Walks you can reach from Severn Tunnel Junction by train

Flat Wales Coast Path circuit around Cardiff Bay out to the barrage, with views back to Cardiff, Flatholm Island and across to Devon on a clear day.

Waterway: four fifths beside rivers and canals.

Wales Millennium Centre: Landmark bronze-clad arts centre on the Cardiff Bay waterfront.

Pierhead Building: Grade I listed red-brick Victorian dock office on the bay.

Senedd: Welsh Government parliament building on the Cardiff Bay waterfront.

Norwegian Church: White-painted timber church built for Norwegian sailors, now an arts centre.

Captain Scott Monument: Memorial to Captain Scott's 1910 Antarctic expedition, which set sail from Cardiff.

Cardiff Bay Barrage: Tidal barrage closing off Cardiff Bay, with a wide promenade across it.

Time: 3h (1h30 walking, 1h30 lunch)

1 lunch spot: Mermaid Quay

Warnings: Lower waterside path is not fully accessible due to its surface.

Walk details: Transport for Wales (tips, photos and turn-by-turn directions).

Medieval friaries, Gloucester Cathedral's fan-vaulted cloisters, the historic docks and the river-meadow Alney Island reserve on the Severn.

Gloucester Docks: Britain's most inland port, the 1827 terminus of the Gloucester and Sharpness Canal, ringed by Victorian warehouses.

Gloucester Cathedral: A great medieval cathedral with celebrated fan-vaulted cloisters, near the start of the walk.

Llanthony Secunda Priory: The surviving buildings of a 12th-century Augustinian priory beside the Gloucester docks.

Alney Island Nature Reserve: A river-meadow nature reserve on an island between two channels of the River Severn.

Over Bridge: A single-span masonry bridge over the Severn designed by Thomas Telford and completed in 1829.

Time: 3h30 (2h walking, 1h30 lunch)

Walk details: Bristol Rail Campaign (photos, local insights and turn-by-turn directions).

Recommended

Time: 6h30 (5h walking, 1h30 lunch)

Walk details: Railwalks.

Wonderful views. Hill and moorland paths and with substantial climbs.

Time: 7h30 (6h walking, 1h30 lunch)

Walk details: Railwalks.

A very beautiful walk full of lush foliage and native flowering plants. Almost entirely along the Kennet & Avon Canal towpath, flat and easy to follow and full of lush foliage and flowering plants. A stone-paved descent to the canal at the Bath end needs caution in the wet; the towpath gets a bit muddy after heavy rain but the underlying surface is stable. Around 30 benches en route.

Waterway: nine tenths along the Kennet and Avon Canal.

Bathampton Meadows (National Trust)

Bath Skyline (National Trust)

Time: 6h30 (5h walking, 1h30 lunch)

Lunch: A cafe at Brassknocker Basin, plus opportunities for food, drink and restrooms every few miles, with pubs in the first and last thirds.

Walk details: Slow Ways.

Reverse direction: the Saturday Walkers Club.

Long views; beautiful. Hill and moorland paths with woodland, fields and with substantial climbs. Part of the Nailsea Round; Good for bird-watching.

Time: 5h30 (4h walking, 1h30 lunch)

Warnings: Can be very muddy or boggy; Sections prone to flooding after heavy rain.

Walk details: Railwalks.

Riverside path with fields and with moderate climbs. Good for bird-watching.

Time: 5h30 (4h walking, 1h30 lunch)

Warnings: Can be very muddy or boggy.

Walk details: Railwalks.

Time: 9h30 (7h30 walking, 1h30 lunch, 30m break)

Walk details: Railwalks.

Awesome views across the Severn estuary and Gwent Levels. A long, mostly off-road coastal walk along the Wales Coast Path, with sweeping views across the Severn Estuary and Gwent Levels and plus a few stretches along busy roads going in and out of the two cities. Very exposed to the elements throughout. Mostly follows the Wales Coast Path. Wildlife includes kestrels, curlews and grass snakes; 7,000-year-old footprints have been found on the estuary shore. The Lighthouse Inn at St Brides Wentlooge is currently closed.

Coastal: two thirds along the coast.

Time: 8h (6h30 walking, 1h30 lunch)

Lunch: There are no places to get food or water on the route, so bring everything you need.

Warnings: A fifth urban. The route is very exposed, so wind, rain or heat will be strongly felt. There are no refreshment or water stops the whole way, so carry everything you need. A few stretches along busy roads at the city ends.

Walk details: Slow Ways.

Reverse direction: Railwalks.

Great wide open views back to Gloucester and across towards Wales. Starts through Gloucester's historic streets, then field paths (muddy in winter) skirting Robinswood Hill, crossing under the M5 to wide open countryside with great views. Noisy near the roads and motorway in the first half and quieter and more scenic beyond.

Time: 6h30 (5h walking, 1h30 lunch)

1 lunch spot: the Fagin's

Warnings: After crossing under the M5 there is a short stretch of busy road with blind corners and little space off the carriageway before the footpath to Brookthorpe; take care. Fields can be very muddy in winter, and some stiles and bridges (e.g. near Daniel's Brook) are hidden in brambles and easily missed.

Walk details: Slow Ways.

Wonderful. Riverside path with street sections at either end and flat and easy-going. Part of the Severn Way and Gloucestershire Way.

Time: 7h (5h walking, 1h30 lunch, 30m break)

Walk details: Railwalks.

Scenic walk; long walk. Riverside path and flat and easy-going.

Lacock (National Trust; 4h30 in)

Time: 7h30 (6h walking, 1h30 lunch)

Walk details: Railwalks.