The Taunus does not shout. It is a rounded, forested upland north of Wiesbaden and Frankfurt, and the Roman frontier crossed it on its way from the Rhine to the Main. These numbered watchtowers near Idstein belong to the Upper Germanic frontier, which in this part of Hesse ran through woods and clearings along the high ground. Archaeologists have recorded the tower positions along the line, and the asterisks in the label are their way of marking sites that are uncertain or only partly known. In practice you find woodland, a trail and the faint trace of an old bank.
The riding is smooth and relaxed. Roads around Idstein and Niedernhausen roll through farmland and beech wood, with long, open bends and a good surface, and if you drift south toward the Rheingau the hillsides begin to fall steeply toward the Rhine. Weekend traffic is heavy near the motorway corridor, but a few kilometres to either side the lanes empty out. Mist in the valleys on autumn mornings is especially nice, and the beech woods turn gold in October.
Idstein is a town of nearly twenty-three thousand people and is the obvious place for fuel and food. Its old centre is full of timbered houses, many of them elaborately carved, and a medieval tower, the Hexenturm, rises above the roofs as a reminder of the dark side of local history. Niedernhausen, a few kilometres away, is larger than it looks and has all the usual services too. A decent bakery and a bench in the old square are enough for a proper break.
Do not expect a visitor centre at the Limes site itself. The reward is the atmosphere, and the knowledge that a Roman sentry once looked out over this same quiet, wooded horizon. Go on a weekday morning for the best chance of solitude, and keep a layer in the pannier, because the Taunus can be cooler and wetter than the Rhine valley below.