Walks you can reach from Darlaston by train

Canal towpath (Worcester and Birmingham Canal). Kings Norton was site of a 1642 English Civil War battle.

Waterway: nine tenths along the Worcester & Birmingham Canal.

Birmingham Back to Backs (National Trust)

Time: 4h (2h30 walking, 1h30 lunch)

Walk details: Walk Midlands (tips, photos and local insights).

Canal towpath, urban paths and suburban streets. Walk along the Worcester-Birmingham Canal from city centre to Cadbury's model village.

Waterway: four fifths along the Worcester & Birmingham Canal.

Birmingham Back to Backs (National Trust)

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

Walk details: Walk Midlands (tips, photos and local insights).

Largely paved paths, pavements and canal towpaths through residential streets, industrial estates, a nature reserve and a former-railway path. Route follows a section of the Monarch’s Way long-distance footpath. Well-served public transport returns to the start.

Time: 4h (2h30 walking, 1h30 lunch)

Warnings: A quarter urban. Footpath across wasteland between Walsall and Wolverhampton is ill-kempt with fly-tipping; gap-in-fence section near the mound is tricky to navigate.

Walk details: Walk Midlands (tips, photos and local insights).

Mostly towpath along the Birmingham branch of the Grand Union Canal. Canal authorized in 1793 connecting Digbeth to Warwick; modernized in 1930s; freight traffic ceased by 1970s.

Waterway: four fifths along the Grand Union Canal.

Time: 5h (3h30 walking, 1h30 lunch)

Warnings: Some low bridges requiring ducking; steep ramp at end.

Walk details: Walk Midlands (tips, photos and local insights).

Towpaths and river banks. Urban walk tracing Birmingham's waterpower heritage from suburbs to city center.

Time: 4h30 (3h walking, 1h30 lunch)

Warnings: Busy roads to cross; low bridges on canal sections.

Walk details: Walk Midlands (tips, photos and local insights).

Recommended: A level, well-surfaced canal towpath walk with no locks, easily wheeled and with a residential section at the Coseley end and pavement along a main road in central Wolverhampton. Can be a little overgrown in places in summer. Follows the Birmingham Canal towpath. Lots of waterfowl along the canal, including herons, mallards, swans, moorhens and coots. No facilities until the Wolverhampton end. Trains and buses at both ends.

Waterway: nine tenths along the Birmingham New Main Line Canal.

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

Warnings: A quarter urban.

Walk details: Slow Ways.

Time: 6h (4h30 walking, 1h30 lunch)

Walk details: Slow Ways.

Time: 6h (4h30 walking, 1h30 lunch)

Walk details: Slow Ways.

A thoroughly relaxing, safe and direct route, the bulk along canal towpath (three canals and two junctions) with linking pavement, alleyway and park walks. The towpath is narrow and unsurfaced beyond The Droveway; mostly surfaced and in good condition elsewhere. Some steps and avoidable with a short detour. Follows the Birmingham, Staffs & Worcs and Shropshire Union canals, passing interesting bridges, locks and boatyards at Autherley and Aldersley junctions. A pleasant detour through Wheel Field Park. Two shops in Bilbrook.

Waterway: two thirds along the Birmingham New Main Line Canal.

Time: 4h (2h30 walking, 1h30 lunch)

Lunch: Two shops in Bilbrook mid-route.

Walk details: Slow Ways.

A generally easy-to-follow walk with more road walking than ideal, across fields and horse paddocks and a section of the Monarch's Way. A few cross-field paths shown on the route are not evident on the ground. Follows a section of the Monarch's Way (with a recent waymarked diversion between Beckbury and Heath House Farm not yet on OS mapping).

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

Lunch: There is a pub in Beckbury; Albrighton has plenty of pubs and cafes, and there is even a pub at Codsall station.

Warnings: A couple of cross-field paths supposedly on long-distance routes are not evident on the ground, accessible at one end only.

Walk details: Slow Ways.

A varied route of towpath, lane and field. The Staffordshire Way section is excellent and well signposted; east of Brewood the paths are less used, with some unclear field lines, a ploughed arable field with no obvious path and an unsurfaced canal towpath a little muddy in places. Some steps and stiles. Follows the Staffordshire Way from Codsall to Brewood, then the Staffs & Worcs Canal towpath into Penkridge. Brewood, near the middle, has facilities.

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

Lunch: Facilities at Brewood near the middle; shops, pubs and cafes at both Codsall and Penkridge.

Warnings: Tinkers Lane is surprisingly busy, the worst road walking on the route. Horse pastures near Somerford have electric fencing and unclear paths; one gate may need climbing where a sheep farmer has tied it shut. Pelican crossings cross the busy A449.

Walk details: Slow Ways.