Tower of London top tourist trip

The Tower of London has been revealed as Britain's most popular paid attraction, with more than two million visits in 2007, according to the official tourist website VisitBritain.co.uk.

The tower was followed by St Paul's Cathedral, which attracted 1.6 million visitors, and Great Yarmouth Pleasure Beach with 1.4 million.

Xscape Milton Keynes also becomes the country’s most visited free attraction with 6.9 million visits in 2007.

This is a remarkable fall from grace for Blackpool Pleasure Beach, which long topped the list, but now attracts 5.5 million and falls to second place.

The British Museum gained third place on the free list with 5.4 million visitors.

Overall, the number of visits made to tourist attractions last year grew three per cent, with London attractions up five per cent.

"This research demonstrates the demand for all types of attractions in England, and that consumers are getting less likely to be swayed by the influence of the weather," said, VisitBritain chief executive, Tom Wright.

"Come rain or shine our world renowned attractions offer something for all our visitors, whatever the season.

"Current campaigns are encouraging even more visitors to enjoy our attractions in these challenging times."

The majority of attraction sectors have grown in popularity with visitor and heritage centres showing the biggest increase, of 12 per cent.

The leisure and theme park sector has shown an increase of three per cent, as does the museums and art galleries sector.

In a year where rainfall was well above average, particularly during the summer months, the outdoor attraction sector have also recorded a boom, with country parks showing an eight per cent increase, farms and gardens showing a five per cent increase each and wildlife attractions and zoo sector also increasing by four per cent.

Chris O'Toole