Derry among top ten cities to visit in 2021

We were among ten nominees for Europe’s Leading Emerging Tourism Destination 2020 in the World Travel Awards.

Despite losing out to the Black Sea resort of Batumi, Georgia’s second city, the nomination has raised Derry’s profile internationally.

It caught the attention of the global cultural magazine Time Out which has listed Derry at number four on its list of ‘off-the-beaten-track cities’ to visit next year alongside the capitals of Slovenia, Bulgaria and Azerbaijan.

Ellie Walker-Arnott, Digital Travel Editor at Time Out, which has a huge global readership, wrote: “There are decades of history to be discovered in Derry, NI’s second city (sometimes known as Londonderry). A walk around the outside is a good place to start – it’s the only completely walled city in Ireland.”

The top ten list is as follows: 1, Batumi (Georgia). 2, Baku (Azerbaijan). 3, Bydgoszcz (Poland). 4, Derry. 5, Kutná Hora (Czechia). 6, Ljubljana (Slovenia). 7, Matera (Italy). 8, Mostar (Bosnia and Herzegovina). 9, Sibiu (Romania). 10, Sofia (Bulgaria).

Ms. Walker-Arnott noted: “There are many classic European city breaks – arty jaunts in Paris, food comas in Rome, big ones in Berlin. But the continent also holds hundreds of off-the-beaten-track cities – buzzing with culture, historic architecture, incredible food and diverse communities – that are, for a lot of us, still waiting to be discovered.”

The World Travel Awards were established in 1993 to acknowledge and celebrate excellence across all sectors of the tourism industry.