My Mom and I will be on a 7 day trip to Ireland. I want to stay in one place and do day tours. I'm interested in scenic drives, getting out and walking/hiking on trails, and visiting some castles. I am not as interested in the sea as I am with the countryside. Where is the best city/town to stay so that I am within access to many places for trails/hikes/walking tours?

You didn't say where you will be flying into and that could make a difference for you. I would highly recommend visiting the west coast of Ireland as you would get the kind of drives you are looking for. We stayed 5 days in Galway city and used that as our base for touring west Ireland. We took a day trip to the Connemara region where you will see the Twelve Bens Mountain range, visited the site where they filmed John Wayne's film, Kylemore Abbey, and lots of other scenic places. Are you driving yourself around? Check out the Galway area for lodging as you can get some decent deals there. If you want to stay at a B&B you can get very reasonable prices also. There are many castles you can visit also, you just need to specify what area you would like to visit.

I would recommend Killarney, there are lovely walks around Ross castle and it's easy to get involved in hiking and also rent bikes and travel the ring of Kerry, take a trip to Dingle, it's a costal village but you still have the advantage of mountains nearby.

Thanks... I am still looking through the guidebooks and doing my research, but that's pretty much what I was looking for. Interesting you mentioned that. My family's surname is Ross and my ancestors were from both Ireland and Scotland. I thought I would do Ireland first, although both look beautiful!

Not to say its not worth a visit but by no stretch of the imagination is Killarney either a village or on the coast. Its is a small, busy city but unless you consider the lakes the sea the coast is a bit far. If you do go the walk and the boat ride throught the Gap of Dunloe is a very nice day as is a bike ride in the National Park. Have fun

I should have added that the Mizen, the Sheepshead and the Beara Peninsulas all have great bike and hiking trails with beautiful scenery. Kenmare or Glengarriff would be a nice base for this. Have fun