A new comprehensive report on Britain's culture and heritage shows this is a key motivator for many international visitors to Britain, with our free world-class national museums and art galleries a particular draw.

VisitBritain sponsored a question on the International Passenger Survey asking about a range of activities that visitors may have undertaken during their stay. Among the 30 million inbound visits in 2009, 7.7 million included visiting a museum and 4.2 million, an art gallery.

The French just nudge the Americans out as the top visitors to our museums (with about 960,000 visitors each), while over half a million Germans and Spanish also visited our museums.

For art galleries Americans replace the French in top spot with well over 500,000 visits, with the Germans and Spanish once again holding third and fourth place. Although not appearing in the top ten in terms of volume, Brazilians and Argentineans are the most avid museum visitors - nearly two-thirds had made a visit.

Many of Britain's largest museums and national collections - from Scotland to the South Coast - are free and just waiting to be discovered.

The Tate Museums in London, Liverpool and St Ives have amassed an incredible range of art from cutting edge installations at Tate Modern and Tate Liverpool to the superb collection of British art from 1500 to the present day at Tate Britain. The National Gallery has one of the greatest collections of Western European paintings in the world, including dazzling Impressionist masterpieces, Van Gogh's Sunflowers and van Eyck's masterful Arnolfini Portrait.

The Imperial War Museums in London and Manchester are not just a collection of weapons – impressive though the hardware is; visitors can experience the Blitz, life in a World War I trench, or learn about the ‘secret war' of espionage.

Kelvingrove art gallery and museum is the jewel in Glasgow's cultural crown and dominates the city's West End. It houses an enormous and eclectic collection of Scottish Colourist paintings, Dali's Christ of St John of the Cross* and the Spitfire fighter that hovers above the main hall.

For both museums and galleries the most popular time to visit is July to September, while there is a slight dip in visitors from January to March. However, it's clear that visiting museums and galleries is something inbound visitors indulge in throughout the year.

The longer the duration of the stay, the more likely a tourist will visit museums and art galleries. A large proportion give a number of people who stay in Britain for 4 to 7 nights visit a museum or gallery, while 42% of people who stay 15+ nights will spend time at museums and 26% in art galleries.

As far as visitor characteristics are concerned, equal numbers of males and females visit both museums and art galleries within each age group with the exception 16-24 year olds where females are more frequent visitors. In terms of the proportion of visitors from each gender and age group, females are more likely to visit both museums and art galleries for all age bands except for the 65+ group.

Sandie Dawe, chief executive, VisitBritain said: "This survey showcases the international appeal of Britain's culture and heritage – where else could you see Grand Masters next to cutting edge installations, a Spitfire hanging next to a Dali?

"We are fortunate in the authenticity of what we have to promote and the connections that our rich culture makes across the world. Tourism is the golden thread running through the cultural sector, delivering the economic benefits of our world class culture and ensuring that these great works and museums continue to be appreciated."