Looking for issues to do in Derry? We have you ever lined. We have visited the town of Derry twice earlier than, and at last had the prospect to actually dig into exploring Londonderry on our newest journey to Northern Ireland this previous summer season.
Located in County Derry, Londonderry at all times appeared to be a fast stopover on our Irish street journey as we have been on our method to discover locations just like the Causeway Coastal route or Belfast. But after a keep this previous summer season we realized that we by no means gave this underrated Irish metropolis the time that it deserved.
Top Things to do in Derry
Officially, the town of Derry is called Londonderry. Derry Londonderry is usually used to cowl all bases. If you’re British you probably will use the official identify of Londonderry. However,
After a lovely day’s drive from Belfast, we arrived at our lodge The Hotel Maldran Derry which is positioned straight beside the walled metropolis.
This was certainly one of our favourite locations we stayed in all of Ireland with an ideal view of the Peace Bridge and River Foyle. We have been inside strolling distance to all the principle sights in the town of Derry, so after parking our automotive, we set out on foot to discover Derry.
The London Derry Attraction Pass is a superb move to buy in advance of visiting Derry. It presents entry to 10 derry sights letting you see the most effective the town of Derry has to provide. The move contains entrance to the Saint Columba Heritage Centre, Siege Museum, St Augustine’s Church, St Columb’s Cathedral, St Eugene’s Cathedral, The Guildhall, The Museum of Free Derry, and the Tower Museum plus a Bogside History Tour, or a Martin McCrossan City Walking Tour. See extra particulars right here.
1. Walk The Derry Walls
The City Walls date again to 1613 and encompass the Old City. A stroll alongside the Walls of Derry is a good way to begin your keep in Derry because it presents views of your complete metropolis from all angles. It is a straightforward stroll across the partitions and they aren’t to be missed. The nonetheless intact City Walls are one of many most interesting examples of Walled Cities in all of Europe and Derry is the one fully walled metropolis in Ireland.
It is 1.5 km stroll throughout your complete internal metropolis with seven gates in whole. Take a stroll to see the cannons and delightful lookout factors. The Walls of Derry have by no means been breached which is astounding with the entire troubles they’ve seen. They have been frequently underneath siege from 1649 – 1689, and in the course of the troubles, they have been used as a divider in the town. An incredible place to begin you stroll on the Derry Walls is at Butcher’s Gate, 6 Magazine Street Upper, Londonderry, Ireland.
This Highly Rated Private Walled City Tour takes you on a guided tour relationship again six thousand years by Derry’s previous. The 1.4 km stroll goes alongside the partitions the place you’ll hear tales of how the walled metropolis got here to be, why the identify Londonderry remains to be contested and also you’ll study concerning the Siege of Derry, The Apprentice Boys and extra.
2. Peace Bridge
We had a lovely view of the Peace Bridge spanning the River Foyle from our lodge room and couldn’t wait to get down to the waterfront to go for a stroll. Opened in 2011, the Peace Bridge is a pedestrian hyperlink between the town centre to the previous military barracks at Ebrington Square on the Waterside. You can cycle throughout the Peace Bridge as nicely and through sundown, it’s a bustling place with locals strolling house.
On both facet of the river, there’s a beautiful River Walk to get away from the hustle and bustle of the town and it’s only a brief stroll to the Manor House at St Columb’s Park from the Peace Bridge.
3. Bogside Murals
The People’s Gallery in Bogside is unquestionably one of many high issues to do in Derry. A stroll by the Bogside space takes you on a visible journey recounting the conflicts and injustices that passed off in the course of the troubles. Today, there are additionally murals of social injustices world wide.
Located by Free Derry Corner outdoors the walled metropolis, the Bogside artists encompass brothers Thomas and William Kelly and their buddy Kevin Hanson who spent a decade portray murals on partitions of buildings in the Bogside space. The murals depict essential moments from the civil unrest that passed off throughout six counties in Northern Ireland for greater than 30 years.
