Taunusstein did not exist as a town until 1971, when ten villages on the high plateau north of Wiesbaden were merged into one municipality, and so it has no old centre, just a cluster of former villages, each with its church, its half-timbered houses and its fields. One of them, Wehen, gave its name to the football club SV Wehen Wiesbaden, which started here before moving to the city. The Roman frontier ran along the edge of this plateau, and watchtower SP 3/5, close to the line, is one of the many small sites that mark it in the forest between Taunusstein and Idstein.
What makes this stretch of the Limes interesting is the way it uses the landscape. The Romans ran the frontier along the high ground of the Taunus, the watershed between streams flowing south to the Rhine and those flowing north to the Lahn, giving the soldiers in the towers long views over the land beyond. Each tower was within sight of its neighbours, and signals, probably with torches, flags or horns, could be passed along the line. The soldiers lived in small forts nearby and took turns on watch, in summer heat and winter snow. A walk along the Limes trail here, through beech and spruce forest, gives a sense of their isolation.
Modern engineering crosses the same ridge. The A3 motorway and the high-speed railway line between Cologne and Frankfurt both cut through the Taunus near Idstein, the railway in tunnels and on viaducts, and you will see the trains flash past at up to three hundred kilometres an hour.
For riders, the roads on the plateau and down into the valleys are pleasant and varied, with forest stretches, open farmland and small villages. The B275 runs north from Taunusstein towards Idstein and the Lahn, and smaller roads link the villages through the forest. Weekend traffic can be heavy with day-trippers from the Rhine-Main area. Watch for cyclists, deer and speed cameras. Idstein, about five kilometres away, has fuel, shops and a fine old town; Taunusstein and Niedernhausen also have services. The plateau is often cooler and windier than the Rhine valley, and fog can linger in autumn.