Ambarvale is located 55 kilometres southwest of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Campbelltown, and is part of the Macarthur region.

The region's history began over 40,000 years ago and is contained in the continuing culture of the Tharawal people.The surrounding land still contains reminders of their past lives in rock engravings, cave paintings, axe-grinding grooves, and shell middens.

[citation needed] The suburb draws its name from a property established in 1816 by former convict Samuel Larkin.

NSW TrainLink also services Macarthur providing connections to the Southern Highlands, Canberra, Griffith and Melbourne.

[citation needed] Streets in Ambarvale are named after characters from the novels of Charles Dickens, examples include: