The Roman frontier in Germany began on the Rhine at Rheinbrohl, a few kilometres downstream from Koblenz, where the first watchtower of the Upper Germanic Limes, WP 1/1, stood on the riverbank. From there, the frontier ran south-east through the Westerwald and the Taunus, and the watchtower WP 1/52, near Bendorf, stood on this early section, close to the Rhine and the confluence of the Moselle at Koblenz. The tower is long gone, but its site is part of the UNESCO listing of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire, and the Roemerwelt museum at Rheinbrohl brings the life of the frontier soldiers vividly to life with reconstructions and hands-on exhibits.
Bendorf is a small town on the right bank of the Rhine, just north of Koblenz, and its district of Sayn has two attractions worth visiting. The Sayn ironworks, the Sayner Hütte, is a remarkable cast-iron foundry hall built in the early nineteenth century, an early masterpiece of industrial architecture. Above it, the ruins of Sayn castle overlook the valley, and the Sayn palace, in the valley below, has a garden of butterflies, where tropical butterflies fly freely in a glasshouse.
Koblenz, across the river, sits at the meeting of the Rhine and the Moselle, at a point called the Deutsches Eck, the German Corner, marked by a huge equestrian statue of Emperor Wilhelm I. Above the city, the fortress of Ehrenbreitstein, one of the largest fortresses in Europe, offers wonderful views over the rivers and is reached by a cable car across the Rhine.
For riders, the area around Koblenz offers some of the best riding in Germany. The Moselle valley, to the south-west, winds through steep vineyards and wine villages, with a road along the river and side roads climbing up to the hills. The Rhine gorge, to the south, has castles on every hill. To the north and east, the Westerwald, a rolling upland of forests and fields, offers quiet, winding roads. The Eifel, to the west, with its volcanic lakes and the Nürburgring, is another riders' paradise. Traffic around Koblenz can be heavy, but the side roads are much quieter.
Bendorf, a town of over seventeen thousand people about two kilometres away, has fuel, shops and restaurants. Try a plate of Döppekuchen, a hearty potato cake with bacon, a speciality of the Westerwald, or a glass of Moselle Riesling, and take a ride along the Rhine in the evening light, with the castles glowing on the hills.