heritage · Derry/Londonderry
The Tower Museum remains a visitor stop inside Derry’s walls, but its offer is changing. The Derry Girls Experience continues while the long-running Story of Derry exhibition has closed ahead of the planned DNA Museum project. Go for the programme that is currently advertised, and check the museum’s own exhibition information rather than expecting every gallery described in an older guide.
From research
Choose Tower Museum for its currently advertised exhibitions. The Derry Girls Experience remains a reason to visit, but older descriptions of the Story of Derry must not be treated as the current exhibition programme.
Know before you book: The Story of Derry exhibition closed on 26 April 2026. The Derry Girls Experience continues; confirm the current exhibition programme and whether any Armada displays are available before booking.
Place highlights
The exhibition’s documented memorabilia includes Erin’s diary and costumes associated with memorable scenes. Look at these as objects made and selected to create character, not simply as souvenirs. For a viewer of the series, their physical scale and detail offer something different from rewatching an episode at home.
The museum’s current exhibition list separates present displays from past exhibitions, including the Story of Derry and La Trinidad Valencera. Use that distinction when following the museum’s collection story. A preview of a future museum is an introduction to a project, rather than access to all the galleries planned for it.
The story behind the visit
The Derry Girls Experience introduced screen history into the Tower Museum through props and costumes from the television series. Familiar objects allow a visitor to move from a scene remembered on screen to the material work of making it. This is a different kind of collection from a traditional chronological city history, but it still concerns how Derry’s people and places are represented and remembered. Source ↗
The museum is also in a period of transition. Its long-running Story of Derry exhibition closed in April 2026, with collections intended for the developing DNA Museum at Ebrington. The council confirmed that Derry Girls would continue at the Tower Museum. That change is essential to understanding a visit: a museum’s name may remain the same even when its exhibitions, emphasis and use of space have changed substantially. Source ↗
Visitor information
Union Hall Place, Derry BT 48 6LU. Official visitor information ↗
Confirm current access and visitor arrangements with the operator.
Self-guided visits; contact museum ahead for guided/group arrangements. Source ↗
Museum visit page lists level main entrance and internal lift; confirm which exhibition floors/viewing area are available during transition. Source ↗
Nearby options
Explore other places in the area, then use live directions to plan your journey.
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The Guildhall is an easy building to admire from the square and a more rewarding one to enter. Its stained glass, organ and civic rooms add texture to a Derry day dominated by the walls and river.
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The walls make the historic shape of Derry legible from above street level. Built in the early seventeenth century, the circuit links gates and bastions around the old city, with changing views into streets…
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Derry offers a compact city visit organised around its walls, river and layered history. A considered walk and one chosen museum or guided tour make a coherent first day.
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Grianán of Aileach places a circular stone fort above a wide spread of water and land between Lough Foyle and Lough Swilly. The view makes the choice of site understandable before you know its history. Inside,…
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nature
Ness is a woodland-and-river outing where your starting point matters. Different approaches lead to different gradients, and the waterfall walk should not be confused with every easy-looking path around the…
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Roe Valley gives the river the leading role. Woodland paths, moving water and traces of former industry make a quieter alternative to the north-coast beach circuit, particularly when you want a walk with…
Open place page →Location & access
The Story of Derry exhibition closed on 26 April 2026. The Derry Girls Experience continues; confirm the current exhibition programme and whether any Armada displays are available before booking.
54.99735, -7.32070 · Reference point; confirm the correct entrance and access. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Orientation only: a verified public entrance is not established by this pin. Use the operator arrival information before travel.