They not solely pay tribute to the individuals of Derry City however different human rights activists like Nelson Mandella, Martin Luther King Jr, and Mother Theresa. It is a sobering show of simply how troublesome the instances have been with work depicting the horrors of conflict. The Derry Murals Tour provides a superb overview on a guided tour sharing what the murals are about and the historical past of Derry.
4. Bloody Sunday Monument
One of probably the most important occasions of the time was Bloody Sunday which passed off on January 30, 1972, when British paratroopers opened hearth on protesters. 14 civilians have been killed that day by British Soldiers and extra have been injured. There is a monument devoted to those that died the place you possibly can pay your respects.
One of probably the most important murals depicts a younger schoolgirl who was killed on that day. Anette McGavigan was solely 14 years previous when she was gunned down. She was nonetheless in her faculty uniform and the objects that she was accumulating for a college mission are at her ft. Her killing marked the one centesimal civilian loss of life in The Troubles.
We extremely advocate taking a Bloody Sunday Bogside Tour to study of the fashionable historical past of Derry. There has been a whole lot of unrest and battle from the separation of Ireland to the Battle of the Bogside, The Bloody Sunday bloodbath and the Civil Rights interval. A tour provides perception to Derry’s historical past and the way issues are at the moment.
5. Free Derry Corner
As you enter the Bogside Area, the very first thing you will notice is the mural stating, you are actually getting into Free Derr. This is Free Derry nook. From 1969 to 1972, this space was a self-declared autonomous area that acted outdoors the federal government. It was the placement for the Battle of Bogside and Bloody Sunday. While the troubles have settled, the partitions and murals stay.
As you stroll alongside Lecky Road you’ll come throughout many monuments depicting Derry’s turbulent historical past. There are images of activists that have been shot exhibiting how that they had no method to survive and the way they have been left by the police to undergo with their wounds till their loss of life. There is a monument devoted to the starvation strike victims who died in jail. The Irish Republican Prisoners have been protesting the truth that the British authorities struck down the provisionary standing that they weren’t prisoners of conflict however criminals.
6. Hunger Strike Monument
One starvation striker was elected throughout his 66 days. Bobby Sands finally died of hunger together with 9 different protestors. To learn the tales and see the photographs from these instances is actually astounding. We had heard little or no about it in Canada on the time however to go to the memorials in Derry places faces to those that suffered. Their tales are instructed and they are going to be remembered. I
We discovered that we might spend hours on the memorials and murals of Derry. As we learn every memorial, we mirrored on the instances we live in at the moment and see that the human race has this uncontrollable sample of repeating its cycle of hate and violence. I solely hope that in the future we’ll discover our method.
7. Free Derry Museum
Once you’ve seen the murals of Bogside, The Free Derry Museum is an efficient place to make your method to subsequent. The Museum opened in 2007 and focuses on the civil rights period of the Sixties and the Free Derry troubles of the Nineteen Seventies. Located in the realm the place the Battle of the Bogside, Internment, Bloody Sunday, and Operation Motorman passed off. The Free Derry museum tells the story from the standpoint of those that have been there and lived by troubling instances. Entry to the Free Derry Museum is included in a Londonderry Attraction Pass
8. Guildhall
Make certain to go inside Guildhall. We almost didn’t as there was a personal occasion the day we arrived. Luckily, we went again the subsequent day and went upstairs as it’s stunning. But not solely that, upstairs on the second ground is the place the Bloody Sunday hearings passed off.
I anticipated to stroll by the corridor and snap a number of images of its rooms nevertheless it was whereas there that I discovered this was the place testimony was heard for 4 years from 2000 – 2004. I watched the movies of the hearings that passed off so a few years later. While the army was discovered to be at fault, no person has been formally held accountable and to this present day, the sufferer’s households haven’t seen justice.
