Andalucia's top attractions
This list shows about 40 of most popular attractions in Andalucia - including palaces, museums and fortresses - by number of ticketed or recorded visitors each year.
In Andalucia many monuments are important historical, architectural and cultural landmarks, such as the Alhambra and Mezquita, and a number are UNESCO World Heritage sites. Others are relative newcomers - the restored Caminito del Rey has only been open, in its new incarnation, since 2015, though the spectacular walkway dates from 1921 originally.
We first compiled and publised this list in 2018 because a comprehensive list had not been published before. We have compiled this top 40 from a variety of sources, mainly media reports, from when individual monument caretakers proudly announce an annual increase in visitors. Decreases are rarely announced.
If you know any other attractions in Andalucia, that should be on this list, please let us know via the 'Contact us' at the bottom left of this page.
Open attractions such as Plaza de España in Seville or Puente Nuevo and Tajo in Ronda, Alhameda in Malaga, are naturally not included in the list.
| Visitors per year | Monument / Museum | City | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2.615.188 | Alhambra & Generalife Gardens | Granada | 2016 |
| 1.676.833 | Mosque - Cathedral | Cordoba | 2015 |
| 1.621.355 | Real Alcazar | Sevilla | 2016 |
| 1.565.723 | Cathedral & Giralda | Sevilla | 2016 |
| 650.320 | Alcazaba | Malaga | 2017 |
| 635.891 | Picasso Museum | Malaga | 2017 |
| 585.525 | Synagogue | Cordoba | 2015 |
| 515.322 | Gibralfaro | Malaga | 2017 |
| 505.022 | Centro de Arte Contemporaneo | Malaga | 2017 |
| 476.983 | Alcazar | Cordoba | 2015 |
| 469.106 | Cathedral | Malaga | 2017 |
| 386.811 | Cuevas de Nerja | Nerja | 2017 |
| 385.111 | Capilla Real | Granada | 2015 |
| 290.000* | Caminito del Rey | Ardales | 2016 |
| 284,763 | Alcazaba | Almeria | 2017 |
| 255.053 | Archivo de Indias | Sevilla | 2016 |
| 245.199 | El Torcal | Antequera | 2017 |
| 220.000 | Real Maestranza | Sevilla | |
| 220.000 | Muelle Carabelas | Huelva | |
| 180.000 | Museo Bellas Artes | Sevilla | |
| 169.768 | Medina al-Zahra | Cordoba | 2015 |
| 168.143 | Pompidou Centre | Malaga | 2017 |
| 166.000 | La Gruta de las Maravillas | Aracena | 2016 |
| 157.334 | Teatro Romano | Malaga | 2021 |
| 157.128 | Baelo Claudia | Bolonia | |
| 156.580 | Museo Carmen Thyssen | Malaga | 2017 |
| 151.636 | Museo Bellas Artes | Granada | 2014 |
| 150.000 | Italica | Santiponce | |
| 150.000* | Metropol Parasol | Seville | |
| 140.000 | Museo Ruso | Malaga | 2015 |
| 135.000 | Centro de Arte Contemporaneo | Sevilla | |
| 132.000 | Casa Pilatos | Sevilla | |
| 128.599 | Casa Natal Picasso | Malaga | 2017 |
| 109.587 | Palacio Viana | Cordoba | 2015 |
| 99,331 | Dolmens | Antequera | 2021 |
| 85.000 | Museo Rio Tinto | Rio Tinto | |
| 82.993 | Malaga Musem | Malaga | 2021; |
| 76.000 | Torre de Oro | Sevilla | |
| 71.000 | Automobile Museum | Malaga | |
| 69.768 | Museo Arqueológico | Cordoba | 2015 |
| 56.950 | Museo Julio Romero de Torres | Cordoba | 2015 |
| 55.143 | Baños Califales | Cordoba | 2015 |
| 56.763 | Museo Bellas Artes | Granada | 2015 |
| 49.772 | Arab Baths | Ronda | 2021 |
| 14.919 | Acinipo | Ronda | 2021 |
| ? | Bullring | Ronda | |
| 200.000 | Gonzalez Byass Bodegas | Jerez |
*denotes estimated
Sourse: Andalucia.com compiled, see note above.
Putting this in a world perspective, the highest claimed visitor attraction worldwide is The Strip Las Vegas estimated at 40 million per year, the Niagara Falls is also an estimated 22m. Perhaps the highest ticketed attraction is Disneyland Park in Anaheim, California at 16m. The most visited monuments are The Forbidden City in Beijing at 15m or Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris at 15m. Other notable attractions are Disneyland Paris 11m, Sydney Opera House 8m, Eifel Tower 7m, British Museum 6,7m, MOMA New York 6m.