Dalrymple Street is the kind of high street most towns have lost. Independent butchers and greengrocers, Simpsons bakery, gift and card shops, a hardware store, and a fishing-tackle and outdoor shop — the sort of place where you can still buy a rod, a pie and a bag of nails within fifty yards.
It is not a shopping destination and it does not pretend to be. But for a town of six thousand it is unusually intact, and worth twenty minutes.
What to buy
Ayrshire Epicure potatoes in season — this coast is known for them, and Girvan holds a festival in their honour. Local meat from the butchers, and fish when the boats have landed.
For whisky and gin, the town's own distillery is not open to the public, but A D Rattray's shop and tasting room at Kirkoswald, fifteen minutes north, is a serious independent bottler and the best place locally to buy something worth taking home. See Girvan distillery.
The Tourist Information Point on Dalrymple Street has a craft shop alongside it, run by volunteers, which is the place for locally made gifts.
Supplies
Tesco at the north end of town by the A77 and a Co-op in the centre cover self-catering. See takeaways for the night you do not want to cook.
Practical notes
Most shops close by about 5pm, and Sunday is thin — several independents do not open at all. Out of season hours contract further.
For anything Girvan does not have, Ayr is half an hour by direct train, with the High Street, Newmarket Street and the Ayr Central centre. Wigtown, an hour south, is the place for books.
Free parking at the harbour and seafront car parks, a few minutes' walk from the shops — see parking.
