The Rhine at Wesel is broad and powerful, the main artery of northwestern Europe, and in Roman times it was the frontier of the empire. The Lower German Limes, listed by UNESCO in 2021, ran along the river from the Alps to the North Sea, with forts, camps and watchtowers guarding the crossings. At Flüren, on the edge of Wesel, archaeologists have found traces of Roman activity on the Flürener Feld, probably a temporary camp or military installation linked to campaigns across the river into Germania. Nothing is visible on the surface, but the site sits on the edge of the Rhine plain, with the river and its floodplain stretching away to the horizon.
The great Roman centre of the region was Xanten, a short ride downstream, where the Roman city of Colonia Ulpia Traiana has been partly reconstructed in an archaeological park, with an amphitheatre, a temple and city walls. Before that, the legionary fortress of Vetera stood on a hill nearby, and it was from here that Roman legions set out in AD 9 on the campaign that ended in disaster in the Teutoburg Forest.
Wesel itself was a prosperous Hanseatic town in the Middle Ages, but its history in the twentieth century was brutal. In 1945, as the Allies prepared to cross the Rhine, the town was almost completely destroyed by bombing; very few buildings survived. In March of that year, the Allied armies crossed the Rhine at Wesel in a massive operation, with paratroopers landing on the eastern bank. The town was rebuilt after the war, and today it is a modern, pleasant place, with a reconstructed town hall façade, a citadel, and a museum of the Prussian era.
The riding is flat and easy. The roads along the Rhine and through the countryside of the Lower Rhine are straight or gently curving, with fields, farms, windmills and dykes. The Rhine bridge at Wesel, a modern cable-stayed bridge, offers views over the river. Watch for cyclists and tractors, and for wind on the open plain.
Wesel has fuel, shops and restaurants, and Hamminkeln is nearby. Try Rhenish dishes like Himmel und Erde, mashed potatoes and apples with black pudding, in a traditional pub.