Top Rated Shopping in Derry

Thomas Goldsmiths is unique: it's one of the few jewelery retailers also involved in the design and manufacture of the pieces. The store, situated in the cathedral-quarter's Pump Street, carries the work of many of the top UK and Irish designers. It was established by two talented designers who both have an arts background. The works range from simple-but-beautiful bracelets to elegantly made diamond earrings. The shop has had great praise in the media for its carefully chosen stock and informal attitude. And the owners are very accessible when it comes to talking to customers. The place is also an occasional venue for workshops and displays.

A delightful and quietly relaxing bookshop located beside the city walls (where the Craft Village intersects with Magazine Street) dealing in second-hand and antiquarian books. The store contains a well-chosen mix of popular fiction (a lot of it Irish), history, biographies and popular art/music. Visitors will probably find much to interest them here: the categories are reasonably ordered, and the books are all in good condition for the asking prices. The proprietor, Art Byrne, is usually on hand to deal with all queries. A mail-order service is available also, but we aware of how much heavy tomes are to send by post.

Interfaced with the historic city walls, Foyleside is the biggest commercial mall in the north west. With over 40 high street stores including Boots, Marks & Spencer, Dunnes, Body Shop and Dixons, the center provides a good place to shop in a comfortable and spacious environment. Over 1400 parking spaces are provided as well as a bus-coach park. As an added bonus to the shopping facilities, a McDonald's is located on the top floor. The many incidental amenities include a bureau de change, two bank ATMs and a (UK) lottery ticket kiosk. Taxis can be booked on the ground-floor to come to the Foyle Street entrance. Restrooms and phones are located here too.

Ideally situated inside the city walls, this center contains a sensible and interesting fusion of high-street names, and local shops over three levels. Names include Mothercare, Dorothy Perkins, JJB Sports, Burton and Harry Corry. The mall is very worthwhile visiting for clothiers stores, specifically casual jeans-and-sweater outlets. Access entrances are on Ferryquay Street, Linenhall Street, with the main one at Shipquay Street. All in all, it's a spacious and comfortable environment in which to shop. (Public restrooms are on the second floor.) The Richmond leads directly into the larger, more modern in design, Foyleside Shopping Centre.

Tesco, one of the big British chain-supermarkets, introduced the concept of 24-hour shopping to the people of the north west. For insomniacs who like to shop for groceries at 3am this is ideal. But this anchor-store (in the Lisnagelvin Shopping Centre) is more than just a foodhall. It sells electronic goods, papers/books and videos. It has impressive home-kitchen and clothes sections. In the off-licence area the choice of wines is wide and fair-priced (though be aware that licensing laws mean closing at 10.30pm). Avoid the less-flexible and limited Tesco outlet in the city center. Call 0845 6779433 for details.

A really functional but also good-looking gift store, this is situated on Shipquay Street in the heart of the walled city. It sells good quality general gift ware and interesting Irish souvenirs. The items on offer include photo frames, Irish-cut Tyrone and Waterford crystal and fine sterling silver items. A comprehensive range of tasteful Celtic jewelery is available also. This is one of the best gift/souvenir shops in the area, appealing as it does to both locals and visitors.