This is the first in a series of posts on our recent 10 day road trip across Ireland – starting in Derry/ Londonderry before travelling along the Causeway Coast and then down the Wild Atlantic Way – I hope you enjoy reading.
We arrived into City of Derry Airport the previous evening, flying with Loganair from London Stansted. The flight took just 85 minutes, passing quickly with light refreshments handed out by the cabin crew. Arriving into Derry was a pleasant contrast to the hectic Stansted and we’d soon collected our bags and were in a taxi to the city centre.
The airport lies nine miles north east of the city centre with taxi fares averaging £12 for the 20 minute journey. A Translink bus service (No.234) operates between the airport and Foyle Street bus station several times a day (£4 single) but as schedules vary it’s best to check before travelling.
We were staying at the Holiday Inn Express located on Strand Road in the heart of the vibrant city centre. Our spacious room was well equipped boasting a stylish bathroom and had everything needed to ensure a relaxing stay.
After settling in and having a bite to eat we just had time for a short walk along the river past the Peace Bridge and to the Guildhall to give us a flavour of the city before returning to the hotel.
The next morning we were up bright and early to enjoy a buffet breakfast in the hotel before setting out for the day. The Visitor Information Centre was located just around the corner on Waterloo Place so we popped in there to pick up some maps and leaflets. The building is newly constructed with state-of-the-art interactive displays, close up views of the city walls and helpful staff. There’s also a small theatre where we sat down to view a short film about the story of Amelia Earhart and her epic solo flight across the Atlantic in 1932.
Leaving there, it was then just a short walk to The Siege Museum on Society Street (standard admission £5). The museum’s galleries cover three floors and relate the history of the Siege of Londonderry and of the Associated Clubs of the Apprentice Boys of Derry.
We viewed artefacts, banners and other memorabilia relating to the Siege which took place between 1688-89 when 13 young apprentice boys closed the city gates on the Catholic King James and a bitter 105 day siege followed with a great loss of life. The Protestant battle cry of ‘No Surrender’ during the Siege remains a loyalist cry to this day.
From there it was just a few steps to St. Columb’s Cathedral on London Street (free admission but donations welcome). This cathedral, designed in Gothic style was the first in the British Isles to have been built after the Reformation. There was little change to the building from 1663 to 1776 when the Bishop of Derry added 21ft to the tower plus a very tall spire. Unfortunately, 20 years later the additions showed signs of giving way and needed to be taken down and rebuilt leaving what we see today.
The cathedral’s interior is a joy to behold from its ornate entrance hall and staircase to its marble pillars and intricately carved pews and choir stalls. There are many fine stained glass windows which have recently been restored, a selection of regimental flags, memorials and a large collection of historical items from the time of the Siege.
The Cathedral overlooks the city walls where we were heading next and we were just in time to join a Martin McCrossan City Walking Tour which take place daily at 10.00, 12.00, 14.00 and 16.00. Tours depart from outside Level 4 of the Foyleside Shopping Centre on Carlisle Road with no pre-booking necessary (£4).
Derry is the only remaining completely walled city in Ireland and one of the finest examples of a walled city in Europe. Our tour guide Charlene was very knowledgeable and clearly passionate about her home city giving an unbiased view of Derry’s political and religious troubles. As we made our way along the walls landmarks were pointed out with their historical significance explained.
Seven gates surround the original town with Derry being one of only a few cities that never saw its fortifications breached from their construction in the early part of the 17th century, with cannons still in place to this day. From the top of the walls we enjoyed some splendid views of the city skyline.
I would highly recommend joining one of these tours as they are very enjoyable and such good value for money. There were around 30 people on our tour and everyone agreed that it was one of the highlights of visiting the city.
Following the walk we were ready for something to eat and being fans of the award winning Channel 4 comedy, a themed ‘Derry Girls’ afternoon tea was an absolute must. These take place at the Everglades Hotel just a short taxi ride out of town (journey £4 approx) where the cast and film crew stay when filming locally.