Guildhall stands on Guildhall Square which is a stunning sq. in simply outdoors the walled metropolis. There is a stunning view trying down from the Derry Walls,
9. Siege Museum
We could know rather a lot concerning the IRA troubles between the Catholics and Protestants in Derry, however this metropolis has had a protracted historical past of conflict and violence. The Siege Museum tells the story of the Siege of Derry in 1689. The siege lasted 105 days however they held their floor towards the Jacobites who supported the deposed King James II. Entrance to the Siege Museum is included together with your Londonderry Attraction Pass
10. Derry Girls Filming Locations
Derry Girls is a well-liked TV present about rising up in Derry in the Nineties which have been the ultimate years of The Troubles. It has gotten extra consideration for the reason that premier of Bridgerton (at the very least that’s the way it caught our eye) because it stars Nicola Coughlan who performs Penelope Featherington.
While many of the present is filmed in Belfast, exterior scenes are shot in Derry and naturally, the entire places referenced are positioned in Derry. You can take a strolling tour of Derry to see such locations like Bishop’s Gate, Long Tower Church, and Dennis Wee Shop. Don’t miss the Derry Girls Mural, they even have their very own mural in Derry metropolis.
The Derry Girls Tour to a number of the present’s most iconic filming places, reminiscent of Bishop’s Gate, Long Tower Church, Dennis Wee Shop, and the Derry Girls mural positioned on the facet of Badger’s Bar.
11. Tower Museum
Located throughout the Derry City Walls, the Tower Museum can’t be missed. Meaning, that you just actually can’t miss it. The museum has two everlasting displays, The Story of Derry and An Armada Shipwreck – La Trinidad Valencera. The Spanish ship sank off the Donegal Coast in 1588.
The Tower Museum additionally has the one open-air viewing platform in the town positioned on the fifth ground. Entry to the Tower Museum is included in the Londonderry Attractions Pass
12. St Columb’s Cathedral
No tour of an Irish metropolis could be full with out mentioning its cathedrals. We sauntered into the grounds of St Columb’s Cathedral and when inside discovered a nice shock. Volunteers welcomed us with open arms and instructed us the story of the cathedral declaring fascinating items inside. It was the friendliest cathedral we’ve ever stepped foot in.
It is a should-see because it was the primary protestant church constructed in Britain or Ireland following the reformation. It is certainly one of Derry’s oldest buildings relationship again to 1633 which is saying rather a lot because it survived the Siege of Derry and The Troubles.
13. St Eugene’s Cathedral
We didn’t go inside St Eugene’s Cathedral, however we noticed it at each flip from the town partitions. It is a Roman Catholic cathedral relationship again to 1873.
14. Craft Village
We had the toughest time discovering the Craft Village and it was positioned simply down the road from our lodge. But it’s so nicely hidden. We lastly had to ask somebody the place to sneak into the unassuming alleyway however as soon as inside we have been so glad we looked for it. When we left from the opposite facet, we observed it wasn’t hidden in any respect we simply entered from the again.
Anyway, this beautiful alley is full of present and craft outlets main to Village Square in Derry metropolis centre. The village sq. is roofed and an awesome place to pull up a seat and have a pint. There is an unmissable thatched cottage in the village that may be very picturesque and excellent to your Instagram moments.
15. St Columb’s Park
If you’re on the lookout for slightly greenspace or a spot to have a picnic, St Columb’s Park is positioned simply throughout the Peace Bridge from the Old City on the proper financial institution of the River Foyle. You can cycle or stroll to it to see st Columb’s Park House, an 18th century manor home and a walled backyard. There’s a restaurant, pathways, and even a operating observe.
Another tranquil park simply outdoors of Derry Londonderry is Ness Country Park. Ness Country Park conists of 55 hectares of parkland the place you possibly can do some riverside walks and a hike to a waterfall.
16. Browns in Town
We ate at Browns in Town and it had an awesome ambiance. It is a classy informal restaurant positioned in the center of Derry. Prices are affordable and moreover being a wine bar, it has implausible cocktails and serves native craft beer.
