Why this ride
A 175 km round trip from Bad Ems - roughly 3 h 14 in the saddle. It goes by way of Watchtower WP 1/64, Watchtowers WP 1/36*, Limes section between watchtowers WP 1/2 a and Limessection between watchtowers WP/ 1/34.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Bad Ems and Limessection between watchtowers WP/ 1/34
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 175 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 3 h 14
- 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
Moselle Wine Route
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For about 21 km this is Moselle Wine Route, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 21 km
- Named road
- Moselle Wine Route
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Bad Ems
The most consequential telegram in German history was sent from a spa town on the Lahn. In July 1870, King Wilhelm I of Prussia was taking the waters at Bad Ems when the French ambassador came to ask him to promise that no Hohenzollern prince would ever take the Spanish throne. The king refused politely, and sent a report to Bismarck in Berlin, who edited the text to make it sound like a snub, and published it. The Ems Dispatch, as it is known, helped to provoke France to declare war, and the Franco-Prussian War led to the creation of the German Empire in 1871.
Read the complete Bad Ems write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Bad Ems is where the day begins. Next is Watchtower WP 1/64.
2. Watchtower WP 1/64
Höhr-Grenzhausen smells of clay and fire. The town, in the Westerwald hills north east of Koblenz, is the heart of the Kannenbäckerland, the jug-bakers' land, where potters have been making salt-glazed stoneware for centuries, with its characteristic grey body and cobalt blue decoration. Westerwald stoneware jugs, mugs and pots were exported across Europe and beyond, and the craft is still alive today, with workshops, a ceramics museum and a college for ceramic design. The Roman frontier ran right past the town, and the site of watchtower WP 1/64, near Höhr-Grenzhausen, is one of the many traces of the Upper German Limes, part of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire World Heritage Site.
Read the complete Watchtower WP 1/64 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Watchtower WP 1/64 comes up about 21 km into the recorded legs. Next is Watchtowers WP 1/36*.
3. Watchtowers WP 1/36*
Julius Caesar put a bridge across the Rhine somewhere near here in 55 BC, a feat of carpentry that his own account says took ten days. Scholars still argue about the exact spot, but the Neuwied basin is one of the favourite candidates, and that gives the surrounding hills an extra layer of legend. A century and a half later the Romans came back for good and built the Limes along the heights above the river, with a chain of timber towers watching the Germanic side. The asterisk on this tower's number marks it as a conjectural position rather than a confirmed one.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 1/36* write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 43 km into the recorded legs you reach Watchtowers WP 1/36*. Next is Limes section between watchtowers WP 1/2 a.
4. Limes section between watchtowers WP 1/2 a
Two thousand years ago, the frontier of the Roman Empire in Germany began right here. The Upper Germanic-Raetian Limes, a line of watchtowers, forts, palisades and ditches stretching more than five hundred kilometres to the Danube, started on the right bank of the Rhine at Rheinbrohl, and the watchtowers numbered WP 1/1 and onwards marched away from the river into the wooded hills. This little section between Rheinbrohl and Bad Hönningen is the very beginning of the line, part of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire World Heritage site.
Read the complete Limes section between watchtowers WP 1/2 a write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Limes section between watchtowers WP 1/2 a, about halfway. Next is Limessection between watchtowers WP/ 1/34.
5. Limessection between watchtowers WP/ 1/34
North of Neuwied, the hills of the Westerwald rise steeply from the Rhine, and through their forests ran the Roman frontier known as the Upper German-Raetian Limes. The section between the watchtowers numbered WP 1/34 and its neighbours lies near Melsbach and Rengsdorf, and it is part of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire World Heritage Site, inscribed in 2005 for this stretch. The Limes began on the Rhine at Rheinbrohl, a little downstream, and ran for over 500 kilometres to the Danube, a line of wooden palisades, ditches, ramparts and watchtowers.
Read the complete Limessection between watchtowers WP/ 1/34 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Limessection between watchtowers WP/ 1/34 sits at 67 km, about halfway. Next is back through Limes section between watchtowers WP 1/2 a.
6. back through Limes section between watchtowers WP 1/2 a
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Limes section between watchtowers WP 1/2 a write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Limes section between watchtowers WP 1/2 a comes up about 107 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Watchtowers WP 1/36*.
7. back through Watchtowers WP 1/36*
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 1/36* write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 129 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Watchtowers WP 1/36*. Next is back through Watchtower WP 1/64.
8. back through Watchtower WP 1/64
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Watchtower WP 1/64 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 1/64, late in the day. Next is Bad Ems.
9. Bad Ems
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Bad Ems 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 175 km.
Leg by leg
Bad Ems to Watchtower WP 1/64
Bad Ems → Watchtower WP 1/64 is 21 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtower WP 1/64 to Watchtowers WP 1/36*
Watchtower WP 1/64 → Watchtowers WP 1/36* is 22 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtowers WP 1/36* to Limes section between watchtowers WP 1/2 a
Watchtowers WP 1/36* → Limes section between watchtowers WP 1/2 a is 22 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Limes section between watchtowers WP 1/2 a to Limessection between watchtowers WP/ 1/34
Limes section between watchtowers WP 1/2 a → Limessection between watchtowers WP/ 1/34 is 21 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Limessection between watchtowers WP/ 1/34 to back through Limes section between watchtowers WP 1/2 a
Limessection between watchtowers WP/ 1/34 → back through Limes section between watchtowers WP 1/2 a is 21 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Limes section between watchtowers WP 1/2 a to back through Watchtowers WP 1/36*
back through Limes section between watchtowers WP 1/2 a → back through Watchtowers WP 1/36* is 22 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Watchtowers WP 1/36* to back through Watchtower WP 1/64
back through Watchtowers WP 1/36* → back through Watchtower WP 1/64 is 24 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Watchtower WP 1/64 to Bad Ems
back through Watchtower WP 1/64 → Bad Ems is 22 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.