Höhr-Grenzhausen smells of clay and fire. The town, in the Westerwald hills north east of Koblenz, is the heart of the Kannenbäckerland, the jug-bakers' land, where potters have been making salt-glazed stoneware for centuries, with its characteristic grey body and cobalt blue decoration. Westerwald stoneware jugs, mugs and pots were exported across Europe and beyond, and the craft is still alive today, with workshops, a ceramics museum and a college for ceramic design. The Roman frontier ran right past the town, and the site of watchtower WP 1/64, near Höhr-Grenzhausen, is one of the many traces of the Upper German Limes, part of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire World Heritage Site.
The Limes began on the Rhine at Rheinbrohl, a short distance to the north west, and ran south east through the hills, a line of watchtowers, forts and a palisade with a ditch behind it. The watchtowers were spaced within sight of each other, so that signals could be passed along the frontier, and the remains of some have been excavated and marked, while others survive only as low mounds in the forest. A walking trail, the Limeswanderweg, follows the line of the frontier through the hills.
The Westerwald is a rolling upland of forests, meadows, small villages and lakes, cut by deep valleys that run down to the Rhine and the Lahn. The riding is enjoyable, with quiet roads winding through the hills, plenty of bends and occasional steep climbs and descents. The surfaces are generally good, and traffic is light outside the towns. To the south, the valley of the Lahn offers a beautiful ride, with the river winding between wooded slopes, castles and old towns, and to the west, the Rhine gorge, with its castles and vineyards, is one of the great rides of Germany, though the roads along the river can be busy.
Höhr-Grenzhausen, a town of nearly ten thousand people, has fuel, shops and restaurants, and the ceramics shops are well worth a look, though a large jug is awkward to carry on a bike. Koblenz, at the meeting of the Rhine and the Moselle, is a short ride away, with everything you could need. The weather in the Westerwald is cooler and wetter than in the river valleys, with fog in autumn and snow in winter.