The British Museum named top UK museum

The iconic British Museum has been named number one museum in the UK in this year’s Traveller’ Choice awards.

In fact, this London museum, dedicated to human history, art and culture and with an incredible 8 million works including collections from Ancient Egypt, the Greek Bronze Age and the Roman Empire, is also named fourth best rated museum in Europe and eighth in the world.

Award winners were determined using an algorithm that took into account the quantity and quality of reviews and ratings for museums worldwide, gathered over a 12-month period.

Joanna Mackle, Deputy Director, the British Museum said:

The British Museum is delighted to be number one in the TripAdvisor Traveller’s choice awards in the UK and to appear in the Europe and World lists. The Museum’s world collection has always been a draw for visitors but it is wonderful that visitors enjoy and rate their visits so highly.

London is also home to the UK’s second best rated museum, which is also the seventh best rated in Europe and 12th in the world, the Victoria and Albert Museum. Free to all visitors, the museum houses a permanent collection of over 2.3 million objects from architecture, furniture, fashion, textiles, photography and more.

Victoria & Albert Museum, London

In fact, the capital boasts five winners in the top 10, making it the UK’s top winning city. The National Gallery, Natural History Museum, and Churchill War Rooms take third, fourth and fifth place in the UK respectively.

It’s not just London performing well. Seven of Europe’s top 25 museums are located in the UK, making the UK home to more winning museums than any other European country. The aforementioned British Museum and Victoria and Albert Museum take fourth and seventh place respectively.

The National Gallery, Natural History Museum and Churchill War Rooms come in 13th, 14th and 15th respectively, while York’s National Railway Museum bags 20th place and the National Museum of Scotland is named 24th.

A newcomer to the UK top ten this year is York Castle Museum which takes tenth place in the UK. Standing on the site of the former York Castle, the York Castle Museum is housed in a former debtors’ prison and an adjoining former women’s prison and houses a collection which showcases social history in the county of Yorkshire. The addition of York Castle Museum into the UK top ten makes York the second best represented city after London, with two winning museums – the other being the National Railway Museum.

Titanic Belfast

Other UK winners this year include Titanic Belfast and Glasgow’s Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum which take eighth and ninth place in the UK respectively.

TripAdvisor spokesperson, Hayley Coleman commented:

Once again the UK comes out on top with more winning museums than any other European country and the free admission that most of them offer make a visit to one of the UK’s top ten museums a great value day out.

Top 10 Travellers’ Choice Museums in the UK

1. British Museum, London – Admission cost: Free
2. Victoria and Albert Museum, London – Admission cost: Free
3. National Gallery, London – Admission cost: Free
4. Natural History Museum, London – Admission cost: Free
5. Churchill War Rooms, London – Admission cost: Adult £18.00, Child (5-15 years) £9.00
6. National Railway Museum, York – Admission cost: Free
7. National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh – Admission cost: Free
8. Titanic Belfast, Belfast – Admission cost: Adult £15.50, Child (5-15 years) £7.25
9. Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, Glasgow – Admission cost: Free
10. York Castle Museum, York – Admission cost: Adult £10.00, Child Free (with a paying adult)