Londonderry

County Londonderry is often referred to as the ‘picturesque' county, and not without good reason. From the coastline in the north, where Magilligan Strand provides Ireland's longest beach, to the fascinating Roe Valley Country Park in the west, across to the vastness of Lough Neagh in the east and southward to the historical Plantation towns, rolling forests and river glens that melt into the mists of the mysterious Sperrin Mountains, Co. Londonderry is a visual delight.

West of the Bann estuary the remaining northern coastline of Co. Londonderry receives relatively few visitors and, as such, makes for a pleasant detour away from the major attractions. There are wonderfully unspoilt beaches here stretching the distance from Castlerock to Magilligan Point, and panoramic sea vistas to be enjoyed from the cliff heights of Mussendon Temple and around Binovenagh Mountain. Inland, the town of Limavady offers reminders of its former Georgian period.

County Londonderry is often referred to as the ‘picturesque' county, and not without good reason. From the coastline in the north, where Magilligan Strand provides Ireland's longest beach, to the fascinating Roe Valley Country Park in the west, across to the vastness of Lough Neagh in the east and southward to the historical Plantation towns, rolling forests and river glens that melt into the mists of the mysterious Sperrin Mountains, Co. Londonderry is a visual delight.

West of the Bann estuary the remaining northern coastline of Co. Londonderry receives relatively few visitors and, as such, makes for a pleasant detour away from the major attractions. There are wonderfully unspoilt beaches here stretching the distance from Castlerock to Magilligan Point, and panoramic sea vistas to be enjoyed from the cliff heights of Mussendon Temple and around Binovenagh Mountain. Inland, the town of Limavady offers reminders of its former Georgian period. The city of Londonderry sits proudly at the foot of Lough Foyle, immediately before the border with the Republic; it is a crossroads city in more ways than one. Roads from all cardinal points arrive here and it was formerly a major point of emigration from the 18 th century onward. Londonderry is the fourth-largest town in Ireland, and second biggest in the North, but it retains a markedly different atmosphere from Belfast, its population being two-thirds Catholic. Gaelic signs welcome visitors to Derry, English ones to Londonderry - the British government's preferred choice. Londonderry is energetic, creative and confident, one of Ireland's loveliest cities and a major highlight of any trip to Ulster. Compact and vibrant behind its 17 th century walls, it remains an ancient city with a modern outlook.

The southern aspects of the county have a landscape dominated by fertile farming land rising to the Sperrin Mountains on the Tyrone border. In the 17 th century land grants were offered to various London guilds and companies who were prepared to plan out new towns in their entirety. Such Plantation towns as Magharafelt and Moneymore were often built on green-field sites selected by specialists from England. A must-see Plantation town and castle is at Bellaghy Bawn, both for itself and for its close association with the famous poet Seamus Heaney. The huge expanse of Ireland's largest lake, Lough Neagh, laps restfully against the county's south-eastern borders.