Where to stay in Ireland: the best cities, counties and castle hotels

Dublin is a talker's city. It is compact and low-rise, split by the River Liffey, and best explored on foot between Trinity College, the shops of Grafton Street, the Georgian squares and whichever pub happens to have a session going. The Guinness Storehouse is the big-ticket sight; the real pleasure is the conversation at the bar afterwards.

For a first visit, stay in the centre, near College Green or on the quays, so you can walk everywhere. The redeveloped Docklands around Grand Canal Square are sleeker, with modern hotels near the big concert and sports venues. Leafy Ballsbridge, a short ride south, is the embassy district, calmer and greener, with resort-style five-stars. Temple Bar is fun for an evening but noisy to sleep in.

Kerry is where Ireland shows off. Killarney sits beside three lakes under the country's highest mountains, with a national park that begins at the edge of town. From here the Ring of Kerry loops around the Iveragh peninsula, all sea views and sheep, and the Dingle peninsula to the north is wilder still.

Killarney is the practical base, a busy, cheerful town with everything from lakeside resorts to smart hotels in the centre that back onto the national park. For something quieter and more grown-up, choose Kenmare, a pretty market town on its own bay with two of the finest country-house hotels in Ireland and restaurants to match. Either way, give it at least three nights.

Cork people will tell you theirs is the real capital, and after a day or two you may stop arguing. The city sits on an island in the River Lee, built around the English Market, a Victorian covered food hall that sets the tone for the whole county. Beyond it lie the harbour town of Cobh, gourmet Kinsale and the ragged, beautiful coast of West Cork.

The places to stay are a treat. In the city, a manor-style five-star hides in walled gardens a stroll from the centre. East Cork has grand estate resorts with golf, spas and Michelin-starred dining, a hotel beside Fota's wildlife park for families, and the country house that more or less founded modern Irish cooking.

Galway is the west's party town: small, student-filled and endlessly sociable. Its medieval lanes are packed with pubs where traditional music starts early and finishes late, buskers work every corner, and the bay is a short walk from the centre. It is also a perfect jumping-off point, with the Aran Islands offshore and the Cliffs of Moher and the Burren within day-trip range.

Head west and you are in Connemara, a landscape of bog, mountain and sea inlets that barely seems real in certain lights. Stay in the city for the atmosphere, on the shores of Lough Corrib a couple of miles out for a golf estate with lake views, or along the coast road for a pool, a spa and the Atlantic outside the window.

Clare holds two of Ireland's great natural sights. The Cliffs of Moher drop sheer into the Atlantic for miles; just inland, the Burren is a strange grey plateau of limestone pavement where wildflowers grow in the cracks. Nearby Doolin is a tiny village with an outsized reputation for traditional music.

Shannon Airport is in the county, which makes Clare an easy first or last stop on a western road trip. Accommodation swings from one extreme to the other: a turreted castle hotel on its own golf estate, a five-star links resort on the wild west coast, and friendly village hotels where the bar doubles as the concert hall.

Mayo is big, empty and quietly spectacular. The holy mountain of Croagh Patrick rises above island-studded Clew Bay, the handsome town of Westport sits at its foot, and Achill Island trails off into the Atlantic with some of the best beaches in the country.

On the county's southern edge, the village of Cong is home to Ashford Castle, a lakeside fortress turned five-star hotel that regularly appears on lists of the best in the world. Its more relaxed sister, the Lodge, shares the estate. Elsewhere, family-friendly resort hotels with pools and woodland grounds make good-value bases for exploring by car.

Donegal is as far as you can go in Ireland before you fall off, and it feels like it. The coast is a run of headlands, sea cliffs and enormous beaches, most of them empty; inland are brown mountains, glens and loughs. This is the least-visited stretch of the west, which is precisely its appeal.

Bundoran, in the south of the county, is a traditional seaside resort turned surf town, with hotels overlooking the beach and the golf course. Near Donegal Town, a nineteenth-century castle on a wooded lake has become a five-star hideaway, its drawing rooms warmed by open fires. Letterkenny, the biggest town, works well as a base for the far north.

Sligo lives under Benbulben, a great flat-topped mountain that looks like the prow of a ship, and in the shadow of W. B. Yeats, who is buried at its foot. Sligo town is small and spirited, with good pubs and a growing food scene, and the nearby beaches draw surfers all year. Stay in town for the music, on the edge of it for parkland and a leisure centre, or go the whole way and book a room in a castle a few miles south.

Limerick is the west's working city, wrapped around the wide River Shannon with a brooding Norman castle on the bank and a fierce devotion to rugby. It is not the prettiest stop in Ireland, but it is a useful and good-value one: Shannon Airport is close, and Clare, Kerry and Galway all open up from here. The best hotels are in the centre, several looking straight onto the river, with pools and spas to come back to.

Waterford was founded by Vikings and is the oldest city in Ireland, famous for the crystal that carries its name. Beyond it the coast runs west past fishing villages and cliff walks, calmer and often sunnier than the Atlantic side. For a memorable night, take the private ferry to a castle hotel on its own island in the river, or book a room at a cliff-side five-star whose spa and restaurant both hang over the sea. A country-house hotel with its own golf course rounds out the choice.