Höhr-Grenzhausen is a town that makes things out of mud. The Westerwald plateau here sits on one of Europe's finest deposits of stoneware clay, and for centuries potters have dug it, thrown it and fired it in salt-glaze kilns to make grey-and-blue jugs, tankards and storage jars. The area is called the Kannenbäckerland, the land of the jug bakers, and its pots were shipped down the Rhine and across the world. The Westerwald Ceramics Museum in Höhr-Grenzhausen tells the story, and several workshops in town still sell hand-made pieces. Take a mug home and you will be surprised how heavy it is.
The Roman frontier passed through this country as well, on its way from the Rhine over the Westerwald uplands. The numbers 1/60 describe a section of the Upper Germanic Limes where the line ran along a wooded ridge, with watchtowers placed on every rise. The woods have grown up since, and the traces of the frontier are mostly faint banks in the forest floor, though the signed trail is a pleasant way to see the land. A signal tower, one of several reconstructed to show how messages were relayed along the line, gives some idea of the view the soldiers had.
The plateau is gently hilly country of beech and spruce woods, small fields and sudden clay pits, and the riding is relaxed rather than dramatic. Roads climb and drop in easy curves and pass through villages whose houses are often slate-roofed and half-timbered. Near Koblenz, where the Rhine and Moselle meet, the plateau edge falls away into the valley, and the roads there are tighter and more fun. The weather on the Westerwald can be grey and damp, so be ready for wet tarmac, and for fog in the cold season.
Höhr-Grenzhausen has fuel, supermarkets and cafés, and Nauort and Weitersburg are quieter neighbours. Koblenz, a short ride south, has everything. Spring, with the beech leaves fresh, and autumn, with warm light on the clay-coloured fields, suit this part of Germany best.