A poll by Visit Britain found that the palace is the top attraction for tourists in 15 out of 19 countries surveyed. People from Australia, the USA, China, Italy and Mexico all voted it number one.
Snatching a view of London from the new Shard building or from the London Eye placed second.
Scots will be relieved not to have been left out. Visiting Edinburgh Castle was the third most sought after activity, followed by spotting wildlife in the highlands.
Wales’ reputation scored well as the seventh most desirable activity was to dine by a fire in a cosy Welsh pub and a trip on the mountain train up Snowdon was in ninth position.
But some traditional tourist pursuits lost ground. Taking in a show in London’s West End plummeted to the end of the list of 18. Only people in Sweden kept the West End in their top three list.
More people said they would prefer to watch a Premier League football match than enjoy fish and chips by the sea or have afternoon tea.
The Indians, Chinese and Argentinans all ranked fish and chips as the least desirable thing they would like to do on visiting Britain. Football was the second most popular choice among men, and ranked dead last among women, who would much prefer to go shopping.
Britain is enjoying a bumper year for tourism, with foreigners making 22 million visits in just the first eight months of 2013.
The number of Europeans visiting the UK jumped 17% on the same eight months a year ago.
THE TOP 'ONLY IN BRITAIN' ACTIVITIES
1. Buckingham Palace (open every August and September)
2. View London from Shard tower/London Eye
3. Edinburgh Castle
4. Wildlife in Scottish highlands
5. Oxford Street shopping
6. Steam cruise in the Lake District
7. Dine by the fire in a cosy Welsh pub
8. Premier League football match
9. Mountain train up Snowdon
10. Bath rooftop spa overlooking Roman baths
11. Chatsworth House
12. Walking Yorkshire moors
13. Tour Cotswold villages
14. Fish & chips at the seaside
15. Traditional afternoon tea
16. Night out in Newcastle's bars
17. Harry Potter studio tour
18. West End musical
Countries polled: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Egypt, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Poland, Russia, S Africa, S Korea, Sweden, Turkey, USA.
