CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
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.
405 km from Luxembourg to Luxembourg, about 5 h 14 of riding. It goes by way of Völklingen Ironworks, Place Stanislas and back through Völklingen Ironworks. It crosses Luxembourg, Germany and France - carry ID and check vignette or toll rules. The line favours views over speed.
Luxembourg City is built on a rocky plateau above the deep, green valleys of the Alzette and Pétrusse rivers, and for centuries it was one of the most powerful fortresses in Europe, nicknamed the Gibraltar of the North. Spanish, French, Austrian and Prussian armies all held it, and each added to its walls, bastions and tunnels. In 1867, after an international treaty, most of the fortifications were dismantled, but enough remains to make the old quarters and fortifications a UNESCO World Heritage site, inscribed in 1994.
Read the complete City of Luxembourg: its Old Quarters and F write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
City of Luxembourg: its Old Quarters and F is where the day begins. Next is Völklingen Ironworks.
Rust, soot and colossal machinery: the Völklingen Ironworks is a cathedral of heavy industry, and walking through it is an overwhelming experience. Founded in 1873 and developed by the Röchling family into one of the largest iron producers in Europe, the works produced pig iron from 1883 until 1986, when the blast furnaces were shut down. Instead of being demolished, the complex was preserved, and in 1994 it became the first industrial monument from the heyday of heavy industry to be listed by UNESCO. Today visitors can climb the blast furnaces, walk through the huge blowing engine hall, and explore the coking plant and the ore storage, much of which has been taken over by nature, with birch trees and wild plants growing among the steel.
Read the complete Völklingen Ironworks write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Völklingen Ironworks comes up about 90 km into the recorded legs. Next is Place Stanislas.
Place Stanislas in Nancy is the work of a king without a kingdom. Stanislas Leszczyński, twice king of Poland and father-in-law of Louis XV, was given the Duchy of Lorraine in 1737 as a consolation prize, and he spent the rest of his life rebuilding its capital. The great square that bears his name, laid out in the 1750s by the architect Emmanuel Héré, links the old medieval town with the newer quarter, and it is one of the most harmonious public spaces in Europe. Pale stone buildings with curved corners stand around a wide cobbled space, and a statue of the duke stands in the middle.
Read the complete Place Stanislas write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 203 km into the recorded legs you reach Place Stanislas. Next is back through Völklingen Ironworks.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Völklingen Ironworks write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Völklingen Ironworks, late in the day. Next is City of Luxembourg: its Old Quarters and F.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete City of Luxembourg: its Old Quarters and F write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Back at City of Luxembourg: its Old Quarters and F. That is the ride.
City of Luxembourg: its Old Quarters and F → Völklingen Ironworks is 90 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Völklingen Ironworks → Place Stanislas is 113 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Place Stanislas → back through Völklingen Ironworks is 112 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Völklingen Ironworks → City of Luxembourg: its Old Quarters and F is 90 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.