Fort site and civil settlement of Niederbi and Fort site and civil settlement of Langenha
Plan this ride
Recorded distance
294 km
Riding-time estimate
5 h 37
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.
From Neuwied it runs 294 km to Neuwied; allow about 5 h 37 of riding. On the way it passes Watchtowers WP 2/5 to 2/6, Fortlets and site of the fort and civil se, Watchtower WP 3/38* and Fort site and civil settlement of Langenha. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
Scenic road chapters
Moselle Wine Route
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For about 38 km this is Moselle Wine Route, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Chapter facts
Length
38 km
Named road
Moselle Wine Route
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Fort site and civil settlement of Niederbi
Niederbieber was one of the biggest Roman forts in the German frontier country, and it sits on the edge of the modern town of Neuwied, on the river Wied, a few kilometres from where it flows into the Rhine. The fort was built in the second century as a base for a cavalry unit and later a larger garrison, and a large civilian town, the vicus, grew up around it. In the early third century it was rebuilt and expanded, and it had stone walls, towers and a commander's residence, with a large bathhouse and shops outside.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Fort site and civil settlement of Niederbi is where the day begins. Next is Watchtowers WP 2/5 to 2/6.
2. Watchtowers WP 2/5 to 2/6
WP 2/5 and 2/6 sound like spare parts, but they are the numbers archaeologists gave to two watchtower positions on the Upper Germanic-Raetian Limes, the fortified frontier Rome drew across southern Germany. Here, in the hills above the Lahn near Bad Ems, the line ran up from the Rhine and over the high ground, and every few hundred metres a tower stood with a view to the next. Today most of what survives are low mounds, traces of the bank and ditch, and in some places a reconstructed tower to give you scale. The whole frontier became part of the UNESCO Frontiers of the Roman Empire in 2005.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Watchtowers WP 2/5 to 2/6 comes up about 38 km into the recorded legs. Next is Fortlets and site of the fort and civil se.
3. Fortlets and site of the fort and civil se
The western Taunus is wonderfully empty. Away from the commuter belt around Frankfurt and Wiesbaden, the hills north of Bad Schwalbach turn into a quiet patchwork of forest, small meadows and villages in the Heidenrod municipality, and right through the middle runs the Limes. Today you find grassy outlines, a few markers and the bank and ditch disappearing into the beech woods.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 72 km into the recorded legs you reach Fortlets and site of the fort and civil se. Next is Watchtower WP 3/38*.
4. Watchtower WP 3/38*
The Taunus is a range of wooded hills north-west of Frankfurt, rising to 878 metres at the Großer Feldberg, and it has long been the city's playground, with forests, spa towns and winding roads. Through these hills ran the Upper Germanic Limes, the Roman frontier that stretched for over five hundred kilometres across Germany, and one of its watchtowers, numbered WP 3/38, stood near the village of Glashütten, close to Waldems and Königstein im Taunus.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Watchtower WP 3/38*, about halfway. Next is Fort site and civil settlement of Langenha.
5. Fort site and civil settlement of Langenha
Elvis Presley spent his military service in Friedberg, a few kilometres from here, from 1958 to 1960, and lived in a rented house in the spa town of Bad Nauheim, where fans still leave messages on the wall outside and a square in the town bears his name. But nearly two thousand years earlier, other soldiers served in this region. The Roman frontier of the Upper Germanic-Raetian Limes, a World Heritage site, ran along the edge of the Taunus hills here, and at Langenhain, near Ober-Mörlen, the Romans built a fort with a civil settlement beside it, where traders, craftsmen and the families of soldiers lived. Today, the site is mostly fields and meadows, with information boards to help you imagine the walls, gates and buildings that once stood here.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 294 km.
Leg by leg
Fort site and civil settlement of Niederbi to Watchtowers WP 2/5 to 2/6
Fort site and civil settlement of Niederbi → Watchtowers WP 2/5 to 2/6 is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtowers WP 2/5 to 2/6 to Fortlets and site of the fort and civil se
Watchtowers WP 2/5 to 2/6 → Fortlets and site of the fort and civil se is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Fortlets and site of the fort and civil se to Watchtower WP 3/38*
Fortlets and site of the fort and civil se → Watchtower WP 3/38* is 40 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtower WP 3/38* to Fort site and civil settlement of Langenha
Watchtower WP 3/38* → Fort site and civil settlement of Langenha is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Fort site and civil settlement of Langenha to back through Watchtower WP 3/38*
Fort site and civil settlement of Langenha → back through Watchtower WP 3/38* is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Watchtower WP 3/38* to back through Fortlets and site of the fort and civil se
back through Watchtower WP 3/38* → back through Fortlets and site of the fort and civil se is 45 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Fortlets and site of the fort and civil se to back through Watchtowers WP 2/5 to 2/6
back through Fortlets and site of the fort and civil se → back through Watchtowers WP 2/5 to 2/6 is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Watchtowers WP 2/5 to 2/6 to Fort site and civil settlement of Niederbi
back through Watchtowers WP 2/5 to 2/6 → Fort site and civil settlement of Niederbi is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.