The world's most complained-about tourist queues ranked: The Eiffel Tower is No.1, followed by the London Eye - with the Empire State Building line attracting the most moans in the US

It's one of the most striking structures in the world, but the visitor queue leaves a lot of people feeling Eiffel-y annoyed.

In fact, the line at the iconic Eiffel Tower in Paris comes top of a world ranking of most-complained-about queues, with the London Eye second and the Colosseum third.

The list, by hawaiianislands.com, was produced by an analysis of 10.74million Tripadvisor reviews for the top 100 'Traveler Favourite' attractions in each country, with a tally kept of reviews containing the phrase 'long queue'.

The Eiffel Tower takes the undesirable crown with 4,799 'long queue' mentions.

One reviewer on Tripadvisor commented: 'Five stars for the Eiffel Tower. One star for the humongous crowds and long lines throughout. Be prepared.' Another reviewer advises: ‘Book your tickets well in advance online to avoid the notoriously long queues. We opted for a guided tour with skip-the-line access, which I’d highly recommend.’

The London Eye comes second in the ranking thanks to 4,756 queue complaints.

The attraction has 32 capsules and a capacity of 800 people ‘per spin’ – and visitors are given a time slot for their visit. But the wait can still last longer than 45 minutes, with one reviewer describing the queue as ‘long and slow moving… even with fast-track tickets’.

Rome's Colosseum comes third as a result of 4,262 references to a 'long queue'.

The UK's Legoland Windsor Resort theme park is in fourth place with 4,017 mentions, followed by Barcelona's Sagrada Familia (fifth, 2,992) and the Empire State Building (sixth, 2,842).

In a review for this jaw-dropping Manhattan landmark, one reviewer said: 'My only negative would be the long, cramped queues. There’s about a 15 to 20-minute queue on the street, before another 10 to 15-minute queue to get through security and then another two 10 to 15-minute queues for the two sets of [elevators] to get up.'

Alton Towers Resort in the UK follows the Empire State Building in seventh place (2,676), while in eighth place is a Spanish water park – Siam Park in Adeje – with 2,605 mentions, followed by Disneyland Paris (ninth, 2,453) and Universal Studios Singapore (tenth, 2,054).

Despite attracting attention as the world's tallest building, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai ranks lower down – it comes 14th (1,818).

And despite being one of the world's most in-demand tourist attractions, according to another recent study, the UK's Warner Bros. Studio Tour London – The Making of Harry Potter does not appear in the ranking until 20th place (1,304).

Other UK attractions with 'long queue' reviews are Paultons Park in Romsey (ninth in UK, 1,239) and London's Natural History Museum (10th in UK, 1,235), according to the study.

Focusing on the US, the queues that cause the most grumbles after the Empire State Building are Top of the Rock (19th, 1,305); San Francisco's Cable Cars (third, 871); the Universal Islands of Adventure in Orlando, Florida (fourth, 860); and the Statue of Liberty in New York City, New York (fifth, 837).

In Australia, the long-queue gripes are uploaded most frequently for Warner Bros. Movie World in Oxenford, Queensland (first, 526), the Wet'n'Wild Gold Coast waterpark in Oxenford (second, 223); and the Scenic World Blue Mountains in Katoomba (third, 182).

The study was not authorised, sponsored or otherwise approved by Tripadvisor.