Bad Ems is a small spa town in the winding valley of the Lahn, where the river cuts a deep trench through the hills of the Taunus and Westerwald. Its warm springs were known to the Romans, and it gained fame in the nineteenth century, when the Russian tsar, the Prussian king and the whole of European society came to take the cure. In July 1870 King Wilhelm of Prussia was walking on the promenade when the French ambassador approached him, and the telegram that described the encounter, edited by Bismarck for the press, helped push France into the war that led to German unification. The Ems Dispatch, as it is called, is one of the famous editorial acts in diplomatic history.
Up in the hills above Arzbach, a little way from the spa, the Roman frontier crossed the high ground, and the watchtower marked 1/84 stood on a ridge with a view down toward the Lahn. The tower is gone, though the site may be marked, and the Limes line here is part of the UNESCO Upper German-Raetian Limes. It is a landscape of oak and beech woods, open meadows, and small streams that run down toward the Lahn.
The riding is a pleasure, with twisty roads linking small villages, climbing out of the valley and dropping again, with a surface that is mostly sound. The Lahn valley road from Koblenz toward Bad Ems and Nassau runs beside the river through gorge scenery, with castles on the heights and a railway on the opposite bank. It is a popular run for motorcyclists on weekends, so expect company, and the local police pay attention to speed. In winter the hills see snow and ice, and fog fills the valley. Spring and autumn are especially beautiful.
Arzbach, a village of under two thousand people a kilometre away, is small, and the nearest bigger town with fuel is Bad Ems, about five kilometres off, with a casino, a pump room and a spa park, and Koblenz, a larger city at the meeting of the Rhine and Moselle, is a short ride on. Try a plate of Westerwald specialities, such as potato dumplings with sauerkraut, or a coffee on the Lahn promenade. Forest tracks near the tower site are generally closed to motor vehicles, so walk the last stretch, and wear shoes with good grip on the wet leaves.