Of the 1,918 independently-owned attractions in the UK which charge admission and which feature in the Good Britain Guide, 722 have put their prices up this year, according to the guide's latest edition.

More than half of the 414 places owned by national organisations, including the National Trust, have also raised their prices, usually by a margin of around 10%.

"These price increases are hardly the way to attract more visitors, at a time when the British holiday industry is seriously worried about its future," said the guide's editor, Alisdair Aird.

Mr Aird held up the houses of parliament as an exceptionally bad offender. The increase in the cost of a tour from £3.50 to £7.50 marked Westminster out as the country's "worst price-hike villain", and the rise was particularly unpalatable because parliament was a body which "ought to know better". Mr Aird went on to express his alarm that "this year - against a background of near-zero inflation - so many holiday places have steeply increased their prices."

The guide also went on to bemoan the inconvenient opening times of many attractions, the fact that so many places stay shut for as long as half a year and subsequently have to limit their numbers when they finally open their doors; and the lack of effort to link attractions with places to stay and public transport.

However, all was not entirely doom and gloom. "On the plus side," Mr Aird went on to say, "is the amazing number of establishments that not only stay open for the whole year, but are absolutely free. This year we have been particularly impressed by the friendliness and helpfulness of all the people we dealt with in Scotland."

Mr Aird also praised "the thousands of volunteers helping to staff so many of the country's attractions, from little local museums to great historic buildings".

Britain's top tourist attractions

Family attraction of the year

Ironbridge Gorge Museum, Shropshire.

Visitor city of the year

York.

Museum of the year

Imperial War Museum, London.

Newcomer attraction of the year

The Deep, Hull.

Gallery of the year

The National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh.

Historic house of the year

Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire (Sir Winston Churchill's birthplace).

Living museum of the year

Historic Quay, Hartlepool, Northumbria.

Specialist museum of the year

National Space Centre, Leicester.

Theme park of the year

Thorpe Park in Surrey.

Castle of the year

Warwick Castle.

Discovery centre of the year

Thinktank, Birmingham.

Tour of the year

National Coal Mining Museum, Middlestown, Yorkshire.

Railway of the year

Snowdon Mountain Railway, Llanberis, North Wales.

Zoo of the year

Chester Zoo, Cheshire.

Garden of the year

Groombridge Place Gardens, Kent.

Adventure of the year

Hawkstone Park Follies, Shropshire.

Aquarium of the year

National Marine Aquarium, Plymouth.

Farm park of the year

Cotswold Farm Park, Kineton, Gloucestershire.

Boat trip of the year

Lundy Day Trip, north Devon.

Bird centre of the year

Flamingo Park Wildlife Encounter, Isle of Wight.

· The Good Britain Guide 2002, edited by Alasdair Aird, is published by Ebury Press, priced £14.99.