Bonn and Alpen-Drüpt

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Bonn

   Bonn is a university city that spent forty years pretending to be a capital, and it carried it off with a modest air. After the war it became the seat of the West German government, and the former federal quarter along the Rhine still has the clean, low-key look of ministries designed not to impress. Before that, Bonn had been a seat of the Cologne prince-electors, whose baroque palace now houses the university, and it was also the birthplace of Beethoven, whose small house in the old town is one of the most visited composer museums anywhere.

   Read the complete Bonn write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Bonn is where the day begins. Next is Monheim-Haus Bürgel.

2. 2. 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

   Monheim-Haus Bürgel comes up about 63 km into the recorded legs. Next is Alpen-Drüpt.

3. 3. 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

   about 139 km into the recorded legs you reach Alpen-Drüpt. Next is back through Monheim-Haus Bürgel.

4. 4. 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

   back through Monheim-Haus Bürgel, late in the day. Next is Bonn.

5. 5. Bonn

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Bonn write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Back at Bonn. That is the ride.