The Kottenforst is a big woodland on a ridge west of Bonn, and for centuries it belonged to the prince-electors of Cologne, who used it as a hunting ground. Long straight rides, cut through the forest in the eighteenth century, radiate from hunting lodges, and they are still visible as avenues of beech and oak. The Elector Clemens August, who built the baroque palaces of Augustusburg and Falkenlust at nearby Bruhl, loved falconry, and the forest was part of that world. The palaces are UNESCO World Heritage, and they are a short ride away.
The northern part of the forest, near Alfter and Bornheim, lies on the edge of the Vorgebirge, the low ridge that separates the Rhine from the Cologne lowland. The soil is rich loess, and the area has long been orchard and vegetable country, famous for asparagus and strawberries in spring. The Romans knew it too. The great Eifel aqueduct, the Roman canal that carried water to Cologne from springs in the hills, ran along this side of the Vorgebirge, and traces of it survive. Cologne was a legionary base and the capital of the province of Lower Germany, and its Praetorium, the governor's palace, stood by the Rhine.
Riding here is gentle. The forest roads are narrow and quiet, with surfaces that vary from smooth to patched, and many of the forest tracks are closed to motor vehicles, so stay on the public roads. The lanes between villages run past orchards, farm shops and half-timbered houses. Traffic is heavier on the main roads between Bonn and Cologne, and on summer weekends the forest fills with walkers and cyclists. Wild boar and deer live in the woods, and you should take care at dusk.
Bornheim has nearly fifty thousand people, and Alfter more than twenty thousand, so fuel and food are not a problem. Local farm shops sell apples, plums and honey, and in spring you can buy asparagus straight from the field. Cologne and Bonn are both close, and you can slip out of the cities for a quiet afternoon. Autumn is lovely, with golden leaves and mist in the glades.