Ayrshire Coastal Path Completed
About this route
The Ayrshire Coastal Path runs along the Ayrshire coast from the southern end near Glenapp (linking with the Mull of Galloway / Loch Ryan routes) north to Skelmorlie / Wemyss Bay, where it connects toward the Clyde coast.
This page is a personal record of the route walked in 9 day stages (May–August 2025). Stages were planned around bus and train. The GPX files are derived from Garmin tracks — useful as a real walked line, but not a substitute for official waymarked route files.
Overall
Walking days
Day 1 – Glenapp to Ballantrae (16 May 2025)
Travel — Out: car parked in Ballantrae, Stagecoach 360 bus to Glenapp · Return: car from Ballantrae
Took the harder coastal route option (two route choices on this section).
Day 2 – Ballantrae to Girvan (23 May 2025)
Travel — Out: car parked in Girvan, Stagecoach 360 bus to Ballantrae · Return: car from Girvan
Day 3 – Girvan to Maidens (27 May 2025)
Travel — Out: car parked in Maidens, Stagecoach 60 bus to Girvan · Return: car from Maidens
Day 4 – Maidens to Dunure (30 May 2025)
Travel — Out: X77 to Ayr, then Stagecoach 60 to Maidens · Return: Stagecoach 361 from Dunure to Ayr, then X77
Next section (Dunure to Ayr) cannot be walked at high tide.
Day 5 – Dunure to Prestwick (5 June 2025)
Travel — Out: X77 to Ayr, then Stagecoach 361 to Dunure · Return: X77 from Prestwick
Walked through Ayr and on to Prestwick. Stagecoach Ayrshire industrial action later forced a switch to train for subsequent days.
Day 6 – Prestwick to Irvine (10 June 2025)
Travel — Out: train to Prestwick · Return: train from Irvine
Stagecoach bus drivers on a six-week strike — used the train instead. Mostly flat beach walking through Troon and Barassie.
Day 7 – Irvine to Ardrossan (18 June 2025)
Travel — Out: train to Irvine · Return: train from Ardrossan
Through Stevenston and Saltcoats; a lot of the route inland coming out of Irvine.
Day 8 – Ardrossan to Largs (25 June 2025)
Travel — Out: train to Ardrossan South Beach · Return: train from Largs
Combined Ardrossan–Portencross and Portencross–Largs. First part good; second part less so.
Day 9 – Largs to Skelmorlie / Wemyss Bay (1 August 2025)
Travel — Out: First Bus 77 to Braehead, then McGill’s 906/1 to Largs · Return: same buses in reverse from Wemyss Bay
Took the low route — mostly a quiet back road, a bit bumpy with a few steep hills, but easy walking.
Photos
A selection from the 9 days on the route. Tap a photo for a larger view.