The popular television comedy is set in the 1990’s and follows the lives of five teenagers living their lives amidst the backdrop of the Troubles. The first series aired in 2018 with the second the following year. The final series was delayed due to the pandemic but is being filmed at present. Whilst walking around the city walls we had seen the Derry Girls mural portraying the show’s stars on the side of Badger’s Bar on Orchard Street.
The afternoon tea menu takes inspiration from the series with its cream horns, cone of chips, the famous Derry sausage roll bap and even a cheese and onion crisp sandwich. Alongside these specialities are the usual afternoon tea favourites of dainty finger sandwiches, warm scones with cream and jam, desserts and a selection of cakes and macaroons. Unlimited pots of tea or coffee and a delicious Derry Girls cocktail are also included.
It’s a very relaxing experience seated in either the hotel’s restaurant or lounge bar and diners each get to take home a souvenir Derry Girls Michelle plastic duck which now has pride of place at the side of my bath. Boxes are provided to take away anything remaining on the cake stand and with such a large and varied selection I defy anyone to manage to finish it all there and then. (Afternoon tea pre-bookable at £30 with accompanying walking tours of filming locations operating at certain times of year (additional charge). Derry Girls Afternoon Tea
Feeling very full after gorging on sausage roll baps, scones and cakes we took a taxi to the Bogside district so that we could visit the Museum of Free Derry to learn about the other side of the story from The Siege Museum which we had visited earlier in the day. Standard admission £7, open Tuesday-Saturday 10.00-16.00. The museum is located near Free Derry Corner, a historical landmark in the Bogside area.
Awarded Northern Ireland’s Authentic Experience of the Year in 2018, the museum tells the story of what happened in the city during the period 1968-1972, known as ‘The Troubles’ from the perspective of the Catholic Bogside area. Galleries cover the civil rights era, Battle of the Bogside, Internment, Bloody Sunday and Operation Motorman and include film footage, photographs, letters and personal artefacts.
On leaving the museum we walked back up the hill to the city centre and then spent the next hour looking around the shops and visiting the Craft Village tucked away off Shipquay Street with its quaint small shops selling locally produced handmade products alongside cosy little cafes.
We then returned to our hotel for a short rest before walking across the Peace Bridge to enjoy dinner at the Walled City Brewery in Ebrington Square, a former army barracks that has been transformed into an attractive public space. Stepping indoors, we were impressed by the gastro-pub’s stylish design from chandeliers fashioned out of beer bottles to its wall murals depicting some of its craft beers.
The selection of craft beers on offer changes frequently in groups of nine, these being displayed on a blackboard, numbered from light to dark. Rather than choosing a pint, we opted for flights giving us the opportunity to sample a wider selection. I’m not normally a beer drinker but with guidance from Catherine who was looking after us at our table, we both enjoyed our varied selection.
The food is reasonably priced at £23 for two courses or £28 for three. We opted for Vietnamese style chicken wings and soup of the day for starters, moving on to a Thai chicken curry and pork with black eyed peas and smoked bacon for mains. Each dish tasted delicious and portions so generous that we had to skip desserts. Spending the evening at the Walled City Brewery had been a perfect end to our first full day exploring Derry and the short walk back across the Peace Bridge to our hotel was just enough exercise before settling in for the night.
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Derry looks lovely, what a wonderful start to your trip. I can’t say I’ve ever seen Derry Girls but sounds like that would be interesting to watch too.
Surprised to read you opted for some flights at the brewery, glad you enjoyed your time there though 🙂
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Derry is such a welcoming small city Jason with so much to see and do. If you ever get a chance to see the Derry Girls, do tune in as its hilarious! The afternoon tea was yummy too!
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Thanks for the heads up on the Brighton pass. Ireland keeps popping up on my radar. Perhaps I should think more about this. I appreciated your liking my blog TravelSketches.info.
