Culzean Castle to Dunure Castle (Out & Back)

A longer walk along a stretch of the Ayrshire Coastal Path from Culzean Castle to Dunure, just under 15k at around 4 hours. An out and back walk with a long beach walk along Culzean Bay taking in two iconic Castles on the Ayrshire Coast with the beautiful Culzean Castle and the historic ruins of Dunure Castle.

Make the most of this walk by going at low tide and pick a decent day and you’ll enjoy incredible views.

Walking Route

Home Farm Car Park to Beach

From Home Farm Car Park head downhill towards a well-marked path down to the beach signposted towards the cottages.

Follow the path and head down the many steps to the shore and turn right to walk past the cottages and onto the beach, if the tide is out I would recommend heading towards the harder sand for an easy walk along Culzean Bay.

Beach Walk along Culzean Bay

The beach walk is easy to navigate, enjoy the walk and the beautiful views up to the caravan park where you will see a small rocky headland, the best time to navigate this section is at low tide and the terrain is notably rocky for a period however presents little problems at low tide with enough sandy areas to walk on.

Round the outcrop past Croyburnfoot Holiday Park

Once around the rocky headland, a short section of the beach is visible. Proceed towards the end of the beach where a path heads inland and zigs zag up the hill.

NOTE: Dogs should be kept on leads through this section as you navigate fields with grazing stock.

Head inland via path up the Zig Zag

Until this point, it has to be flat or downhill which is about to change with a short and shape uphill section for which you are rewarded with incredible views of Culzean Bay and Ailsa Craig.

Follow the clifftop coastal path around the field boundaries. Some of this section can be a little overgrown in summer.

The path goes inland for a short distance, and you will reach a bridge on your left.

Bridge

Take the bridge and continue along the field boundaries.

Lookout on cliff

You will be able to see a small clifftop lockout, I tried to find some more information on this however I assume it is an old pillbox or lockout from world war 2.

Top of the climb, downhill to Dunure Castle

After ascending uphill for a short period past the lockout you’ll start to see views North, it is now downhill through a small wooded section and once through views of Dunure Castle become visible. Follow the path into the picnic area.

Dunure Castle

I would highly recommend continuing past the castle and onto Dunure Harbour, if you an Outlander fan then you might recognise the harbour from one of the scenes in the popular series.

Dunure Habour

The Harbour Cafe is an excellent spot for a coffee and a light bite to eat, there is seating on the harbour wall to enjoy views of the harbour.

Flcker Album