France, the world’s leading tourist destination except for 2021, can be quickly verified in the attendance figures of its tourist attractions (1). Theme park, museums, historical buildings. There is something for everyone in France. Here are the ones that attract the most visitors in ascending order, according to the centralized and verified data of the General Directorate of Enterprises in 2018.
Parc Astérix (Plailly): 2 million visitors
The first theme park on this list is Oisien. it is Parc Astérix, which opened in 1989 in Place de France. Dedicated to the universe of Asterix and Obelix, it is one of the most visited amusement parks in Europe. It welcomes more than two million people every year.
Medieval city (Carcassonne): 2.1 million visitors
With its 52 towers and three kilometers of walls, the medieval city of Carcassonne (Occitanie) attracts people interested in medieval culture. Saved from abandonment and decay, it was restored for fifty years in the 19th century. It has been classified by UNESCO as a world heritage site since 1997.
Puy du Fou (Les Epesses): 2.2 million visitors
The one-of-a-kind Puy du Fou has been immersing its visitors in a universe of Vikings, knights and other medieval warriors since 1989. The park honors the history of the Vendée, a section that today benefits from this influx of tourists. In 2017, Puy du Fou welcomed more than 2.2 million people.
City of Science and Industry La Villette (Paris): 2.4 million visitors
Who said the French are no longer interested in science? The Cité des Sciences, opened in 1986 and since its elevation to the status of a national museum, welcomes hundreds of thousands of curious visitors every year who love scientific and technical knowledge. The 150,000 square meter complex is full of fun, visual and auditory activities.
Musée d’Orsay (Paris): 3.1 million visitors
Located in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, the former Gare d’Orsay offers its visitors a variety of works of art: painting, sculpture, photography and more. Its Beaux-Arts style of architecture and its proximity to the Louvre Museum make this establishment an essential tourist spot to visit on a trip to Paris.
Pompidou Center (Paris): 3.3 million visitors
Forever criticized for its colorful and quirky architecture, the Center Pompidou is nevertheless one of France’s most famous and visited tourist attractions. The museum now houses a large number of exhibitions and temporary collections, in addition to the Public Information Library opened in 1977, and today the first public reading library… in Europe.
Eiffel Tower (Paris): 6.2 million visitors
It needs no introduction. The Eiffel Tower is the cultural symbol of France abroad. Its iron construction, completed in 1889 by Gustave Eiffel for the Universal Exhibition in Paris, ends at 312 meters, giving it the title of tallest monument in the world until 1930 and the opening of the Chrysler Building in New York. If in 2018 it attracted about 6.2 million people, after the completion of construction it accumulated about 300 million.
Palace of Versailles (Versailles): 7.7 million visitors
The Palace of Versailles, its garden and its classical architecture continue to attract tourists from all over the world. It must be said that it has arguments: 64,110 square meters, 3,000 rooms and more than 2,000 windows, as well as an area of 660 hectares. Vertiginous figures and on the height of the palace, the main residence of Louis XIV, Louis XV and Louis XVI.
Louvre Museum (Paris): 8 million visitors
It is difficult to find the right qualification to describe the Louvre, the most visited museum in the world in 2018 and the most visited cultural site in France. The numbers are also dizzying. more than 72,000 square meters of exhibition space, about 400 rooms open to the public and about 480,000 works on display for the public’s enjoyment. For all these reasons, it receives more than eight million visitors every year, three-quarters of whom are foreigners.
Disneyland Paris (Chess): 14.8 million visitors
France’s most visited tourist destination is neither a museum nor a monument, but an amusement park. Disneyland Paris, whose name is only Paris, because it is located about thirty kilometers east of the capital, in Chessy, Saint-et-Marne. (and not in Marne-la-Vallée, where the RER station providing access is located). With its two theme parks (Disneyland and Walt Disney Studios), six hotels, 16,000 employees and fifty attractions, the park is one of the busiest in the world. In total, it has welcomed just over 300 million people since it opened in 1992.
(1) Methodology. this ranking comes from a study published in 2018 by the Direction Générale des Entreprises, “mémento duturisme”, which in particular includes the ranking of the most visited tourist attractions in France based on the number of visits during the year. These figures come from the Ministry of Culture and date back to 2017.
Source: Le Figaro