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Ireland is a wonderful country to explore both north and south of the border, Thank you for your welcome thoughts.
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Derry looks brilliant, love that they are hooking up with the Derry Girls connection. I’ve only recently discovered the show- I know, where have I been??- and I love it. The duck with the afternoon tea was a lovely touch, a nice little take home.
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Derry is gorgeous Helen and the Derry Girls series so very funny. Apologies for the long delay in responding to this comment, for some unknown reason it must have slipped through the net!
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Wonderful post! Very Informative!
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Thank you for your kind words, I’m so pleased to read you found it useful.
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Great panorama of Derry, Marion. Visited there a couple of years back and most enjoyed the Walls and the Bogside murals. The north Derry coast is recommended, unfortunately we (barely) saw it through sheets of rain! Another day.
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I’m so pleased we chose to spend the weekend in Derry as it’s a fascinating small city with such welcoming people. We had to dodge the showers a bit on the trip but thankfully the weather turned out to be much better than we’d anticipated. Thanks for your interest Shane. Have a good weekend. Marion
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you packed so much in! It looks fantastic!
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Thanks Andy, Derry is a fantastic city to visit.
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Thanks for sharing your beaitiful memory with us.
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It’s my pleasure, I’m so pleased you enjoyed this post on Derry.
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Yeah, I really enjoyed it.
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What a great trip. Brings back such great memories of our long stay in Northern Ireland a while back. Think you had better weather than us as it did seem to rain pretty much every day for a while. Derry is a great city though, so much history. Great photos.
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Thanks Jonno for taking an interest in this, the first of my series of posts on Ireland. The forecast for when we were away was awful with rain and gales each day but luck was on our side and our October visit turned out to be relatively dry with just the occasional shower passing through. I’d not visited Derry before but really took to the city and its friendly people. Marion
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It’s a pleasure to see you describe an island where I lived for over 9 years, I can’t wait to see what’s new along the way. As for Derry, I have been there several times, but in my days it was still a bit uneasy to visit. I’m so glad to see that it’s better now. I hope it’s for good.
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Thank you for taking an interest in the start of my series of posts on Ireland. Derry is now a very welcoming and safe city and we very much enjoyed our stay there. Hope you enjoying the following posts too. Marion
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Looking forward to following you through the rest of your tour, Looks like a very interesting place to visit and the accommodation looks very nice.
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Thank you for your kind words Ian. I’m so pleased to read you are interested to follow in my Irish road trip, Marion
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Oh I am so excited to follow along on your series through Ireland!!! I visited Derry years ago and thought it was such a beautiful city, sadly the majority of my pictures from there were ruined. I loved seeing the city again through your post. I had never heard of Derry Girls until just recently when I saw them on The Great British Baking Show for their holiday episode. They were so funny and so entertaining that we then started watching the show. 🙂
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How lovely that you started watching the Derry Girls TV series Meg. I also saw them on their baking show and enjoyed that too. Great to hear that you have also visited Derry and that my post has brought back fond memories of your trip. Marion
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I think it safe to say that the UK does television shows far better than here in the states- at least for me I enjoy those far more 🙂
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I think that’s probably the case as I’ve never really got in to those from the US.
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Hi Marion, I’m sure I will enjoy this road trip. My husband and I did a five day dash many years ago but Derry was not on the list, so great to see this insight.
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That’s great Gwen, I’m glad you visited the area sometime ago and will enjoy reading about my travels around Ireland. Hope you have a good week. Marion
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24 hours is a whirlwind of a time in a place, but with such a condense amount of time, it really motivates you to really plan and maximize your time there. Never heard of Derry, but it looks to be a calm and atmospheric place, despite being a sizable city. PS that Loganair plane is tiny, almost the size of a bus! I flew in one (easyJet, I believe) a few years ago, and found it so small and amusing! At least it gets you over in a cinch!
