The Peace Bridge in Derry is a sinuous, white, S-shaped footbridge that curves across the River Foyle, connecting the predominantly nationalist Waterside to the predominantly unionist Cityside, a physical symbol of the reconciliation that has transformed Northern Ireland’s second city since the Good Friday Agreement of 1998. The bridge opened in 2011, and the walk across it, the river, the sky, and the view of the city that was, for 30 years, the epicentre of the Troubles (the Battle of the Bogside, 1969, the Bloody Sunday massacre of 1972, and the 1,500 deaths in the city and the county during the conflict), is the essential first experience of the new Derry. The city walls, the only completely intact city walls in Ireland, built between 1613 and 1618, the cannons still pointing over the Bogside, are the walking tour of the old Derry, and the combination, the bridge and the walls, the new city and the old history, is the reason the UK City of Culture 2013 has become one of the most interesting weekend-break destinations in the British Isles. Here is your guide.

Weekend Break: Derry

• The city walls, the walking tour: The walls are 1.6 km in circumference, and the walk along the top, the 24 cannons, the seven gates, and the view of the Bogside (the Free Derry Corner, the gable wall that still reads “You Are Now Entering Free Derry,” and the Bloody Sunday memorial, the 14 oak trees planted for the 14 victims of the 1972 massacre), is the essential introduction to the city. The walls are free, the walk takes 45 minutes (if you do not stop), and the Guildhall (the neo-Gothic city hall, the stained-glass windows telling the story of the city, the Plantation, the Siege of 1689, and the Troubles. Free, and the exhibition on the Plantation of Ulster, the 17th-century colonisation that created the sectarian geography of the north of Ireland, is the essential context for everything you will see in the city) is the starting point. Guided tours: the Bogside History Tour (the walking tour led by the relatives of the Bloody Sunday victims, the personal testimony, and the most powerful history tour in the UK. ~£10, 1.5 hours, and the essential Derry experience) or Martin McCrossan City Tours (the only tour with access to the city walls, the guides, the history, and the sense of the city from the top of the walls. ~£10, and the best general introduction to Derry). More UK →
• The Museum of Free Derry, the Bloody Sunday story: The Museum of Free Derry tells the story of the civil rights movement, the Battle of the Bogside, and the Bloody Sunday massacre, the 14 unarmed civil rights marchers shot by the Parachute Regiment of the British Army on the 30th of January 1972. The museum is small, intensely personal, and deeply moving, the photographs, the personal effects of the victims, and the archive of the Saville Inquiry (the 12-year, £200 million public inquiry that concluded, in 2010, that the killings were “unjustified and unjustifiable”). Entry: ~£8. Allow 1.5 hours. The museum stands on the site of the original Free Derry, the self-declared autonomous nationalist area that existed from 1969 to 1972, and the sense of walking through the living memory of a community that is still healing is the most powerful cultural experience in Northern Ireland
• The food, the pubs, and the new Derry: Derry has a food scene that punches far above its weight: the Walled City Brewery (the craft beer and the gastropub food in the former barracks of the Ebrington Square, the best meal in the city, the view of the Peace Bridge, and the beer brewed on site. ~£15–20 for a main), the Browns Bonds Hill (the fine dining, the tasting menu, and the best restaurant in the city. ~£50), and the Pyke ‘n’ Pommes (the street-food van turned permanent restaurant, the burgers, and the best casual meal in Derry. ~£12). The pubs: Peadar O’Donnell’s (the music, the traditional Irish session every night, the Guinness, and the best pub atmosphere in the city), the Grand Central Bar (the Victorian gin palace, the tiles, the mirrors, and the best pub interior in Northern Ireland), and Sandinos (the indie bar, the craft beer, and the late-night Derry). The essential night: the music at Peadar O’Donnell’s, the beer at the Grand Central, and the walk back to your hotel across the Peace Bridge, the lights on the river, the city quiet, and the sense of a city that has earned its peace