Walks you can reach from Worcestershire Parkway by train

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).

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).

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).

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

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

Walk details: 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.

Picturesque; great views. Riverside path with fields.

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

Warnings: Short stretch on a fast-traffic road with limited verge.

Walk details: Railwalks.

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

Walk details: Railwalks.

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

Time: 8h30 (6h30 walking, 1h30 lunch, 30m break)

Walk details: Railwalks.

Similar walk: Slow Ways (inc. GPX).

Field paths.

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

Warnings: Can be very muddy or boggy.

Walk details: Railwalks.