Top Rated Attractions in Derry

The grandiose-sounding McNamara's Famous Guided Walking Tours provide an enjoyable and interesting way to experience the sights and sounds of the city. Your host is multi-award-winning tour guide Ronan McNamara, and his itinerary includes the Guildhall, the City Walls, St Columb's Cathedral, the Apprentice Boys' Memorial Hall and much more. This light-hearted yet informed guide will also provide specific and unusual insights into the tumultuous history of the city. This could be said to be a more personal, idiosyncratic version of the official Guided Walking Tours run by the council and convention bureau.

This is a mural highlighting the predominance of politics and sectarian history in Northern Ireland. An orange-sashed RUC officer beats to the ground an unarmed resister, while beside him a soldier in full riot uniform also raises his baton. They are dark figures against a white backdrop, skeletal-like, the policeman's attire and mustache reminiscent of Nazi forms and symbolism. This was painted in 1996, and underscores the importance of symbols and emblems here.

Once the only way to travel from Buncrana to the townland of Urris, Mamore Gap dominates the landscape for miles around. Created by glaciers and held sacred by pre-Christian Ireland, this great " saddle " in the Urris Hills still features in the locals' everyday life and is the site for an annual Catholic Mass. If you drive your car to a certain stage in the road, it will go uphill all by itself, due to a geological quirk that few can explain. The views from the top make it worth the trip, as the countryside below unfolds like a gigantic quilt, proving there are indeed 40 shades of green. Beyond, the Atlantic rolls across to the horizon.

One of the most unusual tourist offices in Northern Ireland, this is a completely detached glass and wrought iron building in the main square. The Pagoda name harks back to an equally unique wooden structure that for years was a meeting point for local people. Here you can find information about the entire Strabane district, which takes in a 15-mile radius covering the town, Castlederg, Newtownstewart, Plumbridge, Sion Mills and Donemana. The staff can tell you about the town's many American connections; where writer Flann O'Brien was born and about exhibitions, such as those held in Gray's Printing Press and the Gallery Coffee Shop. For visitors looking for immediate culture, a short walk is the Farmers Home: an authentically traditional local pub. As a Network Tourist Information Centre, it also carries literature and contact numbers for all of Northern Ireland and Donegal.

Buncrana is the key town in Inishowen. The new tourist office there will highlight all new developments in the town and county. Located on the way into town, it opened in April 2001. As well as carrying literature that covers the rest of Donegal, the office will provide such services as an accommodation booking point and itinerary/route planning maps. The shop part sells crafts, souvenirs and postcards. Cathy O'Donnell, a native of the beautiful Malin district nearby, has great enthusiasm for her job as tourist officer and can give you hints about the best places to stay and what to look out for.