Nothing shows you a country quite like its rivers. A recent roundup of reader tips from The Guardian Travel gathered some of the best slow routes across Britain and Ireland, and they read like a menu for a low-effort, high-reward holiday: riverbank strolls, canal boats you can drive without a licence, and one five-day source-to-sea epic.
For walkers, the pickings are rich. In Yorkshire, a six-mile riverside path links Ilkley to the ruins of 12th-century Bolton Abbey, passing a Roman fort site, the village of Addingham and endless Dales views. In County Durham, a short moorland walk from Bowlees car park takes in both Low Force and High Force waterfalls on the River Tees, crossing the Wynch suspension bridge — built in the 1830s on the site of Britain's first suspension bridge from 1741. The winning entry follows the River Ouse from near Horsham through the South Downs to Lewes and out to the coast at Newhaven, taking in the National Trust's Nymans garden and a 37-arch Victorian viaduct along the way.
City dwellers get options too. Edinburgh's Water of Leith Walkway runs 13 miles from Balerno to Leith; a friendly two-mile taster from Roseburn to Stockbridge threads through Dean Village, and kingfishers are a real possibility. Coventry's 8.5-mile Sowe Valley Footpath proves you don't need countryside for herons and moorhens.
If you'd rather float, two picks stand out. A week hiring a boat on the Norfolk Broads' River Bure — from Acle up to Coltishall — moves at a mandatory 5mph, with stops at nature reserves, the ruins of St Benet's Abbey, and Roys of Wroxham, billed as the world's largest village store. No boating experience is required. In Ireland, Shannon Harbour in the Midlands is where the Grand Canal spills into the River Shannon; on a warm day the wide water reportedly feels more like the Mississippi Delta than rural Ireland, with McIntyre's pub waiting at the end regardless of weather.
Ambitious walkers could copy one reader's self-plotted five-day route along the 65-mile River Welland, from its source near Market Harborough past Rockingham Castle, Stamford and poet John Clare's birthplace at Helpston, through the fens to Crowland Abbey and Spalding, finishing where the river meets the North Sea at Boston, with its towering 'Boston Stump' church. Meanwhile in York, the River Ouse walk links Scarborough Bridge, the Museum Gardens' Roman and medieval remains, Rowntree Park and a cafe housed in a medieval tower — just watch for cobbles and step-only sections.
Why bother? Because river routes flatten the terrain, give you a constant reference point, and string together castles, abbeys, pubs and wildlife you'd otherwise drive past. They suit everyone from families wanting a two-hour stroll to long-distance walkers mapping their own routes. Pick a stretch, pack a rain layer, and let the current set the pace.