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Thanks for your welcome thoughts Rebecca. We were actually in Derry most of the following day as well but I just titled this post 24 hours to cover the first part so there will be more to come of the city in part two. Derry is a great city and yes, the plane was small, two passengers in one side and only one on the other but ideal to be able to fly direct rather than into Belfast.
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My husband is from Northern Ireland and on one of our trips there we visited Derry
https://carolhenshaw.com/2019/05/13/journeys-into-the-past/
Carol
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I’m so pleased to read that you have also visited Derry. Thank you for taking an interest in my post and I’ll also follow your link to find out how you got on!
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Really interesting post Marion. Derry looks a great start to the trip and I can’t wait to follow along with your roadtrip. Northern Ireland has long been on our list – for the cities, the causeway coast and to learn about the history as well.
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Thanks Hannah, Visiting Derry was indeed a great start to our roadtrip. It’s such a fascinating and easily walkable city with such friendly and welcoming people. I hope you enjoy these rest of my series and it perhaps inspires you to think of visiting. Marion
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A great reminder of our 2017 visit Marion. Despite being reassured all was safe in Derry, there were still places, where we did not feel safe. Feelings and tensions still run deep as the city population struggles to coexist. I can’t say enough about the quality of the Martin McCrossan walking tour. We had a real character leading the way, who made it very entertaining while detailing the conditions during the roubles. He explained the phrase the city is trying to live by these days Legen-Derry. Long may peace last. Thanks for sharing and have a great weekend. Allan
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It’s great to hear that you have visited Derry and also took one of the walking tours. Hopefully times have changed as we walked the streets day until late evening and felt perfectly safe wherever we wandered. Hope you enjoy the rest of the series and it will be fun to discover if you visited more of the places on our road trip bringing back fond memories. Marion
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I’ve watched Derry Girls on Netflix and very much enjoyed that show. Derry looks and sounds fascinating. The walking tour seems to be a good way to learn more fun facts about the area. Afternoon tea looks delightful. That’s a lovely picture of you as well.
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It’s great that you have also enjoyed watching Derry Girls and it was so good to finally have an opportunity to explore this fascinating city filled with such friendly and welcoming people. Thanks so much for taking an interest. Have a lovely relaxing weekend. Marion
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It’s years ago when we visited there. Looks like you had a great time seeing Derry. The hotel room looks great. Our room wasn’t as good as yours.
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I don’t know why it had taken me so long to visit Derry because it is such an interesting city with friendly and welcoming people. Marion
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Now here’s a city I knew very little about. A wonderful overview Marion of a place and indeed country I should get around to seeing one day. Love the panoramic shot from the city walls, makes the place look rather cosy. Had never heard of Derry Girls, but I do like the mural. And you know, anything that leads to afternoon tea! Have a great weekend.
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Thanks for your interest in this post on Derry. It’s a wonderful city with friendly welcoming people and easy to reach with an increased number of flights. Derry Girls is such a great comedy series and I’m sure you would enjoy watching it sometime on catch up. The afternoon tea was different but so nice! Have a great weekend. Marion
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I’ve not been back to Derry since hitch-hiking around Ireland in 1982 (it was a very different atmosphere then!). Recently, I’ve seen a number of people putting it on their tourist map. Thanks for this, it’s a good guide of what to expect. I can see myself popping over soon to have a look. It could make a good long-weekend break this winter.
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Thanks for taking an interest in my guide to Derry. I’m sure you would enjoy making a return visit as it such a welcoming city with so much to see and do. Hope you enjoy the rest of my series. Marion
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Oh, what a great day! I think these city walking tours are wonderful – a great way of getting to know the place! The city walls are quite impressive (as were you panoramic view). A lovely photo of you at the Everglades Hotel Marion … and quite a spread at the afternoon tea (looks so yummy)!
I am definitely looking forward reading more about your recent trip! Have a great weekend 🌸. Corna
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Thank you for taking an interest in the start of my Irish toad trip Corna, It was our first visit to Derry and I really fell in love with the city.
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