These are the most popular European attractions in 2024

The turn of the year is just around the corner, and for many, this is the perfect time to make plans for the new year - be it an inspiring city break over New Year's Eve or a weekend getaway that takes advantage of the bridge days in the coming year. To make planning easier, tour operator SpaDreams has compiled the most popular attractions in Europe in a current ranking. By analyzing global search volumes on Google, Bing and the social media TikTok, Instagram, Pinterest and YouTube, SpaDreams has evaluated more than 2,300 attractions across Europe. One thing is clear: France dominates the top spot, while the UK takes the most places in the top ten. The Plaza Mayor still makes it into the top 20, while the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao scores less highly.

The most important findings at a glance:

• The number 1 spot has a search volume of more than 13 million queries per month.
• The top 10 is shared by only three European countries.
• Amusement parks as well as natural attractions and special buildings all feature in the top ten.
• The most popular theme park is in France, the most popular historical site is in Italy and the most popular building is in the UK.
• The best attractions in the UK is Big Ben, on 5th place followed by Buckingham Palace on 6th place and Covent Garden on 7th place.

While France takes first place, Great Britain claims the most places in the top ten. The United Kingdom actually holds a lot of places in the list but there are plenty of places in Europe worth visiting.

While the winner of the most popular attractions in Europe is located in France, Big Ben in London, took first place in the UK comparison of attractions. Big Ben has a monthly search volume of around 7,2 million. Buckingham Palace secured second place, while the Covent Garden took third place on the winners' podium. Attractions like Stonehenge and Tower Bridge are also among the top ten on our list.

In the individual ranking of the most popular buildings, the Eiffel Tower in Paris came out on top. The other places are made up of attractions from Great Britain and Italy. The Big Ben comes in a good second place in the European comparison.

Disneyland Paris is not only the overall winner, but also the winner of the individual theme park rankings. Phantasialand and Europa Park (both from Germany) took second and third place. Puy du Fou and Alton Towers joins in the middle of the list.

Hard to beat in terms of pride and size - Mont Blanc is the most popular scenic site with beauty in Europe. But the other top 10 spots from Italy, Greece, Portugal and more have also more than earned their place.

The Louvre is the most popular museum in Europe. It is closely followed by the Natural History Museum and the British Museum (both from the UK). UK is mentioned 3 times in the top 10.

Somewhat surprisingly,The Little Mermaid from Copenhagen took first place in the statues and sculptures category, with the cheeky Manneken Pis from Brussels and the World War II sculpture Westerplatte in Gdansk joining her on the winner's podium.

In order to create a comprehensive and up-to-date ranking of tourist attractions in Europe, SpaDreams Reisen has compared the search volume for major attractions in Europe. These include theme parks (amusement parks, zoos, wildlife parks etc), buildings (castles, palaces, hotels, government buildings etc), public places (parks, streets, markets, squares, neighborhoods etc), sacred sites (churches, monasteries, temples, synagogues, mosques etc), historical sites (ruins, memorials etc), statues/sculptures, natural sights (national parks, lakes, rivers, mountains, beaches, islands etc), museums (museums, galleries, exhibitions etc) and buildings (towers, bridges, walls etc).

The monthly global search volumes of Instagram, Pinterest, TikTok, YouTube, Google and Bing were evaluated and then a total search volume was calculated by adding them together.

The Europe-wide ranking includes more than 2,300 attractions in a total of 43 countries. Only countries whose territory is primarily located on European soil were taken into account. In addition, Ukraine was not included in the ranking due to the current war. An average of 20-50 attractions were evaluated for small countries and an average of 50-100 for larger countries.