JessieC my preference is to put down a layer of cardboard and then straw on top. Alfalfa straw is the best if you can get it, but I find it difficult to source unless I want to buy a full truck load. I buy my straw in the fall and use use it for Halloween decorations and then throw it in the garden and let it sit over winter.
I’ve done paths with just straw and no cardboard and it works okay but not quite as well for weed suppression.
I’ve done paths with just shredded fall leaves, but they tend to decompose super fast and be gone by the end of the growing season.
I’ve also used landscape fabric, which works well in shadier areas, but tend to get a little too hot in the parts of the garden that get zero shade.