Why this ride
A 351 km round trip from Aachen - roughly 4 h 35 in the saddle. On the way it passes Iversheim, Watchtowers WP 1/21 to 1/22 and back through Iversheim. It suits an unhurried touring pace.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Aachen Cathedral and Watchtowers WP 1/21 to 1/22
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 351 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 4 h 35
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Scenic road chapters
Aachen Cathedral → Iversheim
Speed drops and stays down. Park rather than crawl through. 71 km through ground somebody thought worth listing. The road passes it rather than bypassing it.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 95 km
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Aachen Cathedral
Charlemagne chose Aachen for its hot springs, and the springs still bubble up under the old town, smelling faintly of sulphur at the fountains where they surface. Around the end of the eighth century he built a palace here and, at its heart, a chapel: an octagon under a dome, ringed by a sixteen-sided ambulatory, designed by Odo of Metz with columns and marble shipped from Ravenna and Rome. That chapel is the core of Aachen Cathedral, and in 1978 it became the first site in Germany on the World Heritage list.
Read the complete Aachen Cathedral write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Aachen Cathedral is where the day begins. Next is Iversheim.
2. Iversheim
Iversheim is a village in the valley of the Erft, at the northern edge of the Eifel, just downstream from the old spa town of Bad Münstereifel. It is known for one thing: a Roman lime-burning works, one of the best preserved in Europe. The Romans built a series of kilns here to burn limestone from the surrounding hills into quicklime, which was used to make mortar for the forts, towns and roads of the province of Lower Germany. The kilns were worked by detachments of soldiers from the Rhine legions, as inscriptions found on the site show.
Read the complete Iversheim write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Iversheim comes up about 95 km into the recorded legs. Next is Watchtowers WP 1/21 to 1/22.
3. Watchtowers WP 1/21 to 1/22
Above Leutesdorf, on the right bank of the Rhine between Neuwied and Bad Hönningen, the hills climb steeply from the river, covered with vineyards and forests, and the Roman frontier ran along their crest. Watchtowers WP 1/21 and 1/22 stood here in the early part of the Upper Germanic Limes, just a few kilometres from its starting point at Rheinbrohl, watching over the valley and the lands beyond. Today the tower sites are quiet spots in the woods, part of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire World Heritage site.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 1/21 to 1/22 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 178 km into the recorded legs you reach Watchtowers WP 1/21 to 1/22. Next is back through Iversheim.
4. back through Iversheim
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Iversheim write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Iversheim, late in the day. Next is Aachen Cathedral.
5. Aachen Cathedral
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Aachen Cathedral write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Aachen Cathedral. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Aachen Cathedral to Iversheim
Aachen Cathedral → Iversheim is 95 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Iversheim to Watchtowers WP 1/21 to 1/22
Iversheim → Watchtowers WP 1/21 to 1/22 is 83 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtowers WP 1/21 to 1/22 to back through Iversheim
Watchtowers WP 1/21 to 1/22 → back through Iversheim is 82 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Iversheim to Aachen Cathedral
back through Iversheim → Aachen Cathedral is 91 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.