Butzbach lies in the Wetterau, a fertile, rolling plain north of Frankfurt, with the wooded Taunus hills rising to the south. In Roman times, the Limes, the frontier of the Empire, ran through this country, and a fort stood on the site of today's town, with a civil settlement, or vicus, growing beside it to serve the soldiers. The Upper Germanic-Raetian Limes, a stretch of palisade, ditch and wall that ran for hundreds of kilometres, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and Butzbach is one of the places along its line.
Not far to the south, the Saalburg, a reconstructed fort in the Taunus, shows how these places looked, with gates, towers and barracks rebuilt, and it makes an excellent companion visit. In the Wölferheimer Wald, a signal tower marks another piece of the frontier system, one of many watchtowers that were placed in sight of each other, so that a fire or a flag could pass a warning along the line. You can feel the logic of the landscape on a clear day.
The modern town of Butzbach, with about twenty-five thousand people, has a handsome market square lined with half-timbered houses, a castle and plenty of places to eat. Fuel stations are easy to find, and there is no shortage of cafés and bakeries. The Hessian specialities are Handkäse mit Musik, a sour-milk cheese served with onions and vinegar, and Frankfurter green sauce, with eggs and potatoes, and apple wine is the traditional drink.
For riders, the Wetterau offers wide, gentle roads through farmland, with long views and light traffic, while the Taunus to the south has more twisting roads through beech woods, climbing to the old forts and the high ridge. The A5 motorway runs close by, so weekends can bring busy traffic. Spring blossom and the golden fields of late summer are lovely, and in autumn the beech woods glow. Check the weather, as the Taunus can be foggy and wet when the plain is dry.