Girvan is on the Glasgow–Stranraer railway with a station a ten-minute walk from the harbour, and Stagecoach runs buses north up the coast and south towards the ferry ports. Between them you can reach castles, an abbey, two towns, a book town and most of the Ayrshire Coastal Path without ever getting in a car. Services are not frequent — this is rural Ayrshire — so the golden rule is to check times before you set off rather than after.
By train
- Ayr (about 30 minutes) — the best car-free day from Girvan by a distance. Beach, shops, the Astoria cinema, the Gaiety Theatre and the free galleries at Rozelle, with up to fourteen trains a day. Buses or a walk take you on to Alloway for the Burns sites.
- Maybole (about 15 minutes) — the old town, with Crossraguel Abbey roughly two miles' walk along the road.
- Barrhill (about 15 minutes) — a halt in the hills, and one of the very few places where you can walk a stage of the Southern Upland Way and catch a train home.
- Stranraer (about 35 minutes) — the end of the line. Two free museums, the waterfront, and buses on to Portpatrick.
- Prestwick and Troon (via Ayr) — golf, beaches and esplanades. Note that Troon station is not at the ferry terminal if you are heading for Arran.
By bus
- North on the 58 and 60: Turnberry, Maidens, Kirkoswald for Souter Johnnie's Cottage, the Culzean gates, Alloway and Ayr. This single route covers most of the Burns and castle country.
- South on the 358 and 360: Lendalfoot, Ballantrae, both Cairnryan ferry terminals and Stranraer — which also makes a car-free ferry crossing to Northern Ireland possible.
The best trick: bus out, walk back
The coastal path stages were made for this. Take the bus south to Lendalfoot and walk the seven miles back to Girvan over the old coach road, or ride to Ballantrae and walk as far as you fancy. North, the bus to Maidens lets you walk the links to Turnberry lighthouse and on down the shore. You get the walk without the problem of a car left at the wrong end. See the Ayrshire Coastal Path.
By boat
Boats to Ailsa Craig leave from Girvan harbour, a ten-minute walk from the station — the only day trip here that needs no road transport at all. Sailings are weather-dependent and must be booked ahead.
Practical notes
Check times on Traveline Scotland before you commit to anything, and be aware that Sunday services on both bus and train are sparse to non-existent on some routes. Buy train tickets in advance where you can. If you are walking a linear route, work out the return service first and plan the walk around it — not the other way round.
