Why this ride
379 km from Bonn to Bonn, about 7 h 10 of riding. It goes by way of Iversheim, Watchtowers WP 1/11 to 1/20 including the, Watchtower WP 1/73 and Watchtower WP 2/31. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Bonn and Watchtower WP 2/31
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 379 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 7 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
Moselle Wine Route
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For about 43 km this is Moselle Wine Route, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 43 km
- Named road
- Moselle Wine Route
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
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 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 41 km into the recorded legs. Next is Watchtowers WP 1/11 to 1/20 including the.
3. Watchtowers WP 1/11 to 1/20 including the
Here is where the Upper German-Raetian Limes, the longest stretch of Roman frontier in Europe, begins. The Romans started the line at the Rhine near Rheinbrohl and ran it up over the hills of the Westerwald, then on through the Taunus and beyond for more than five hundred kilometres to the Danube. The section with watchtowers numbered WP 1/11 to 1/20 follows the first climb away from the river through the forests above Rheinbrohl, Hammerstein and Niederbreitbach. Most of the towers survive only as low mounds of stone in the woods, but the course of the frontier ditch and rampart can often be traced on foot, and there are information boards and a few reconstructions along the way.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 1/11 to 1/20 including the write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 111 km into the recorded legs you reach Watchtowers WP 1/11 to 1/20 including the. Next is Watchtower WP 1/73.
4. Watchtower WP 1/73
The Roman frontier in Germany starts at the Rhine near Rheinbrohl and climbs into the hills of the Westerwald, and Watchtower WP 1/73, near Hillscheid, belongs to that first stretch. The numbers tell you where you are: section one, tower seventy-three. All that survives is a low mound in the woods, but in the second and third centuries it was a stone tower with a view over the frontier line and, behind it, the palisade and ditch that ran across the landscape. The Upper Germanic-Raetian Limes has been part of the UNESCO Frontiers of the Roman Empire since 2005, and this is where it all begins.
Read the complete Watchtower WP 1/73 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Watchtower WP 1/73, about halfway. Next is Watchtower WP 2/31.
5. Watchtower WP 2/31
Holzhausen an der Haide is a small village on the high ground of the western Taunus, between the Rhine and the Lahn, and it has one of the better-preserved Roman fort sites along the Limes. The stone walls of Kastell Holzhausen still stand to a modest height in the fields just outside the village, outlining the fort's rectangle with its rounded corners and gates. Watchtower WP 2/31 belongs to the chain of towers that linked forts like this one along the frontier, and in this open landscape you can easily imagine the signals passing from hill to hill.
Read the complete Watchtower WP 2/31 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Watchtower WP 2/31 sits at 168 km, about halfway. Next is back through Watchtower WP 1/73.
6. back through Watchtower WP 1/73
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Watchtower WP 1/73 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 1/73 comes up about 226 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Watchtowers WP 1/11 to 1/20 including the.
7. back through Watchtowers WP 1/11 to 1/20 including the
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 1/11 to 1/20 including the write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 271 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Watchtowers WP 1/11 to 1/20 including the. Next is back through Iversheim.
8. 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 Bonn.
9. 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
The route ends here after 379 km.
Leg by leg
Bonn to Iversheim
Bonn → Iversheim is 41 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Iversheim to Watchtowers WP 1/11 to 1/20 including the
Iversheim → Watchtowers WP 1/11 to 1/20 including the is 70 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtowers WP 1/11 to 1/20 including the to Watchtower WP 1/73
Watchtowers WP 1/11 to 1/20 including the → Watchtower WP 1/73 is 43 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtower WP 1/73 to Watchtower WP 2/31
Watchtower WP 1/73 → Watchtower WP 2/31 is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtower WP 2/31 to back through Watchtower WP 1/73
Watchtower WP 2/31 → back through Watchtower WP 1/73 is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Watchtower WP 1/73 to back through Watchtowers WP 1/11 to 1/20 including the
back through Watchtower WP 1/73 → back through Watchtowers WP 1/11 to 1/20 including the is 45 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Watchtowers WP 1/11 to 1/20 including the to back through Iversheim
back through Watchtowers WP 1/11 to 1/20 including the → back through Iversheim is 67 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Iversheim to Bonn
back through Iversheim → Bonn is 41 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.