Walks you can reach from Swinton (South Yorkshire) by train

Flat urban canal towpaths and riverside paths along the Sheffield & Tinsley Canal and Five Weirs Walk, past Victoria Quays and the Tinsley locks. An easy waterside start to the trail.

2 highlights: Victoria Quays (A large canal basin in Sheffield constructed 1816-1819 as the terminus of the Sheffield Canal) and the Sheffield & Tinsley Canal (A canal opened in 1819 to link the city with the navigable River Don, famous for featuring in the opening scenes of the film The Full Monty)

Walk details: Penistone Line Trail / Penistone Line Partnership (PDF).

Urban streets, landscaped Victorian cemetery, municipal parkland, narrow wooded valley, open moorland, rugged gritstone edges and a scenic descent into lush valley.

Time: 6h30

Warnings: Can be muddy.

Walk details: the Saturday Walkers Club (tips, local insights and turn-by-turn directions).

Disused railway trackbed and the Blackburn Valley Trail through ancient Woolley Wood, following the Blackburn Brook past old mill sites into Chapeltown.

1 highlight: Woolley Wood (An ancient woodland continuously wooded since at least 1600, noted for its hornbeam trees and the locally uncommon Hawfinch)

Walk details: Penistone Line Trail / Penistone Line Partnership (PDF).

A great mix of nature, old and new industrial architecture. An easy and flat walk almost entirely along the canal towpath. The Sheffield half is a little uneven and can be slightly muddy underfoot; after Rotherham it is well-surfaced as part of the cycle route. Off-road for almost the whole way with no steps. Lined with interesting industrial archaeology and some street art at the Sheffield end. Suitable for dogs, buggies and cyclists. The Sheffield canal basin (off the published route) has the famous straddle warehouse plus shops, cafes and toilets.

Warnings: Sections of the towpath have been subject to temporary closures with diversions; check before relying on a continuous route.

Walk details: Slow Ways.

Some beautiful scenery along the way; excellent views over the fields near Chapeltown. A pleasant, quiet route that does a good job joining up green spaces (parks, woodland, cemetery and fields) with only a few roads between, through varied Sheffield suburbs. It has steep sections, many steps and muddy field paths and with uneven steps in Hartley Brook Dyke. Joins up green spaces including Burngreave Cemetery and woodland; good public transport links at both ends so you can start at either. Shops at Ecclesfield in the final stretch. Extensive woodland.

Lunch: Shops and a chip shop with outside seating along the main road at Ecclesfield.

Warnings: Steep sections, steep and uneven steps (notably in Hartley Brook Dyke), and muddy field paths; some road crossings without lights (Herries Road, the A6135) need care; kissing gates and narrow barriers throughout.

Walk details: Slow Ways.

An otherwise glorious walk. A glorious Peak-to-city route: a steep climb out of Hathersage onto open moorland with criss-crossing, sometimes unclear tracks (map and GPS essential), passing between Iron Age forts, then a contrasting descent through green fields and woods down the Limb Valley and along the Sheaf Valley into Sheffield. Steps, stiles and gates; broken road and dirt and very stony ground; can be boggy and very windy on the tops. Crosses Burbage Moor between the Iron Age forts of Carl Wark and Higger Tor; follows the Sheaf Walk (signed to Granville Square) into the city. Hathersage church has the grave of Little John. No refreshments until Millhouses Park; a Tesco and Sainsbury's with cafes lie near the route. Extensive woodland.

Lunch: No refreshments until Millhouses Park (a summer kiosk), then a Tesco and Sainsbury's with cafes near the route.

Warnings: The moorland tracks above Hathersage criss-cross and can be hard to find in poor visibility, requiring map and compass; the tops can be very windy and boggy. A new development blocks a short section of the Sheaf path (divert ~100m along the main road); avoid a closed footbridge on Broadfield Road. Can be muddy.

Walk details: Slow Ways.

A walk in three parts, urban, countryside and urban, with plenty of hills and a mix of pavement and well-defined but at times very muddy field paths, pleasant woodland (Nor Wood / Moss Valley) and pasture. Stiles, steps and steady climbs. No services half way, so make use of those at the urban edges. Extensive woodland.

Lunch: A couple of pubs and a supermarket near the water tower beyond half-way.

Warnings: One challenging crossing of the A6102 dual carriageway, with no pelican crossing but a surfaced central refuge near a roundabout; patience is needed. Stiles, steps and potential livestock including horses and cattle. Can be muddy.

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.

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.

A view of the stunning Wentworth Hall and it's delightful associated village; one of the grandest stately homes in the country. A typical mix of roadside pavements, quiet lanes without pavement, field, wood and grassy-lane paths, including a long and almost traffic-free tarmac section through the grounds of a grand estate. Some gentle climbs; mostly easy going.

Lunch: Shops and cafes at the Elsecar heritage centre, and a shop, inn and post office just off route at Wentworth.

Warnings: Cattle may be present where the route crosses estate parkland. The lane approaching Wentworth can be overgrown. Munsbrough Rise/Munsborough Lane can be busy and is a hazard on car-boot-sale days.

Walk details: Slow Ways.

A mostly flat, well-surfaced walk on towpath, old railway cycle track and pavement and following the Don and the canal through a green corridor between industrial sites. A few unsurfaced but compacted sections and some steps; one significant climb early on. Follows the Trans Pennine Trail along the canal. No services on route. Rotherham Central station building is notably impressive.

Lunch: No services on the route.

Warnings: A major road crossing on Meadow Bank Road needs care; use the pelican crossing as the pavement runs out beyond the residential area. The route also negotiates subways and level crossings beneath the M1 at Tinsley.

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.