Frankfurt day out · Watchtowers WP 3/20 to 3/22

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Frankfurt

   Frankfurt is the one German city with a skyline, and the locals have a nickname for it: Mainhattan. A cluster of glass towers rises from the north bank of the river Main, the banking district, and you can see it from the Taunus hills on clear days. The rest of the city is more modest than the towers suggest. The old centre was heavily bombed in the war and has been rebuilt in places, with the Römer, a medieval town hall with stepped gables, restored on its square and the Cathedral of St Bartholomew, where emperors were crowned, still standing by the river.

   Read the complete Frankfurt write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Frankfurt is where the day begins. Next is Watchtower WP 3/23*.

2. 2. Watchtower WP 3/23*

   On the wooded ridges near Idstein, the Taunus Limes crossed some of its highest and most remote ground, and Watchtower WP 3/23 is one of the many sites along this stretch. The asterisk in the official label suggests a site whose exact location is uncertain or reconstructed from survey work, which is common along the frontier, where many towers survive only as faint mounds in the forest. Still, walking the Limes trail here, with the bank and ditch running through the beech woods, gives a real sense of the Roman border.

   Read the complete Watchtower WP 3/23* write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Watchtower WP 3/23* comes up about 44 km into the recorded legs. Next is Watchtowers WP 3/23.

3. 3. Watchtowers WP 3/23

   Idstein sits in a bowl of the Taunus hills north of Wiesbaden, and its centre is among the best-kept half-timbered towns in Hesse. The Killinger House, a tall timber-framed building with elaborate carving, is the showpiece, and the Witches' Tower, a stone remnant of the old castle, stands above the old town as a reminder of a darker chapter. The Roman Limes passes through the hills just to the north, and Watchtower 3/23 is one of many positions on the ridge, part of the line that ran for about five hundred kilometres across Germany.

   Read the complete Watchtowers WP 3/23 write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   At least about 66 km into the recorded legs you reach Watchtowers WP 3/23. Next is Watchtower WP 3/19* to 3/21*.

4. 4. Watchtower WP 3/19* to 3/21*

   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.

   Read the complete Watchtower WP 3/19* to 3/21* write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Watchtower WP 3/19* to 3/21*, about halfway. Next is Watchtowers WP 3/20 to 3/22.

5. 5. Watchtowers WP 3/20 to 3/22

   The Taunus is the low, wooded range north of Frankfurt, and the Romans chose it as the place to draw their line. The Limes crossed the ridge at a height that gave good views over both sides, and watchtowers placed close together made it possible to send signals by fire and smoke from tower to tower. The numbers, such as WP 3/20, are from the survey carried out by German archaeologists at the end of the nineteenth century, and they refer to the third section of the line. The Upper Germanic-Raetian Limes was listed by UNESCO in 2005.

   Read the complete Watchtowers WP 3/20 to 3/22 write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Watchtowers WP 3/20 to 3/22 sits at 45 km, about halfway. Next is back through Watchtower WP 3/19* to 3/21*.

6. 6. back through Watchtower WP 3/19* to 3/21*

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Watchtower WP 3/19* to 3/21* write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through Watchtower WP 3/19* to 3/21* comes up about 96 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Watchtowers WP 3/23.

7. 7. back through Watchtowers WP 3/23

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Watchtowers WP 3/23 write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 112 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Watchtowers WP 3/23. Next is back through Watchtower WP 3/23*.

8. 8. back through Watchtower WP 3/23*

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Watchtower WP 3/23* write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through Watchtower WP 3/23*, late in the day. Next is Frankfurt.

9. 9. Frankfurt

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Frankfurt write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   The route ends here after 161 km.