Home Base or Move Around?

Do not underestimate driving times. Roads to historic and scenic sights are often slow, even more so if you are behind a slow vehicle.

I always advocate some sort of middle ground. Driving and parking can take more time than you plan on, and therefore limit your experiences. But so can changing locations all the time. For 2 1/2 weeks, think about moving a couple times. It's nice to settle into a hotel and a town and feel comfortable there, so I wouldn't advise a bunch of 2-3 night stays. Maybe 3 longer stays in different regions, venturing out from there to nearby areas you want to see.

While I take the "home base" approach anywhere else I travel, Ireland is best visited by moving around. Distances look short, but driving times can be relatively long, as Chani notes. I found the website Michelin.com to be helpful, but I added about 25% to their estimated driving time; that was pretty accurate for me. Two and one-half weeks is a really nice amount of time to have for visiting the Republiic.

I suggest getting a map, identifying the places you want to see, and estimating the driving times. I think you'll find that moving from place to place on a fairly circular route, doing short stays along the way, is the most efficient way to see widely scattered sites. There are a couple of really nice books about driving tours in Ireland. I think the one we used was a DK Eyewitness guide, and it was really helpful for planning.

EDIT: The book we used was Frommer's 25 Great Drives in Ireland. It provided nice information about enjoyable stops between major sites. One other thought – the RS guidebook on Ireland is pretty sparse, missing a number of interesting areas. Consequently, I would suggest you look at an additional guidebook.

Hi

unless you are driving exclusively on the Irish motorway network, allow an average speed of 40mph when planning distances/driving times. Thus an 80 mile distance could take two hours or more....

I would suggest as follows:

OPTION 1
Dublin 3 nights
Kinsale 3 nights to see Cork city, and Part of West Cork

Gougane Barra (very special) 2 nights to see Bantry and More west Cork

Killarney 4 nights to see Killarney Park / Muckross House, ring of Kerry / Kenmare

Dingle 2 nights

Remainder : Cliffs of Moher / Galway Or Cashel / Kilkenny

OPTION 2

Stay in 3 locations for 5 nights each and see the town and local area in detail.

Drive short distances or none every second day

Spend time in local Hotels / restaurants / Pubs and meet the locals

Gee, thanks for the quick responses!

Good info.
At this point it looks like I'll get at least one other guide book (have Rick's) and possibly plan to split the visit up into about 3 separate stays.
Will still listen to other input if anyone else wants to chime in.
Thanks again!

What Sherry and Chani said - I agree. Ireland is not a place to do long day trips, and it's especially well-suited to a blitzy type of travel in the smaller towns and out in the countryside. Really, plan for it to take longer than you plan for it to take to get anywhere. (We traveled there in 2002 and drove all over in six days). Two night stays in most locations are about right, three or four nights for Dublin. There might be a couple of exceptions, but you have to use your judgment. For example Ennis in County Clare can be a base for visiting Galway on a day drip, and there is lots to see in Country Clare itself, so three nights there could work. Kenmare to visit points south like Bantry House, definitely Ring of Kerry and perhaps up to Dingle peninsula. One thing to keep in mind, B&Bs are not fond of single night guests sometimes. We did not have any trouble with that, but I heard about it later than some don't like it.

While it's true that you shouldn't underestimate driving times in Ireland, I'm of the opinion that you needn't overestimate them either. Point being that much of the fun (for us anyway) is to meander around some of the back roads, just savoring the scenery and immersing yourself in the experience. The temptation will be to want to blitz from one famous attraction to another, checking things off an imaginary bucket list. I understand that - the famous attractions are famous for a reason after all, but I think you miss something if you're so intent on getting somewhere that the journey in between becomes an ordeal - a battle against the clock (or calendar).
From the pretty little town of Kenmare, for example, you can drive the Ring of Kerry and take the spur that goes out to Valentia Island. Maybe take the boat trip out to the Skelligs while you're there. Spend a day visiting Muckross Castle and the other attractions near Killarney...without having to actually stay in Killarney (sorry Pat). Travel one of the roads less traveled by driving out along the Beara peninsula to the Dursey Island Cable Car (capacity: 3 people and a cow). Bantry House would make for another pleasant day trip. Can do all of this during a 3 or 4 night stay in one central location and save the aggravation (for us anyway) of traveling, packing and unpacking every other day because you're on a "schedule".
Recommend "Back Roads Ireland" as a planning tool for your journey - lots of scenic drives and off-the-beaten path attractions that most other guides overlook. Can make having a car in Ireland a real joy. We wore ours out last year on a 10 week excursion around the Republic.

Some nice places to stay (look up on trip adviser)
Dingle: Castlewood House

Gougane Barra : Gougane Barra Hotel

Killarney : lots unless in July / August No need to pre book

Kinsale : best for food lots of places to eat

I would definitely advocate for some moving around, with stays of at least 3 to 4 nights in multiple areas. We recently spent three weeks in the south and west part of Ireland and adopted this approach. We had 5 different home bases from which to take multiple day trips and felt like we had plenty of time to explore the sites in that region and still had enough down time to relax and enjoy the ambiance of the small towns we were staying in. If this is your first trip to Ireland you'll probably want to cover more territory than that (we had been there before and had therefore seen a lot of the "iconic" sights) but, as previous posters have pointed out, driving is time consuming and, unless one is used to the conditions, the driver will not have much chance to enjoy the beautiful scenery. No matter how centrally you try to locate, there will be some things that you'll want to see that are too far way fully explore. It would be better to have shorter drives from multiple bases than longer drives from one location.

