Museum of Liverpool has been named the most visited attraction in the North of England in the 2025 Association of Leading Visitor Attractions (ALVA) visitor figures.
Published annually, the ALVA list compiles visitor numbers from 409 attractions across the UK. As well as taking the top spot in the North of England, Museum of Liverpool also ranked among the top 50 most visited attractions nationwide.
In 2025, the popular waterfront museum welcomed 949,762 visitors, marking a significant increase from the 829,602 recorded in 2024.
The strong attendance was driven in part by a programme of high-profile exhibitions that proved popular with both local audiences and international visitors, including The Holly Johnson Story, Treasure: History Unearthed, Goodbye to Goodison and Sweet: The Tavener’s Story.
Across the North of England, visitor attractions recorded an overall 14% increase in visitor numbers, reflecting growing demand for cultural days out and heritage experiences.
Other National Museums Liverpool venues also reported impressive growth in 2025.
Sudley House enjoyed a 43% rise in visitors compared with 2024, while World Museum returned to pre-pandemic attendance levels. The family favourite welcomed 676,984 visitors over the year, helped by the success of Dino Summer – a roarsome dinosaur-themed celebration across the museum – and the final months of the immersive exhibition Bees: A Story of Survival by artist Wolfgang Buttress.
World Museum was also named the third most visited attraction in the North West, behind Museum of Liverpool and Liverpool Cathedral.
Walker Art Gallery also saw a strong uplift, with visitor numbers rising by 47% to 258,222. Lady Lever Art Gallery recorded similarly positive growth, welcoming 205,355 visitors.
Both galleries staged major exhibitions throughout 2025, with Walker Art Gallery hosting Turner: Always Contemporaryand the John Moores Painting Prize, while Lady Lever Art Gallery drew audiences with Jim Moir’s popular exhibition, Birds.
The latest ALVA figures underline the continuing appeal of Liverpool’s museums and galleries, with National Museums Liverpool venues attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors and reinforcing the city region’s reputation as one of the UK’s leading cultural destinations.
Joe Brook, director of audiences and media at National Museums Liverpool, said:
“All National Museums Liverpool venues have shown a marked improvement on 2024 visitor numbers, so we are truly grateful that visitors have shown our venues their support in 2025.
“We’re especially thrilled that Museum of Liverpool has topped the list of most visited attraction in the North of England, following a bumper year of show-stopping exhibitions and displays.
“We hope to improve even more this year, as we celebrate 40 years of National Museums Liverpool.”
In 2026, National Museums Liverpool celebrates 40 years as an organisation – England’s only national museum group outside of London.
To mark the 40th anniversary, World Museum will for the first time display items from across all National Museums Liverpool’s venues.
National Museums Liverpool at 40 opens to the public from 3 April and celebrates the diverse, powerful and important collections that the organisation is responsible for.
For more information on National Museums Liverpool at 40, visit the website.
Photo Credit: Pete Carr
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