There are many places you can visit that you just know youare going to love, but there are very few that can genuinely surprise you. Derry is a surprise. In fact, Northern Ireland’s second city is anunexpected delight.
For a start there is its fantastic riverside to enchant you.Then there are the opportunities for retail therapy, coupled with a lively cluband bar scene. Its important historical sights range all the way from themedieval to the incredibly recent, and all are presented with care andfascinating attention to detail. And, finally, Derry is a real powerhouse of cultural development whose localsexude a genuinely warm welcome that provides a magical winning touch.
Derry’s History
There’s so much history in Derry to take in from the romance of its 17th centurycity walls to explorations of iconic recent events such as Sunday BloodySunday.
Just inside MagazineGate you will find the award-winning Tower Museum that offers commanding views over the city from the 5thfloor and an interactive tour through the varied history of Derry on all the others.
Historic buildings and monuments are dotted around the citycentre and anyone with an interest in how the past shapes the present can havea field day here. Take a stroll past the Guildhall,take in the splendour of St Columb’s Cathedral, pop into the maritime HarbourMuseum, contemplate the granite obelisk that remembers the 14 civilians wholost their lives on Derry’s BloodySunday or check out the impressive political urban art of the ‘Bogside Artists’near Free Derry Corner.
Derry’s Culture and Festivals
The magnificent symbol of Derry’s cultural renaissance is the Peace Bridge which takes pedestrians across its elegant span of the River Foyle and links the Walled City of the west bank and Ebrington Square on the east. It’s asymbolic handshake and a powerful statement of the optimism that todaycharacterises Derry.
Derry’s pubs playhost to a lively music scene and there are plenty of opportunities to catchmusic performances every night in the city.
The Derry GuitarFestival is an annual event in August that attracts big names representingevery strumming style possible and the JazzFestival in May will have you stroking your beard furiously or moving yourfeet frantically depending on your preference.
Foyle Days inJune showcase boating events and shoreside festivities, July’s Gasyard Wall Féile celebrates Irishculture and language and the Halloween Carnival is nothing less than one giant free-for-all andan unforgettable night of mayhem.
Arts and crafts are well-represented in the Craft Village near Magazine Street oron glorious display at the Centre forContemporary Art and the McGillowayGallery.
Derry’s Delights
With a choice of cuisines available throughout the city insome very fine restaurants indeed, and everything from quirky, independentshops to Foyleside Shopping Centre’s four levels of retail heaven, Derry will delight on every level.
Visit Derry andyou will be surprised – very pleasantly surprised.
