Chester Zoo is one of England’s most popular tourist attractions outside London.
The zoo reported 1.52m visitors in 2015, according to the latest Visit Britain survey.
This was up 6% on the year before and the attraction’s best yearly total in figures published by the tourism agency going back to 2011.
The zoo rivalled such institutions as the British Library and St Paul’s Cathedral in popularity.
Brighton Pier was the only other tourist attraction outside London to post better figures than Chester Zoo.
The most-visited place of interest in the whole country that responded to Visit Britain’s survey was the British Museum, with 6.82m people coming through its doors in 2015.
Elsewhere in Cheshire, it was a good year for Cheshire Ice Cream Farm.
The family-friendly destination reported an estimated 650,000 visitors, up from 525,000 the year before.
Lyme Park and Gardens reported a 28% rise in visitors, up to 146,675 for the year.
On the other hand, only 462 people showed up to Dorfold Hall in Nantwich, making it Cheshire’s least visited attraction.
However, it is mostly only open on Tuesday afternoons in season and requires a guided tour to be shown round.
Visit Britain’s survey is optional to complete, which means it won’t feature every tourist attraction in Cheshire.
The Visit Britain survey showed the following visitor numbers for other Cheshire attractions in 2015:
Tatton Park 875,000
Quarry Bank Mill and Garden 183,000
Astbury Mere Country Park 183,000
Jodrell Bank Discovery Centre 128,928
Little Moreton Hall and Gardens 80,000
Beeston Castle 53,894
Go Ape! Hire Wire Forest Adventure - Delamere Forest 41,252
RSPB Burton Mere Wetlands 36,100
National Waterways Museum - Boat Trip 30,000
Hare Hill Gardens (NT) 25,000
Cotebrook Shire Horse Centre 23,442
Cheshire Military Museum 13,500
Rode Hall and Gardens 13,188
Knutsford Heritage Centre 7,544
All Saints Church 6,000
Adlington Hall and Gardens 2,393
Congleton Museum 2,073
Bollington Discovery Centre 1,601
NB: some figures may be estimates