I've been to Ireland twice, and both times we moved around quite a bit, more than we normally do in Europe. The country really doesn't lend itself to long stays in one place. Plus, Ireland is beautiful, so the drives are scenic and enjoyable and generally not that long even though the driving is slow. Places you should consider staying are Dublin (not my favorite city, but worth a day or two plus you can do day trips north to Newgrange and south to Glendaloch), Kinsale (you can visit Cork from here), Kenmare (you can drive the Ring of Kerry and Ring of Beara plus visit Killarney National Park from here), Dingle (the most beautiful place in Ireland IMHO; allow time to drive around the peninsula and ferry to Great Blasket Island), Doolin area (visit the Cliffs of Moher, the Burren, and ferry to Inishmore of the Aran Islands and consider spending a night on Inishmore). Connemara is also a beautiful area. You won't be able to do it all, but you have enough time to see a lot at a fairly relaxed place. I hope you have a great trip!

You really have to know what you prefer as a pace of travel. My husband and I did three weeks in September 2015. We drove 1000 miles, staying in six different locations. The shortest visits were 2 1/2 days each: Dublin and Galway, three to four nights at other locations: Cahir, Dingle, Clifden, Malingar. We avoid crowds of tourists and booked at two farmhouses, so we felt at "home" in cosy surroundings.
The longest day of travel was 6 hours but that was because it was our first day of driving and we missed our turnoff. You also have to factor in the weather. Staying for a few nights in one location lets you visit the local butchers and shopkeepers. Also lets you get your bearings in a country that has many unnamed streets and lanes.

I do truly appreciate the time and effort you all put into this. We have made note of your recommendations, purchased & studied some of the suggested books, and will be making arrangements in the next several days (without over-planning/scheduling, I hope). Thanks again to everyone for the great advice!

I'm an American now married and living in Ireland. I live in Waterville, on the Ring of Kerry. I hope I can give you a few tips!

Most importantly: the on-line maps give you times of travel based on speed limits. It might post at 100 (kmh) but almost no one would drive that road 100....so it's always going to tell you faster times from point A to point B than reality. Once you're here: Trip Advisor shows Dingle 22 miles from my house. Well, it's that close if I'm a bird, but since there's Dingle Bay in my way, it's about 70 miles from my house on the road.

I think you should spend as much time in one hotel/B&B/hostel as you can, and trip out from there.

If anyone asks (many don't!) I recommend picking an area of two or three counties and staying there. Just because everyone you know has seen Dublin, Galway, Waterford, Cork, Blarney Castle, Dingle & Ring of Kerry - doesn't mean YOU have to! To be honest, I've lived here 2 1/2 years and STILL have not kissed the Blarney Stone! (I don't really need to - I'm naturally full of blarney!). Just because every tourist does, doesn't mean I have to! I suggested a friend stay at least 3 nights in each B&B and her report back was fabulous. By the 2nd night people recognized her in the small village, and she made friends. She stayed 5 nights in that town she had so many invitations and suggestions! Why over-plan when staying in one place creates new plans by the day!?

Are you a museum type? A hill walking type? A photographer who doesn't want a drop of water to touch a camera? A sailor who would love to meet the local sailing club? A surfer looking for the next wave? Each type gets different recommendations! Do you want a pub near your lodging? Do you prefer coffee in the lobby when you awake, is an Irish breakfast important, are restaurants a priority? Let us know what you prefer, and maybe each of us can give you better tips.

Alot of English fly in to Kerry Airport, near Killarney. When they ask me what to do, I suggest visiting Cork (the county), Kerry & Clare. This covers the Cliffs of Moher, The Kerry Cliffs, the Iveragh Peninsula (known to most as the Ring of Kerry), Valentia Island, the Skellig Coast, Kinsale, Dingle -- all fantastic.

My first trip to Ireland I ran the Dublin marathon, and was so hurt at the end I stayed in the same B&B for 9 nights. We took the fantastic train up and down the East Coast and saw Howth, Malahide, Bray, Dun Laoghlaire (pronounced Dun Leery), saw museums, castles, sea front villages, chowder at the docks -- it was a fantastic trip! We never drove, so could drink a pint whenever we wanted; we winged each day, and got spur of the moment twists and turns. A lovely memory of 10 days (except that dang 26.2 mile mistake!!).

Another reason staying in one place longer is nice: I went for a walk, once, and met a couple twice. The 2nd time they said "come in for a coffee!" and 6 hours later, full of eggs, smoked salmon, cheese, wine, cakes, and yes, coffee - we went on our way. THAT can't happen if you're rushing to the next place on your itinerary!

Remember - you can always come back, again!

Enjoy!