan District Museum — 7,455,000
7. Natural History Museum, London — 7,117,000
8. Vatican Museums — 6,934,000
9. Opium War Museum, Dongguan — 6,929,000
10. National Museum of China, Beijing — 6,900,000
11. Gyeongbokgung Palace, Seoul — 6,887,000
12. National Museum of Korea, Seoul — 6,507,000
13. British Museum, London — 6,440,000
14. Prince Kung's Mansion Museum, Beijing — 6,120,000
15. Sanxingdui Museum, Guanghan — 6,080,000
16. Chengdu Wuhou Shrine Museum — 6,030,000
17. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York — 5,984,000
18. Nanjing Museum — 5,860,000
19. Shenyang Palace Museum — 5,852,000
20. China Science and Technology Museum, Beijing — 5,530,000

Why does China dominate the museum ranking?

TEA attributes China's result to its large domestic audience. The association also notes that 91% of the country's 7,188 registered museums offer free entry.

The other eight places are shared by France, the United Kingdom and South Korea with two museums each, and the USA and Vatican City with one each.

About the world's most popular tourist attractions in 2026 according to TripAdvisor — read more at the link.

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Which European museums made the top 20?

Louvre, Paris

The Louvre is Europe's leader and fourth in the world with about 9 million visitors. Euronews links this to France being the world's most visited country. The details below come from ticketing guides, not the official site, so check them on louvre.fr before a visit:

• since 14 January 2026, a ticket costs €22 for EEA residents and €32 for non-EEA visitors;
• under-18s and EEA residents under 26 enter free, but are advised to book a slot;
• entry is free for everyone on the first Friday of the month after 18:00 (except July and August) and on 14 July;
• reservation was required for nearly all visitors from 17 October to 1 November 2026;
• Paris Museum Pass holders still need a free timed slot;
• the museum is closed on Tuesdays and stays open until 21:00 on Wednesdays and Fridays.

Palace of Versailles

Versailles is fifth with 8.4 million visitors. According to the Paris Museum Pass page:

• a time slot is mandatory for the palace, but not for the Trianon, which opens at 12:00;
• from 1 November to 31 March the palace is open 9:00–17:30 (last access 17:00), from 1 April to 31 October 9:00–18:30 (last access 18:00), closed on Mondays;
• entry is free for under-18s, EU nationals aged 18–26 and everyone on the first Sunday of the month from November to March;
• the pass gives no skip-the-line access at security.

One ticket guide gives the Passport ticket price as €35 standard, €32 for EEA residents and €12 reduced.

Natural History Museum, London

The Natural History Museum is seventh with 7.1 million visitors. According to VisitLondon, entry is free, while some temporary exhibitions and events need a paid, pre-booked ticket. In busy periods walk-ins may be refused, so a timed-entry ticket is recommended. The same page gives two last-entry times, 17:30 and 17:20, with closing at 17:50; the museum is closed 24–26 December.

Vatican Museums

The Vatican Museums are eighth with 6.9 million visitors. Guides disagree on hours: most give Monday–Saturday 08:00–20:00 with last entry at 18:00, others 08:00–19:00 or 09:00–18:00. The museums are closed on Sundays except the last Sunday of the month, when entry is free from 09:00 to 14:00 (last entry 12:30).

One guide says walk-up sales ended in January 2024 and entry is online only; others call booking strongly recommended. St Peter's Basilica is free with its own entrance, and shoulders and knees must be covered.

British Museum, London

The British Museum is 13th with 6.44 million visitors. According to its official site:

• the permanent collection is free; special exhibitions and some events are paid;
• free timed tickets are booked online or by phone or email through the box office;
• galleries are open daily 10:00–17:00 and until 20:30 on Fridays, last entry 16:45 (20:15 on Fridays), closed 24–26 December;
• the paid Korea exhibition runs from 1 October 2026 to 31 January 2027, the free Multiplied wonders from 8 October 2026 to 21 March 2027;
• members must book a free timed ticket for The Bayeux Tapestry; member priority tickets for 10 September–31 December 2026 are sold out.

About the top 10 best cities to visit in 2026 according to Time Out — read more at the link.

How to visit the most popular museums without long queues?

• Book a timed slot in advance, even for free entry: the British Museum, the Natural History Museum, the Louvre and the Versailles palace all work with slots.
• Check closing days: the Louvre on Tuesdays, Versailles on Mondays, the Vatican Museums on most Sundays.
• Pick quieter times: for the Natural History Museum, unofficial guides suggest January, February, October and November and weekday mornings, noting school groups on Friday mornings; for the Vatican Museums, Tuesday to Thursday at opening, with November to February quietest.
• Confirm prices and hours on the official sites, since guides differ.

Driving between Paris, London and Rome to see Europe's top museums? Arrange a Green Card for your car in advance and keep the proof of insurance with you. Order your Green Card online at Visit World.

We remind you! In our previous article, we wrote about the world's strangest cabinets of curiosities to visit in 2026.

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