Hostels in Derry, Northern Ireland

Londonderry, Northern Ireland, has about eighty-five thousand inhabitants, which makes it the second-largest city in Northern Ireland and the home of a selection of hostels. The city has its roots back in the sixth century, when a monastery was built. Londonderry has bloody history; in the late seventeenth century, Catholic-Jacobite troops besieged the then-Protestant city for three months. Since the late sixties, the city has been shaken by troubles for a few decades and was the scene of bloody clashes between Anglicans and Presbyterians of English and Scottish descent (Protestants or Unionists) and the Catholic-Irish-born residents (Catholics or Republicans) during the Northern Irish conflict in the mid-seventies. There were huge disputes between Irish nationalists, who were deliberately using the old name Derry and the rest who were referring to it as Londonderry.

Today, the situation is far less intense and you can visit the city without getting into political trouble. Worth visiting is the old town of Derry, with its city wall from the seventeenth century, which is considered the best preserved in Britain and Ireland; St. Columb's Cathedral, the largest Anglican cathedral in Northern Ireland; the Tower Museum; the Bloody Sunday Monument; and the Amelia Earhart Center.

There are several hostels in Londonderry, and despite their good location -- most of them are located near the Foyle River and are within walking distance from the city center -- the majority of them are not very good. Most hostels in Londonderry offer quite poor facilities and that is strange, as the city attracts enough tourists and local people know how to provide good service. Still, there are a few exceptions, but most hostels in Londonderry are not even mediocre. Prices of hostels in Londonderry are quite moderate and you can find relatively cheap places to stay, but if you can afford it, consider paying a bit more to get better conditions.