coffeebeana1

My husband and I are going to Ireland the end of September for eight days. We are flying in and out of Shannon and not going to Dublin. My question is do we make our base at one location or should we stay at more than one place? Places we want to see are: Cliffs of Moher, Kenmare, County Cork, Kinsale, Killarney, Ring of Kerry, Dingle Penninsula, Galway, Aran Islands and of course any suggestions you may have. We were thinking of staying at the Dromoland Castle but need to know if we should also stay somewhere else during our trip. If so what location would be good? We will be renting a car but also will take some tours. Thank you so much, this is our first trip to Ireland and we are very excited!

longhorn55

It doesn't make much sense to base yourself at Dromoland Castle if you intend to visit the places you've listed. For instance, you'd be 2.5 hours from Kinsale and about an hour from Galway.

We did a similar tour of Ireland in May and we booked ourselves in B&Bs each night at the end of our sightseeing. I had planned out what we wanted to see and do each day, so I had a good idea of where we would end up each evening. Since May is the beginning of the tourist season, I booked all our B&Bs in advance because I did not want to waste time each evening trying to find a place to stay. If you prefer to book as you go, I understand it's not that hard to do in September.
If you need some help figuring out how much driving you will be doing each day and where you are likely to end up each evening, the AA Route Planner for Ireland is a great tool. (Just allow a bit more time than they recommend for driving times.)

No matter how you plan to travel, I would not base myself in just one or two places for such a trip as you envision as I think you'll find yourself doing a lot of driving and backtracking just to get back to your hotel/B&B each night.

Tony2phones

For the Aran's late September you would be better from Rossaveal so combining that with the cliffs and Burren would want a Galway area base. The southern corner could be done from a base around Killarney with a final nights stay possibly at Dromoland.

JOHNOD

You cannot stay at one place and attempt the itinerary you plan. How important are the Aran Islands and Galway to you? A day and night in Galway and a trip to the Aran Islands will take up two of your days. The rest of you plans seem to be along the west and southwest coast. If you concentrate on the west coast you can stay two nights at several places and then perhaps spend you last night at Dromoland Castle and catch you flight out the next morning. You might consider traveling from the airport to Killarney, and easy drive now that the Limerick bypass tunnel is complete. From Killareny you can visit Dingle, do the Ring of Kerry and visit Kenmare. If you make Killarey your base for these three items on you agenda you will miss a night in Dingle which is on everyone's list of places to stay, your call.
From Killarney you can head south again. I would take the N-71 through the mountains for a night in Glengarriff and do the Ring of Beara which many of us think is better than the ROK and much less crowded. The drive through the Killarney Nat. Park and the mountains is some of the best views in Ireland. If you stay on the N-71 it will take you past Bantry Bay and Clonkilty (the home of Mick Collins) to Kinsale. Nice little village, worth one night. From Kinsale its about three hours north to the airport area and its possible to drive through burren and hit the cliffs if you don't mind the drive. In have been to Ireland many times and I don't know if I would do this trip but it is doable. I would trim this down abit and save some for the next trip. Have fun

coffeebeana1

Thank you all so much for your ideas. As we speak I'm working on our itinerary. You've all been a great help! I love this forum!