Under the modern town of Weißenburg, in Franconia, lie the remains of a Roman fort called Biriciana, and it holds one of the best finds of the frontier. The fort was built in the second century to guard the line of the Raetian Limes, and a civil settlement grew up next to it, and in the third century it had a bathhouse that is the best preserved Roman bath north of the Alps. The walls of the baths still stand to a good height, with the heating system, the changing rooms and the pools, and a modern building protects them. Next to the baths is a museum, which holds a hoard of silver and bronze objects found in 1979 during building work, including statuettes of gods that were buried in a pit, probably to hide them.
The Roman Limes in this area was listed by UNESCO in 2005, together with the fort at Pfünz, to the south. Weißenburg itself is a pleasant small town, with a ring of medieval walls and gates, half-timbered houses and a handsome town hall. Above it, the Wülzburg fortress, a Renaissance star-shaped fortification, dominates the skyline, and a Roman sentry would have approved of the view.
The riding in the surrounding Altmühl Valley Nature Park is lovely, with limestone cliffs, juniper heaths and winding roads that follow the river. Not far to the east, the Fossa Carolina, a ditch that Charlemagne ordered to be dug in 793 to link the Danube and Rhine systems, is one of the oldest canals in Germany, and it is worth a short detour. The Franconian Jura is a quiet region, and the roads offer wide views, moderate gradients and clean asphalt.
Weißenburg has plenty of fuel, cafes and restaurants, and the Franconian cuisine is hearty, with roast pork, sausages and dumplings, and good local beer from small breweries. In spring, white asparagus is a regional passion, and it appears on menus in all kinds of ways. Nuremberg is about fifty kilometres to the north. Check opening times for the baths and museum, since they close in winter on some days.