Windermere, Hadrian’s Wall, Beatrix Potter and Wordsworth, Cumbria is full of amazing places and attractions.
But have you ever wondered which of these is the most popular?
Sure, we could just look to see how many Google reviews each attraction has.
But where’s the fun in that?
And that works great for physical attractions like museums and castles, which have businesses behind them requesting reviews.
But what about locations like Buttermere and Walney Island, which don’t naturally have review platforms associated with them?
So, working in the world of SEO and loving geeky data, made me think…
What are the most searched tourist attractions in Cumbria?
So, that’s exactly what I went and found out.
And, after some research and using my SEO tools – the results are in!
Now, if you’re like me and have no patience whatsoever, you can reveal the top spot by clicking below.
But let’s make it fun.
Why not try and guess the place and how many searches per month you think it gets first?
Let me know your guess in the comments and if you got it right – no cheating!
REVEAL ANSWER: I can tell you that the most searched tourist attraction in Cumbria is…
Keswick, with an average of 47,000 online searches each month!
Keep reading to find out how the top 50 tourist attractions in Cumbria ranked in order of monthly online searches – where does your favourite place rank?
My methodology – just so we are clear
Before we take a look at the top 50 most searched tourist attractions in Cumbria, let me explain how I gathered the data.
First, I searched and compiled a list of 50 tourist attractions in Cumbria. I know there are probably more, but if it’s not in this list of 50, then there isn’t going to be any data on them.
I then ran this list through ahrefs keyword explorer tool.
ahrefs is a professional SEO tool used by professional SEO consultants like me, around the world.
The keyword explorer uses a huge database to find the search volumes of these keywords.
I then ordered this list by monthly keyword volume – and here it is!
The Top 50 Searched for Tourist Attractions in Cumbria – With Search Volumes
# | Tourist Attraction | Average Searches Per Month |
---|---|---|
1 | Keswick | 47000 |
2 | Scafell Pike | 47000 |
3 | Windermere | 39000 |
4 | Ambleside | 29000 |
5 | Kendal | 27000 |
6 | Helvellyn | 24000 |
7 | Ullswater | 18000 |
8 | Buttermere | 14000 |
9 | Grasmere | 14000 |
10 | Muncaster Castle | 11000 |
11 | Wray Castle | 8500 |
12 | Aira Force waterfall | 7700 |
13 | Honister Slate Mine | 5900 |
14 | Tarn Hows | 5100 |
15 | Carlisle Castle | 5100 |
16 | Coniston Water | 4900 |
17 | Castlerigg Stone Circle | 4700 |
18 | Ravenglass and Eskdale railway | 3500 |
19 | Lake District Wildlife Park | 3400 |
20 | Derwentwater | 3300 |
21 | Lake District National Park | 3200 |
22 | Brockhole on Windermere | 3100 |
23 | Walney Island | 2800 |
24 | Zeffirellis | 2600 |
25 | Dove Cottage | 2200 |
26 | Hill Top | 1700 |
27 | Caldbeck | 1700 |
28 | Furness Abbey | 1600 |
29 | Lanercost Priory | 1500 |
30 | Blackwell | 1200 |
31 | Holker Hall and Gardens | 1200 |
32 | Cumbrian Heavy Horses | 1200 |
33 | Keswick Museum | 1000 |
34 | Hardknott Roman Fort | 900 |
35 | Cartmel Priory | 900 |
36 | Stott Park Bobbin Mill | 700 |
37 | Duddon Valley | 600 |
38 | Bowness-on-Windermere | 600 |
39 | Birdoswald Roman Fort | 500 |
40 | Hadrian’s Wall | 450 |
41 | The Rum Story | 350 |
42 | The World of Beatrix Potter Attraction | 300 |
43 | Lowther Castle and Gardens | 300 |
44 | South Lakes Safari Zoo | 250 |
45 | Museum of Lakeland Life & Industry | 150 |
46 | Wordsworth House and Garden | 60 |
47 | Sizergh Castle and Garden | 50 |
48 | Levens Hall and Gardens | 30 |
49 | Tullie House Museum & Art Gallery | 20 |
50 | Rydal Water and Grasmere | <10 |
Trend in Online Tourism Searches in Cumbria
So there we go, Keswick takes the top spot – did you guess right?
As an added bonus, I thought it would be interesting to see what the overall search trend for tourism looks like for Cumbria.
If you know a little about any tourist area, like me, you’ll probably have a good idea of what you would expect to see, so let’s take a look.
The graph below is from Google Trends and shows the trend in searches for tourism destinations in Cumbria over the past 5 years (2018 – 2023).
So overall, I would say that the general level of searches has stayed quite steady. If you were to draw an ‘average line’ it would probably be quite level, wouldn’t it?
However, as I thought, like most tourist destinations, you can clearly see a trend in seasonal spikes.
One spike (or dip should I say) we can’t ignore is the obvious dip in the summer of 2020 when we all stayed at home for some reason – can’t think why!
And now here comes the link to Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), the service I offer to businesses who are looking to increase customers and sales…
So, how does SEO help businesses in the tourism industry?
The Power of SEO in Tourism
Born, raised and running a business in Cumbria, I know how amazing and diverse this county is.
Nestled in the North West of England, Cumbria is the 3rd largest county in the UK and home to the beautiful Lake District National Park.
Stretching from Walney Island in the South to Carlisle in the North and its centre dominated by the National Park, it’s a haven for outdoor enthusiasts and nature lovers.
And, with a wide range of tourist attractions available, both natural and commercial, it’s no surprise that it’s visited by over 47 million tourists each year.
But this huge popularity creates a big challenge for its businesses.
And this challenge comes in the form of, competition.
With so many tourist attractions all trying to attract visitors to their businesses, being visible in major search engines like Google, is crucial for attractions like these to survive.
SEO is the key to putting your business on the map – the ‘map’ being Google of course.
Need help with your SEO?
SEO: The Most Important Marketing Channel
With ongoing professional SEO services, tourist attractions can not only appear in search engines for keywords associated with them.
But also position themselves above their competition in the event that they are similar.
For example, Wray Castle and Muncaster Castle would both want to appear for the search term “castles in Cumbria”.
This term alone gets around 450 people looking for it in Google each month (not to mention variations like ‘Lake District Castles’ or ‘Cumbrian Castles’).
This is a lot of potential customers wanting to visit a castle each month – not to mention spending money!
This is why SEO is so powerful for businesses like this in the tourism industry.
It certainly is a marketing channel they cannot ignore.
Conclusion
So there you have it, Keswick is the most searched tourist attraction in Cumbria and you’ve also learnt a bit about SEO.
What a way to spend 10 minutes (if you got this far).
But on a serious note, if you’re a business looking to be more visible in search engines like Google, feel free to reach out.
I offer a FREE consultation where we can take a look at your website and I show you how I can help you achieve more traffic, customers and sales.