Museum of Liverpool named as most visited attraction in North of England

Museum of Liverpool has topped the 2025 Association of Leading Visitor Attractions (ALVA) list of visitor figures for the North of England.

Each year, ALVA compiles a list of visitor figures from 409 attractions across the country. As well as being top in North of England, Museum of Liverpool also sits in the top 50 venues across the UK.

A total of 949,762 people visited the waterfront museum in 2025, where special exhibitions like The Holly Johnson Story, Treasure: History Unearthed, Goodbye to Goodison and Sweet: The Tavener’s Story have proven popular with local and international visitors.

The total number is an increase on 2024 figures, where the museum welcomed 829,602 visitors. Across the North of England, attractions saw a 14% increase in visitors to venues.

Other National Museums Liverpool venues also celebrated an increase in visitors. Sudley House saw a 43% increase on 2024 visitor numbers, while World Museum once again achieved pre-pandemic visitor figures.

676,984 visitors visited the family-friendly venue in 2025 as the museum hosted Dino Summer – a ‘roarsome’ celebration of Dinosaurs across the museum, alongside the final months of the immersive exhibition Bees: A Story of Survival by artist Wolfgang Buttress

World Museum took third place in the most visited attraction in the North West, behind Museum of Liverpool and Liverpool Cathedral.

Walker Art Gallery’s figures rose by nearly 50% on the previous year (47%), seeing 258,222 visitors through the doors. Lady Lever Art Gallery also saw hugely improved visitor numbers – welcoming 205,355 visitors.

The two galleries showcased huge exhibitions in 2025 including Turner: Always Contemporary and the John Moores Painting Prize at Walker Art Gallery, and Lady Lever Art Gallery hosted Jim Moir’s popular exhibition, Birds.

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 40^th 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 click here.

Get the latest art & culture news across Liverpool here.

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