Why this ride
260 km from Brühl to Brühl, about 4 h 17 of riding. On the way it passes Kottenforst Nord | Domhecken 5, Kottenforst Süd | Bellerbuschallee, Kottenforst Nord | Am Weißen Stein 1 and Kottenforst Süd | Riesenweg.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Castles of Augustusburg and Falkenlust at and Kottenforst Süd | Riesenweg
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 260 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 4 h 17
- 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
Castles of Augustusburg and Falkenlust at → Kottenforst Nord | Domhec
Speed drops and stays down. Park rather than crawl through. 17 km through ground somebody thought worth listing. The road passes it rather than bypassing it.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 23 km
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Castles of Augustusburg and Falkenlust at
Clemens August of Bavaria, prince-elector and archbishop of Cologne in the eighteenth century, loved two things above all: hunting with falcons and building in the latest style. At Brühl, just south of Cologne, he created two of the finest rococo buildings in Germany. Augustusburg Palace, his summer residence, has a staircase designed by Balthasar Neumann that is one of the masterpieces of the period, a whirl of marble, stucco and frescoes, and a formal French garden that stretches toward the forest. Falkenlust, a smaller hunting lodge at the end of a long avenue, was built for falconry, with a delightful interior decorated with tiles and lacquerwork. The two castles were listed by UNESCO in 1984.
Read the complete Castles of Augustusburg and Falkenlust at write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Castles of Augustusburg and Falkenlust at is where the day begins. Next is Kottenforst Nord | Domhecken 5.
2. Kottenforst Nord | Domhecken 5
Between Bonn and the Eifel lies the Kottenforst, a broad, flat forest of oak, beech and hornbeam on the plateau of the Ville, once a hunting ground of the Electors of Cologne, who laid out long straight rides through the trees for their stag hunts. Hidden in the woods are the faint outlines of Roman camps, earthworks left by soldiers who trained or camped here when Bonn, then called Bonna, was the base of a Roman legion on the Rhine frontier. The site at Domhecken, in the northern part of the forest, is one of the components of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire, Lower German Limes, listed by UNESCO in 2021. Like many such sites, it is subtle, a low bank and ditch among the trees, but it adds a layer of history to a walk or a ride through the forest.
Read the complete Kottenforst Nord | Domhecken 5 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Kottenforst Nord | Domhecken 5 comes up about 23 km into the recorded legs. Next is Kottenforst Süd | Bellerbuschallee.
3. Kottenforst Süd | Bellerbuschallee
The Kottenforst is a big, flat, rather mysterious forest on the plateau south-west of Bonn, crossed by long, dead-straight avenues laid out by the Electors of Cologne in the eighteenth century as hunting rides. The Bellerbuschallee is one of them, and walking or riding along it you pass oak and beech, wet hollows and the occasional deer. Under the trees, though, lie traces much older than the Electors: the low ramparts of Roman practice camps, where legionaries from Bonn learned to dig defences quickly. These camps form part of the Lower German Limes World Heritage listing inscribed in 2021.
Read the complete Kottenforst Süd | Bellerbuschallee write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 58 km into the recorded legs you reach Kottenforst Süd | Bellerbuschallee. Next is Kottenforst Nord | Am Weißen Stein 1.
4. Kottenforst Nord | Am Weißen Stein 1
The Kottenforst looks like an ordinary Rhineland woodland of oak, beech and hornbeam, with walkers, joggers and the odd horse rider, but in the second half of the first century and beyond it was a training ground for the Roman army. In clearings of the forest, the legion stationed at Bonna, today's Bonn, built a series of temporary camps as exercises, digging ditches and raising ramparts to practise the rapid construction they would need in the field. The remains of these camps, faint earthworks under the trees, are included in the Lower Germanic Limes, which UNESCO listed in 2021. Am Weissen Stein is one of the northern groups.
Read the complete Kottenforst Nord | Am Weißen Stein 1 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Kottenforst Nord | Am Weißen Stein 1, about halfway. Next is Kottenforst Süd | Riesenweg.
5. Kottenforst Süd | Riesenweg
South of Bonn the land rises into the Kottenforst, a big forest on a low plateau that the archbishops of Cologne once kept as a hunting ground. They cut long straight rides through it, many meeting at star-shaped junctions so that a hunting party could see the quarry and follow it, and the pattern survives. The woods are mostly beech and oak, with a few conifer plantations and damp hollows, and they cover a large part of the area between Bonn, Meckenheim and Wachtberg. The Riesenweg, the Giants' Way, is one of the paths that cross it, a name that suggests something older and bigger than the track you walk on.
Read the complete Kottenforst Süd | Riesenweg write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Kottenforst Süd | Riesenweg sits at 67 km, about halfway. Next is back through Kottenforst Nord | Am Weißen Stein 1.
6. back through Kottenforst Nord | Am Weißen Stein 1
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Kottenforst Nord | Am Weißen Stein 1 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Kottenforst Nord | Am Weißen Stein 1 comes up about 166 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Kottenforst Süd | Bellerbuschallee.
7. back through Kottenforst Süd | Bellerbuschallee
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Kottenforst Süd | Bellerbuschallee write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 203 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Kottenforst Süd | Bellerbuschallee. Next is back through Kottenforst Nord | Domhecken 5.
8. back through Kottenforst Nord | Domhecken 5
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Kottenforst Nord | Domhecken 5 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Kottenforst Nord | Domhecken 5, late in the day. Next is Castles of Augustusburg and Falkenlust at.
9. Castles of Augustusburg and Falkenlust at
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Castles of Augustusburg and Falkenlust at 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 260 km.
Leg by leg
Castles of Augustusburg and Falkenlust at to Kottenforst Nord | Domhecken 5
Castles of Augustusburg and Falkenlust at → Kottenforst Nord | Domhecken 5 is 23 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Kottenforst Nord | Domhecken 5 to Kottenforst Süd | Bellerbuschallee
Kottenforst Nord | Domhecken 5 → Kottenforst Süd | Bellerbuschallee is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Kottenforst Süd | Bellerbuschallee to Kottenforst Nord | Am Weißen Stein 1
Kottenforst Süd | Bellerbuschallee → Kottenforst Nord | Am Weißen Stein 1 is 36 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Kottenforst Nord | Am Weißen Stein 1 to Kottenforst Süd | Riesenweg
Kottenforst Nord | Am Weißen Stein 1 → Kottenforst Süd | Riesenweg is 36 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Kottenforst Süd | Riesenweg to back through Kottenforst Nord | Am Weißen Stein 1
Kottenforst Süd | Riesenweg → back through Kottenforst Nord | Am Weißen Stein 1 is 36 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Kottenforst Nord | Am Weißen Stein 1 to back through Kottenforst Süd | Bellerbuschallee
back through Kottenforst Nord | Am Weißen Stein 1 → back through Kottenforst Süd | Bellerbuschallee is 37 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Kottenforst Süd | Bellerbuschallee to back through Kottenforst Nord | Domhecken 5
back through Kottenforst Süd | Bellerbuschallee → back through Kottenforst Nord | Domhecken 5 is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Kottenforst Nord | Domhecken 5 to Castles of Augustusburg and Falkenlust at
back through Kottenforst Nord | Domhecken 5 → Castles of Augustusburg and Falkenlust at is 23 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.