Gardens still a top choice for visitors
Gardens continued to be ‘goto’ attractions last year with millions of public visitors, new figures show. While pandemic restrictions – affecting indoor venues, such as museums and galleries – were still in place for part of the year, gardens proved resilient, says tourism agency Visit England.
In the top 10 free-to-visit attractions, historic Abbey Gardens, in Bury St Edmunds, came fourth with 1,276,864 visitors.
In paid-for attractions, 11 venues with gardens or horticultural elements were in the top 20 most visited in England from 5,947 venues submitting results. Top of the list was the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, with RHS Garden Wisley third and Trentham Gardens in Stoke-on-Trent fifth.
Gardens showed a 40 per cent increase in visitor numbers from 2019/20. Venues with family attractions fared best, with a
41 per cent increase over 2020. Gardens and farms were also the best-performing categories since records began in 1989, bouncing back the strongest after pandemic restrictions were lifted.
Visit www.visitengland.org.