North Ayrshire

8 miles / 12 km

The Ayrshire coast is very beautiful, in my modest opinion. There are some great walks on this coast. The first 4 miles/6 km of this walk is perhaps the most beautiful part of this coast. Hence the many pictures I have included here. The final half of the walk is not that great. The bus stops halfway, at the Waterside Hotel And Spa, can be the end point of the walk for those who do not want to walk on the good pavements down to Ardrossan. The scenery is brilliant throughout this walk.

Pretty Hard

This is a long walk on tarmac pavement, beaches and some grassy paths. The hardest bit here is the traffic noise from the Ardrossan to Largs road on the final half of this walk. The rest of the walk is peaceful and flat. As usual... good shoes and plenty of water are recommended.

Train from Glasgow/Paisley/Kilwinning once an hour. Bus from Kilwinning twice an hour.

The walk starts from the West Kilbride train station. West Kilbride is a scenic village, worthy of a long stop. But the walk goes straight up the pretty steep St. Bride's Road (choose the right pavement) to a roundabout which the walk is crossing straight through; take aim at the mountains of Arran. You should now be in Portencross Road. The road now drops down the hill towards the main Ardrossan to Largs road.

The views from the top of the hill here towards the mighty impressive mountains of Arran and the road leading to Portencross Castle is very impressive and inspiring. Cross the main road with caution and continue on the good pavement on Portencross Road. This is one of the most scenic roads in Ayrshire.




The walk on this road ends when reaching this signposted path after approx half a mile walk / 1 km on this road. Take the path down to the left, towards the beach.



At the end of this path, take the path/beach to the left again. The views here are stunning. They only get better and better during the walk down the coast. The walk is now on a mix of the path and the beach. The following pictures tell the story...



















There is a bridge crossing a river next to the seawall. Thankfully, there is a good footbridge here as the river from the seawall down to the sea is deep. Keep close to the seawall here and use the bridge. The picture below is looking back at the river and the bridge (up to the right).



The final three - four hundred yards/meters are on some good grassy paths and some sand. This is still a great walk.



The path ends on the path next to the Ardrossan - Largs road. It is possible to stay on the beach, although it is pretty rocky and difficult to walk from this point onwards.



The good path alongside the road is good. The traffic noise is too loud. This is still a good, flat walk with Ardrossan steadily approaching closer and closer.



The path passes the big roundabout and enters Ardrossan before it takes a right turn out to some seawalls and around the harbour with the ferry port straight ahead. The path goes around the harbour's master tower and then the marina. Not a particularly interesting walk unless sailing boats and ferries are of interest. Finally, the walk passes through a new housing development and enters Princes Street with its bus stops, where this great walk ends.


Bus to Kilwinning 2 - 4 times an hour. Train from Kilwinning to Glasgow/Paisley 3 - 4 times an hour.
Train from Ardrossan Town to Glasgow/Paisley 1 time an hour.