Walks you can reach from Newark Northgate by train

Recommended: Wide open views; good views. A fairly hilly route, mostly on field-edge paths and good tracks across arable land and with some overgrown stretches and short sections on quiet roads and verges. The Luton end has rather a lot of residential roads. Good views from the higher ground. Follows the Chiltern Way Extension for a significant distance. Whitwell has an interesting tower.

Lunch: There is a pub at St Paul's Walden, roughly mid-route.

Warnings: Crossing London Road (B656) needs a little care. Some paths are a little overgrown, occasionally between barbed-wire fences.

Walk details: Slow Ways.

A straightforward route through lovely Lincolnshire countryside and villages, following the Spires and Steeples Trail almost all the way. It is mostly tarmacked cycleway or track, with some field footpaths, quiet road walking and one early set of steps. Sections can be very muddy or flooded after heavy rain. Follows the waymarked Spires and Steeples Trail almost the whole way (signage through villages can be confusing or missing). Starts on the flat, tarmacked Water Rail Way to Washingborough. Branston has a useful Co-op and a main bus route.

Warnings: The level crossing between Branston and Potterhanworth marked on the GPX is no longer usable and is blocked off; use the road nearby to cross under the tracks instead. Sections between Washingborough and Branston can flood badly after heavy rain, sometimes requiring a sizeable diversion. An early footbridge with steps. Can be muddy.

Walk details: Slow Ways.

A mix of public footpath, country lanes and some pavement alongside busier roads through Lincolnshire farmland. Some footpaths are not well trodden and cross ploughed fields and but the route is generally well signposted.

Lunch: Numerous refreshment options in Nettleham.

Walk details: Slow Ways.

A walk that follows the river out of the Calder valley on the signposted TransPennine Trail, then through a country park with parkland paths, fields and lakeside tracks. The western part is on good paths; finding the right paths becomes tricky once away from the valley and with one section that can flood. Follows the signposted TransPennine Trail along the river. The Normanton meeting point has several benches.

Warnings: One slightly flooded section could be impassable in wetter conditions. Paths in the eastern half are hard to find and do not match the rights of way.

Walk details: Slow Ways.

Lovely views around Weston in particular. Mostly footpaths and some urban pavements, leaving the concrete of Stevenage to cross gently rolling countryside on footpaths and bridleways, with a small amount on pavement-less country roads. Fairly flat; surprisingly not too muddy even after rain and though some muddy paths.

Warnings: Some steps onto bridges over roads at the Stevenage end (some with ramps); a small amount of walking on country roads without pavement.

Walk details: Slow Ways.

Suburban residential streets out of Stevenage give way to scenic farmland and woodland, with road walking only on quiet lanes. Mostly field paths and farm tracks; can be very muddy in the woods (Stocking Grove) and on field edges after rain and with some steep verge walking. Town walking out of Stevenage is mostly kept away from traffic on cycle paths and underpasses. No shops or pub at Datchworth; places to eat near the cinema by Stevenage station. Extensive woodland.

Lunch: No shops or pub at Datchworth mid-route.

Warnings: Deep mud and puddles in the woods after rain; narrow verges and a steep (25%) step up off the road onto the verge near Datchworth; slippery when wet.

Walk details: Slow Ways.

A good, fairly direct and largely flat route with no steps or stiles, much of it well surfaced. The standout is a long, easy stretch of grassy or gravel canal towpath beside the Grantham Canal and with the towpath grassy and unsurfaced near the locks but more interesting than the parallel cycle track. Follows the Grantham Canal towpath, with restored locks and mileposts counting down from 33 miles. A train or bus links the two ends for a linear walk.

2 lunch spots: the Rutland Arms, or Old Forge Tea Rooms

Walk details: Slow Ways.

A long, level walk that is fairly dry underfoot, mostly on good tracks and quiet roads with a section of the Grantham Canal, plus a few less-trodden field paths through villages. Plenty of stiles, a few steps and one steeper climb up the hill out of Harston. Follows the Grantham Canal out of Grantham. Can be split, and there are village shops/pubs at intermediate villages such as Harlaxton and Waltham-on-the-Wolds.

Lunch: Shops and pubs in intermediate villages including Harlaxton, Denton and Waltham-on-the-Wolds.

Warnings: Plenty of stiles and a few steps; a couple of short sections without pavement on quiet roads, and a steeper climb over stiles up the hill from Harston towards Croxton Kerrial; some field paths a little muddy in places.

Walk details: Slow Ways.

The view from the viaduct makes the tour worthwhile. A varied riverside walk crossing the River Don by the Conisbrough Viaduct, then following the Trans Pennine Trail and Don riverside into Doncaster. Mostly good bonded-surface cycle track and easy riverside path, with some compacted-earth and open flood-bank sections that can flood and plus steps and stiles. From Conisbrough Viaduct it's possible to stay on the Trans Pennine Trail much further west.

1 lunch spot: the Boat Inn

Warnings: Stiles and steps along the way, and the compacted-earth riverside section shows signs of flooding at times. Care needed taking the right-hand uphill fork approaching the viaduct.

Walk details: Slow Ways.

An easy, direct route mostly on well-signposted cycletracks and entirely on hard surfaces, with no stiles. It starts past a stone church, follows a segregated pavement and cycle track along a busy road, then an old-railway cycle track in a green corridor into Doncaster, with a fiddly but well-mapped finish through the town's roundabout and footbridges and bus station. Some steps above the bus station (avoidable). Largely follows the Doncaster Cycleway / Sustrans routes along old railway lines. The Draughtsman Alehouse micropub is on Doncaster station platform 3 (no train ticket needed).

Lunch: A large pub/food outlet at the junction with the Great North Road.

Warnings: Some steps above Doncaster bus station (avoidable by a detour). Lockable gates at a shopping area (in practice left open). Endless traffic alongside the segregated pavement.

Walk details: Slow Ways.

The Foss Dyke section is excellent. A largely flat, very accessible route following the Foss Dyke canal on firm tarmac or gravel paths for most of the way and with a short grassy section near the Pyewipe Inn. The final couple of miles leave the canal to follow a decent but noisy pavement alongside the busy A57. Follows the Foss Dyke; Lincoln Cathedral is visible from a long way off.

Lunch: Excellent chippy on the approach to Saxilby station; cafe by the A57 junction.

Warnings: The A57 crossing on the alternative direct line has no central refuge; this route uses a safer signposted cycle crossing with a central refuge but no lights. The A57 pavement is noisy and narrow in places.

Walk details: Slow Ways.

Walk details: Slow Ways.