Despite competition from rides around the world, UK roller coaster fans have voted Nemesis at Alton Towers their favourite attraction, with the ride still attracting hundreds of thousands of riders a year.

Nemesis at Alton Towers has topped a list of the UK’s 20 favourite roller coasters across the world, with the 30-year old attraction hailed by one respondent as “the nearest thing I’ve ever had to a spiritual experience.”

Despite the poll of 2,000 ride fans being run by US travel company Ocean Florida, Nemesis pipped major American rivals such as Space Mountain and Jurassic World to first place, as well as beating competitors closer to home. 

“There might be bigger, faster and twistier rides out there, but it turns out that Brits love this 30-year-old rollercoaster more than any other in the world,” reported The Metro. “Nemesis was actually Europe’s first ever-inverted roller coaster when it was built, costing £10m.”

“According to Alton Towers, the original ride travelled over 800,000 miles (until it closed for refurbishment in 2022) and carried more than 52 million people. And, while other record-breaking rides may have come along since, it seems Nemesis has a special place in our hearts.”

Commenting on their first-time Nemesis experience, one rider said “honestly it was the nearest thing I’ve ever had to a spiritual experience. It was all just a blur of blue sky and laughter and I was laughing and screaming and crying all at once.”

Another wrote “the way the layout weaves through the terrain and builds and builds throughout gives the ride a feeling of sustained excitement. To me, Nemesis has a perfect level of momentum throughout.”

The Top 20 list was otherwise dominated by rides found in global theme park hub Florida, however The Swarm at Thorpe Park and Vampire at Chessington came in 11th and 12th respectively.