Walled City Brewery
If you’re on the lookout for one thing distinctive to do in Derry, make your method to the Walled City Brewery. The Walled City Brewery doesn’t provide excursions, however you possibly can get pleasure from an interactive expertise the place you’ll study concerning the 9000 12 months olf historical past of brewing. All whereas tasting 10 craft beers which can be paired with snacks. You can guide excursions and tastings on their web site.
When on the lookout for Derry Nightlife, make your method to Waterloo Street and go pub hopping. It runs alongside the Derry partitions. We strolled from our lodge at Butchers Gate and adopted the sound of dwell music down to the river.
Europe’s Biggest Halloween Celebration
Ireland is the place Halloween originated and when visiting Londonderry Ireland throughout Halloween, you possibly can rely on the most important Halloween celebration in Europe. When it originated, Halloween was not the celebration it’s now. Instead it was a day that the traditional celts dressed up in animal skins to chase away evil spirits and keep away from being taken away.
In late October get an opportunity to expertise the nation’s largest all hallow’s eve competition in Derry. The Londonderry Banks of the Foyle Halloween Carnival presents a spooktacular 4-day celebration over the last week of October yearly. It options parades, bonfires, and naturally, individuals of all ages dressed as their favourite ghosts, ghouls, and monsters. Dublin nonetheless celebrates Samhain. Places to Visit For Halloween – Around the World
Where to Stay in Derry
We stayed on the Maldron Hotel proper in the town centre. It had stunning views of the River Foyle and is positioned proper subsequent to the Butchers Gate by the Derry City Walls. There is a health heart with sauna and there’s parking on website. For parking, ensure that to arrive early as it’s out there on a primary come first serve foundation. There is a parking zone close by if the lodge lot is full.
Address Butcher St, Londonderry BT48 6HL, UK
How to Get to Derry
Derry Londonderry is positioned in County Derry and is only a three-hour drive from Dublin and just below two hours from Belfast.
When you go to Derry, likelihood is you’ll come touring from Dublin or Belfast on an Irish Road Trip so you’ll most likely enter county Londonderry by automotive. Derry City does have an airport, The Derry Ireland Airport. Flights arrive from the UK however we drove from Belfast the place we rented a automotive. We have additionally pushed to Derry from Dublin and it’s also a really good scenic drive.
Day Trips from Derry
Derry-Coleraine Railway
The Derry Colerain prepare journey is ofted touted as some of the stunning prepare journeys in the world. The Derry Colerain Railway travels between Derry~Londonderry and Coleraine passing lengthy sandy seashores, mountains, and seacliffs. A spotlight is most definitely the lengthy sandy seashore of Benone Strand. We really crossed underneath the prepare tracks to stroll alongside this seashore which is taken into account certainly one of Ireland’s most stunning and unspoiled seashores.
The journey isn’t lengthy, however throughout it, you’ll move by two of Ireland’s longest tunnels and it ends at Colerain the place you possibly can carry in your journey by the Causeway Coast.
Causeway Coast
The Causeway Coast is a spectacular scenic drive with loads of stops together with the Giant’s Causeway, a number of Game of Thrones Filming Locations, The Dark Hedges, Bushmills Distillery and The Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge. This is rather more than a day journey and though it will possibly all be driving in in the future, we advise at the very least 4 days to discover the Causeway Coast. It could be achieved on a bus tour if you happen to aren’t prepared to drive on the opposite facet of the street.
Mussenden Temple and Downhill Demesne
Overlooking Benone Strand is Mussenden Temple. The temple is positioned on the cliffs of Castlerock additionally overlooking Downhill Strand. It is operated by The National Trust and you may tour its grounds together with the manor home. Downhill House was as soon as a grand Italian-inspired villa constructed by the Earl Bishop of Derry. It was devastated by hearth in the 1800s however there are nonetheless remnants of its grandeur.