Derry and County Donegal - Ireland 2014 - page 595

Laundry: Smooth Operators can do a load of laundry for about £9 (drop off in morning
to pick up later that day, Mon-Fri 8:30-18:00, Sat 8:30-17:30, closed Sun, 8 Sackville
Street, tel. [phone]).
Taxi: Try The Taxi Company (tel. [phone]) or Foyle Taxis (tel. [phone]).
Car Rental: Enterprise is a handy place to rent a car (tel. [phone], 70 Clooney
Road, www.enterprise.co.uk ) .
Tours in Derry
Walking Tours
Martin McCrossan and his staff lead insightful hour-long tours of the city, departing
from 11 Carlisle Road just below Ferryquay Gate (£4; daily at 10:00, 12:00, and 14:00;
call to confirm schedule; they also offer private tours—one-hour city tour-£25, four-
hour Giant's Causeway or County Donegal tour-£100; tel. [phone], mobile
077-1293-7997, www.irishtourguides.com ).
Stephen McPhilemy leads private tours of Derry (his hometown), Belfast, and the
North Coast—when he's not on the road guiding Rick Steves tours several months a year
(tel. [phone], mobile [phone], www.irishexperience.ie , steve@irish-experi-
ence.ie ) . Stephen also runs the recommended Paddy's Palace Hostel.
Bus Tours
Top Tours' double-decker buses are a goodoption fora general overview ofDerry.You'll
be driven around the city in a one-hour loop that covers both sides of the river, includ-
ing the Guild Hall, the old city walls, political wall murals (Nationalist as well as Union-
ist), cathedrals, and former shirt factories. Your ticket is good for 24 hours and also in-
cludes a 45-minute walking tour of the city walls and Bogside (£12.50, pay driver, bus
departs April-Sept daily onthe hour10:00-16:00 frominfrontofTIandGuildhall Square,
walking tour departs from from TI daily at 10:00 and 12:00, tel. [phone], mobile
077-9116-4431, http://toptoursireland.com , [e-mail] ) .
Top Tours also offers trips from Derry to the Giant's Causeway and Carrick-a-Rede
Rope Bridge in County Antrim (£25, runs daily May-Sept, depart TI at 11:00, return by
17:00). In addition, they offer tours to Glenveagh National Park in County Donegal (de-
part TI at 9:00, return by 15:00). You can book any of their tours through the Derry TI.