What a fascinating place just across from the Guild Hall. We saw three fabulous exhibitions for the…read moreprincely sum of £2.40 each. The first exhibition, the tv comedy Derry Girls - which has taken the world by storm - and even had Ms Chelsea Clinton in a cameo role. And the line 'Protestants don't like Abba' that made me laugh aloud. Oh I've never met anybody who doesn't like ABBA. Exhibition 2 The history of Derry from Stone Age about 10,000 years ago to date including a documentary film. Exhibition 3 An Armada shipwreck with cannon and weapons recovered from the wreckage. It's a few hours to do the exhibitions seriously and the staff, like all the citizens of this scarred city of survivors are so damn friendly and genuinely warm. Of course I recommend it like I recommend staying in this city for at least 3 nights.

Definitely, a must-visit, the Tower Museum is a great attraction just within the historic Derry…read moreWalls where we enjoyed learning about the city's history and panoramic views from the rooftop. The staff was very friendly as we purchased our tickets and made our way through the exhibits, with the main one we saw being "The Story of Derry". We didn't get around to touring the Armada Shipwreck exhibit that's on the second through fourth floors but did make our way to the top floor where we had an open-air panoramic view of the city around us.

We were on the CIE Scots Irish tour and were driving through Londonderry. Ooh! Pretty building!…read more Ooh! We're stopping for potties at the pretty building. WOAH!!! It's really, really nice! Thank you to the nice lady who said there are more potties on the second floor ... what if I had never seen the top floor? It was sooo pretty! So much stained glass! So much cool history. ... and lots of things to take photos of! Whee! ... and a gift shop * happy tourist * I probably should make some of the bread mixes we bought. We bought all 3! That is not a souvenir that we should keep forever ... * nods *

Guildhall is a neo-Gothic building and is one of Derry-Londonderry's most iconic landmarks. The…read morecity's own John Hume, awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1998 for his efforts in the peace process, is on display at Guild Hall. I had never seen a Nobel Peace Prize in person before. The stained glass windows are gorgeous. This deserves a stop.

I certainly recommend this tour; I've lived a lifetime in this statelet; I've seen quite a few…read morehorrors and I'm glad we have relative peace - a peace that has come at far too high a price. Thousands of our citizens died for nothing really. I knew of the murders of unarmed innocent people that took place in this proud city. I knew of the lies and the cover-ups but I knew little of the detail until we took this guided tour when we were in the city for a few nights. To be honest I didn't give these killings too much thought as many more followed. It also felt a bit odd participating in a tour in your own country about a history I lived through, as it feels that it's only for tourists but it's not, rather everyone in the country should have the opportunity to take this tour. I saw for the first time where the State murders actually occurred. The area is so condensed, small, contained; slaughter in an area smaller than our local car park and that awful reality hit me like a hammer. Those who give the tour speak with passion and they do so without bitterness. It is this that is the loudest message from this tour - forgiveness and a sense of peace allows these folks to move on Janus-like looking to a brighter future while not forgetting an awful past. There's a lesson in humanity here for us all.

From the owner: Derry Guided Tours speciality is political and historical walking tours of Derry's Bogside murals…read moreand Bloody Sunday walking tour, Derry walls walking tour.Gleann Doherty is a tour guide and a B.A Honours Degree graduate Irish History and Politics Gleann's father was murdered on Bloody Sunday 30th January Bogside 1972. University and school groups and those studying Irish history and peace and reconciliation studies.

We enjoyed a really fantastic day together here at the folk park, met up with another family of 4,…read moreso we had a big gang of 8 walking together through the park, in pouring rain, and it was a perfect day! We had children ages 6-15 and each one thought it was fascinating, the adults, too. It went on a bit too long for me- I was so surprised how many stops there were on the tour- and I ran out of stream! So come well-rested and prepared with good walking shoes and an umbrella, if needed. Cute gift shop. Very nice café. Loved it! Highly

It's been so long since we were here last that we'd forgotten almost all of it. Maybe it's just a…read moreseries of senior moments but I'll tell you what it's superb and a great way to spend 3 or more hours. There's no down side to this place. This is a superb living park where you walk through 18th & 19th century thatched cottages, a blacksmiths forge, a school house, a Roman Catholic Church, a Meeting House, a bank, general stores, barns, log cabins, you'll board a ship (to go from Ireland to America) meet the captain and you'll meet other delightful costumed characters who demonstrate traditional crafts, tell real stories. They are very likely to share good food with you. We had pumpkin pie, a molasses based shoo fly pie, apple pie, fruit cake and other goodies. Many of the buildings were dismantled from their original places in Ireland & America and re-built here. The influential Mellon family feature (banking, oil, steel and shares in HJ Heinz & General Motors) as does the Campbell family. Both families are originally from the area so further adding to the authenticity of the park. There are 44 separate outdoor places to go visit in addition to the exhibitions inside and notably they have a very good Titanic exhibition. So a dry day is essential or at least a dry half day. There's also a very good cafe with tasty food rather than the rubbish a lot of places serve up these days. In fact if I was close by I'd go here to eat without going into the folk park.

This impressive fort was originally built as a Royal Navy position during the Napoleonic Wars. So…read moreit's over 200 years old now and still standing. It is located on windy roads about 8 miles or so from Buncrana on the Inishowen peninsula. There's plenty of free parking and the natural views are really impressive. On arrival at the reception to pay we were directed into a film that explained the history of the area and it was interesting to find that even after Irish independence and the creation of the state there was an agreement with Britain that its troops would continue to keep operational control of the fort as it was considered strategically significant. Those days are now long gone. Today the fort is a military museum with fascinating exhibitions, and many displays about the birds, marine life and coastal vegetation of the area. It has a gift shop, an auditorium and trail walks. It'll easily take an hour to watch the movie and go around the site, longer if you get into the detail provided on site. There's also a nearby coffee shop that serves up savoury & sweet treats, it offers free WiFi and it's a very pleasant way to relax after a visit to the fort.

This is a gem of a place - and while it has a good little museum/ heritage facility, the…read morerestaurant/cafe is a big attraction with good selection of fresh food, a gift shop, library and internet cafe, it does great Irish music and dance performances and has meeting rooms and public services upstairs.

The new town hall is a very welcome addition to ballymena. The centre offers lots of various…read moreperformances usually at very reasonable prices. The centre is really well decorated with some excellent art work. The acoustics are really good as well. In my opinion this is a really positive change for ballymena and improves the image of the area.

I have to say, and am sad to do so, but the new museum disappointed me. They have tried to do…read moresomething different and it is spread across a number of floors, but it just seems to lack something. Hard to say what exactly, but it just doesn't, for me, gel as a whole. It is free (which is a bonus) and they do have some very interesting and well thought out sections, but other parts are very poorly designed and thought out. I think some more work needs done on the whole concept of the museum. It can and should, even if it remains free, be a very good feather in the cap of the local community, but still has a long way to go. Locals and visitors alike should want to visit and return again. After our last visit, we didn't think it would draw us in again for a long time.

Not a lot to see really and not worth just going to visit on its own, but it is on the main street…read moreand worth a visit if in the town anyway.