The old Fail Monastery was nearby and Robert Burns connections are strong, including the Bachelors' Club museum.

It has a school, church, a gospel hall, two pubs, and is home to the Bachelors' Club, a frequent haunt of Robert Burns.

The village is in the Cumnock and Doon Valley (it is strange that Tarbolton falls under South Ayrshire Council when its postcode is KA5 which links to Mauchline, East Ayrshire The monastery and later castle of Fail existed at the hamlet of that name near Fail Toll.

Nearby going towards Failford was the Old Montgomery Castle or Coilsfield House where one of Robert Burns's loves worked.

Tarbolton Primary takes pupils from surrounding farms and from Failford, a small hamlet north of the village.