Why this ride
From Alpen it runs 349 km to Alpen; allow about 5 h 10 of riding. The stops in between: Krefeld-Gellep, Monheim-Haus Bürgel, Köln-Alteburg and Kottenforst Süd | Wattendorfer Allee 2. A steady touring day rather than a sprint.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Alpen-Drüpt and Kottenforst Süd | Wattendorfer Allee 2
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 349 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 5 h 10
- 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
Monheim-Haus Bürgel → Köln-Alteburg
Speed drops and stays down. Park rather than crawl through. 35 km through ground somebody thought worth listing. The road passes it rather than bypassing it.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 43 km
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Alpen-Drüpt
On the flat farmland of the Lower Rhine, between Alpen and Rheinberg, there is little to catch the eye: fields of maize and potatoes, poplars along ditches, brick farmhouses and the occasional windmill. Yet this was once the edge of the Roman world. The Rhine formed the frontier of the empire, and along its banks the Romans built legionary fortresses, forts, watchtowers and temporary camps. Alpen-Drüpt is one of the sites included in the Frontiers of the Roman Empire, Lower German Limes, inscribed by UNESCO in 2021; like many on the list, it survives mainly below ground, known from aerial photographs and excavations rather than standing ruins.
Read the complete Alpen-Drüpt write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Alpen-Drüpt is where the day begins. Next is Krefeld-Gellep.
2. Krefeld-Gellep
Most people pass Krefeld-Gellep without a second thought, because the view is dominated by the harbour of Uerdingen, chemical works and Rhine barges. Yet this is one of the most important Roman and early medieval sites on the Lower Rhine. The Roman fort here was called Gelduba, and it belongs to the Lower German Limes, the frontier along the river that UNESCO recognised in 2021. Tacitus mentions Gelduba in his account of the Batavian revolt of 69 and 70 AD, when legions and rebels fought around the camp, and archaeologists have found traces of that violence in the ground.
Read the complete Krefeld-Gellep write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Krefeld-Gellep comes up about 38 km into the recorded legs. Next is Monheim-Haus Bürgel.
3. Monheim-Haus Bürgel
Haus Bürgel is a manor farm that sits on top of a Roman fort, quite literally. The walls of a late Roman fortification, built in the fourth century to guard the Rhine frontier, form part of the foundations and outer walls of the medieval and later farm buildings, and the site is part of the Lower German Limes World Heritage Site, inscribed in 2021. Between Monheim and Düsseldorf-Urdenbach, it lies in a broad meadow landscape on the right bank of the Rhine.
Read the complete Monheim-Haus Bürgel write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 89 km into the recorded legs you reach Monheim-Haus Bürgel. Next is Köln-Alteburg.
4. Köln-Alteburg
The Roman navy is not the first thing most people associate with Cologne, but for almost two centuries the Rhine fleet, the Classis Germanica, had its main base here at Alteburg, just south of the Roman city. The fort sat on a terrace above the river in what is now the leafy district of Marienburg, near Bayenthal, and from here warships patrolled the Rhine, carried supplies and soldiers, and kept watch on the frontier. The site belongs to the Lower Germanic Limes, listed by UNESCO in 2021, though today it lies mostly under villas, streets and gardens, with only traces and information boards to show where it stood.
Read the complete Köln-Alteburg write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Köln-Alteburg, about halfway. Next is Kottenforst Süd | Wattendorfer Allee 2.
5. Kottenforst Süd | Wattendorfer Allee 2
Kottenforst is the name of a forest, but on the ride it is a long, patient place to be. This is the southern end of that great woodland ridge above Bonn, and the Wattendorfer Allee is one of the straight, wide avenues driven through it in the eighteenth century for the Electors of Cologne. The avenues radiate from older hunting points, and they still run dead straight for kilometres, so that from the right spot you can look down a green corridor that ends in a pinprick of light.
Read the complete Kottenforst Süd | Wattendorfer Allee 2 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Kottenforst Süd | Wattendorfer Allee 2 sits at 149 km, about halfway. Next is back through Köln-Alteburg.
6. back through Köln-Alteburg
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Köln-Alteburg write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Köln-Alteburg comes up about 218 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Monheim-Haus Bürgel.
7. back through Monheim-Haus Bürgel
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Monheim-Haus Bürgel write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 264 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Monheim-Haus Bürgel. Next is back through Krefeld-Gellep.
8. back through Krefeld-Gellep
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Krefeld-Gellep write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Krefeld-Gellep, late in the day. Next is Alpen-Drüpt.
9. Alpen-Drüpt
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Alpen-Drüpt 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 349 km.
Leg by leg
Alpen-Drüpt to Krefeld-Gellep
Alpen-Drüpt → Krefeld-Gellep is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Krefeld-Gellep to Monheim-Haus Bürgel
Krefeld-Gellep → Monheim-Haus Bürgel is 51 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Monheim-Haus Bürgel to Köln-Alteburg
Monheim-Haus Bürgel → Köln-Alteburg is 43 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Köln-Alteburg to Kottenforst Süd | Wattendorfer Allee 2
Köln-Alteburg → Kottenforst Süd | Wattendorfer Allee 2 is 43 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Kottenforst Süd | Wattendorfer Allee 2 to back through Köln-Alteburg
Kottenforst Süd | Wattendorfer Allee 2 → back through Köln-Alteburg is 43 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Köln-Alteburg to back through Monheim-Haus Bürgel
back through Köln-Alteburg → back through Monheim-Haus Bürgel is 46 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Monheim-Haus Bürgel to back through Krefeld-Gellep
back through Monheim-Haus Bürgel → back through Krefeld-Gellep is 49 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Krefeld-Gellep to Alpen-Drüpt
back through Krefeld-Gellep → Alpen-Drüpt is 37 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
More motorcycle rides nearby
- Köln-Deutz and Alpen-Drüpt · 217 km
- Köln-Praetorium and Alpen-Drüpt · 215 km
- Cologne Cathedral and Alpen-Drüpt · 212 km