We were on the CIE Scots Irish tour and were driving through Londonderry. Ooh! Pretty building!…read more Ooh! We're stopping for potties at the pretty building. WOAH!!! It's really, really nice! Thank you to the nice lady who said there are more potties on the second floor ... what if I had never seen the top floor? It was sooo pretty! So much stained glass! So much cool history. ... and lots of things to take photos of! Whee! ... and a gift shop * happy tourist * I probably should make some of the bread mixes we bought. We bought all 3! That is not a souvenir that we should keep forever ... * nods *

Guildhall is a neo-Gothic building and is one of Derry-Londonderry's most iconic landmarks. The…read morecity's own John Hume, awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1998 for his efforts in the peace process, is on display at Guild Hall. I had never seen a Nobel Peace Prize in person before. The stained glass windows are gorgeous. This deserves a stop.

Did a bit of a sightseeing drive that day and decided to stop by this Church. We've been in the…read morearea a few times before, but never visited this place. It's beautifully located at the Loch, right beside the A85. It was a busy day, but we managed to get a parking spot right by the church. There's street parking as well, but with the traffic going on it's good to have a chance to park on the offical (small) lot. It was built in 1881-6; and substantially extended from 1906 to 1914. Designed by the architect Walter Douglas Campbell. There are three chapels inside. One for me was especially interesting: The Bruce Chapel contains a carved wood and alabaster effigy of Robert the Bruce. We did spend more time than we've actually planned. It was just a very stunning place to take in. The architecture with all its detail, the couryard, the park, the views. It's a really amazing and impressive church. Even though well visited, I was still baffled that it isn't even more famous. Not that I did mind...overflowing with visitors it might be less impressive. But I just mean it does deserve a bit more spotlight. Donations are welcome, since there's no entrance fee. Dogs on leash are welcome outside on the grounds. There's also a little Café right next to - with toilets. Surely a beautiful place to visit when in the area.

This beautiful church is open to the public for no charge. Toss them a donation on the way out if…read moreyou like.

I just chanced on these ruins and decided to take a detour to see them as I love church…read morearchitecture and history. This church dates back to 1306. It has an eerie feel to it. The oldest gravestone I found was 1839 while there's a memorial dating back to 1770. Very cool. Strangely there a gravestone dated 2006 so I couldn't figure out when the site was used as a graveyard until. Gorgeous views and walk around the cliff from the church

Friendly, lively and modern…read more Good teaching. Lots of space. I went to a women's conference and there was 950 women there. Many nationalities. It's very diverse. They have lots of programmes and are very active in the community. Also decent amount of toilets which is unusual for a church.

I thought I was reserving the most interesting building in the islands. Turns out I didn't even…read moreneed to reserve them, plenty of available room here. I doubt they ever have enough tourism to sell out of tickets. I can't say the Abbey and museum were a waste of my time, since I had 2 hours to kill between ferries, but I don't think they're worth £10. Because this place is still active, they've rebuilt a lot of original material, which is quite sad. I photographed the original bits that were left, but the most interesting parts (the nunnery especially) are free! You only pay to enter the grounds of the church and see the small museum, and the whole thing is 90% stone crosses and grave markers. I have to think the fee is to raise money for the church, more than maintaining history. So if you find yourself in Iona, and you're not a devout Christian, I recommend checking out all the ruins around the Abbey, anything you can see without paying, and leaving it at that. If you do believe in the Church, this place probably has more spiritual significance for you, but unfortunately it lacks as a museum.

We spent a day in Iona visiting the abbey and nunnery. The weather cooperated and it was mostly…read morecloudy with just spots of rain. It's a short walk to the nunnery and abbey from the dock where the ferry dropped us off. The nunnery is on the way to the abbey and is mostly in ruins. It's still worth a stop to understand the history, although you can't go inside. If you're lucky you might even see some hairy coos on the walk to the abbey. The abbey is having some work done so there was scaffolding on one side. But the architecture is still stunning. It's in a beautiful location. The interior is serene and tranquil. There's a separate building in the back that is the museum, which is also very informative. This was on our must-see list during our Scotland visit and it was wonderful to spend the hours here.