It overtook the British Museum and the National Gallery in terms of popularity, according to a survey of visits to free and paid-for destinations across Britain released today.
The report found that nearly five million people visited Tate Modern last year compared with just over 3.9 million in 2005, an increase of 21 per cent.
The gallery's success is attributed to a string of blockbuster shows and innovative installations such as the huge slides by Carsten Hller installed in the cavernous Turbine Hall.
Will Gompertz, director of Tate Media, said: "It has been a spectacular year, with the hugely successful rehang and the dynamic programme of exhibitions, performances and films. This is the highest attendance figure since Tate Modern opened in May 2000.
"The Unilever Series: Carsten Hller installation has been an extraordinary success. To date, more than 600,000 visitors have been down the slides and been exhilarated by their experience of this remarkable artwork."
The gallery hopes to build on its success this year with a series of high-profile shows such as the Gilbert and George exhibition that opened last week and a display of Salvador Dalí's films and artwork. Second and third place on the list of London attractions went to the British Museum and National Gallery respectively, each down one place on last year.
They were followed by the Natural History, Science and Victoria and Albert Museums.
The Tower of London was in seventh place, followed by St Paul's cathedral, which rose from 17th position in 2005. The National Portrait Gallery and Tate Britain were ninth and tenth respectively.
The British Airways London Eye, London's fourth-most popular attraction in 2005, dropped out of the top 20 but a spokeswoman said this was because it had decided not to take part in the last year's survey.
Nationally, the most popular attraction was Blackpool Pleasure Beach, which had 5.7 million visits.
Robin Broke, director of the Association of Leading Visitor Attractions, which carried out the survey, said: "Despite security alerts and dense fog producing severe airport delays during the summer and December, and the weak US dollar affecting the travel plans of many American visitors, the industry is vibrant and continues to be a significant contributor to the economy."
Who went where
Visitors to top 20 attractions in 2006 (2005 position in brackets)
1 (3) Tate Modern 4,915,000
2 (1) British Museum 4,837,878
3 (2) National Gallery 4,562,471
4 (5) Natural History Museum 3,754,496
5 (6) Science Museum 2,421,440
6 (8) V&A Museum 2,372,919
7 (7) Tower of London 2,084,468
8 (17) St Paul's Cathedral 1,626,034
9 (10) National Portrait Gallery 1,601,448
10 (9) Tate Britain 1,597,000
11 (11) National Maritime Museum 1,572,310
12 (12) Kew Gardens 1,357,522
13 (13) British Library 1,182,393
14 (14) Westminster Abbey 1,028,991
15 (15) London Zoo 905,303
16 (-) Houses of Parliament 890,455
17 (16) Imperial War Museum 712,321
18 (18) Hampton Court 473,013
19 (20) Cabinet War Rooms 296,656
20 (-) Kensington Palace 273,566
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