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Love them or hate them, tourist attractions are bonafide travel staples. Still, there’s something uniquely disappointing about paying to see a buzzy tourist trap, only to find out that it’s ultimately been overhyped. According to Budget Your Travel, the average person spends $55 on admission fees for tourist attractions in the United States. So why not look for some free attractions on your next trip instead?
To help you get started, vacation rental company Casago put together a guide of the highest-rated free attractions in each U.S. state and each country worldwide, based on Tripadvisor data.
Somewhat surprisingly, the highest-rated free attraction in the world is the Luc Vanlaere Harpist – Mini Harp Museum in Belgium. According to Casago’s study, a whopping 94.54% of Tripadvisor ratings for the museum were five stars. Based in Bruges, Belgium, the venue features regular 40-minute harp concerts by celebrated composer Luc Vanlaere.
Meanwhile, the United States is home to three of the top-rated free tourist attractions in the world. The National Museum of the U.S. Air Force is the second-highest-rated free attraction, with 92.85% five-star Trip Advisor ratings. Located in Daytona, Florida, it’s the world’s largest military aviation museum, with over 350 aerospace vehicles and missiles on display.
Other high-ranking U.S. attractions include Columbus, Georgia’s National Infantry Museum and Soldier Center (which ranked fourth), and Arlington, Texas’ Tomb of the Unknown Soldier (which ranked eighth).
Here’s the full list of the top 10 free tourist attractions in the world, according to Case:
To read more and discover the top-rated free tourist attraction in your state, you can check out Casago’s full study here.
