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.
338 km from Schmitten to Schmitten, about 4 h 42 of riding. The stops in between: Limessection between WP 4/37 and 4/39, Watchtowers WP 4/82 to 5/8 including fortl, Civil settlement of Niedernberg northern p and Watchtowers WP 7/1 to 7/36 including fortl. The line favours views over speed.
34 km through ground somebody thought worth listing. The road passes it rather than bypassing it — speed drops and stays down. Park rather than crawl through.
For about 52 km this is German Fairy Tale Route, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it. Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast.
If you want to know what a Roman frontier fort actually looked like, this is the place. The Saalburg, on the ridge of the Taunus above Bad Homburg, is the only Limes fort in Germany rebuilt in full: walls, gates, towers, granary and the headquarters building, all standing again on their original foundations. The reconstruction was ordered by Kaiser Wilhelm II around 1900, who liked his Romans grand and imperial, and while archaeologists today debate some details, walking through the main gate is still a jolt.
Read the complete Fort site and civil settlement of Saalburg write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Fort site and civil settlement of Saalburg is where the day begins. Next is Limessection between WP 4/37 and 4/39.
The Wetterau is a broad, fertile basin north of Frankfurt, and the Limes crosses it on its way from the Taunus hills towards the Main. Near Butzbach, the frontier runs through farmland and low wooded ridges, with a line of watchtowers, and the stretch between towers 4/37 and 4/39 is a quiet piece of it. The Saalburg, the reconstructed Roman fort in the Taunus, lies a short distance to the south, and it makes the best starting point for understanding what the frontier looked like.
Read the complete Limessection between WP 4/37 and 4/39 write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Limessection between WP 4/37 and 4/39 comes up about 41 km into the recorded legs. Next is Watchtowers WP 4/82 to 5/8 including fortl.
Out here on the eastern rim of the Wetterau, between Altenstadt, Hammersbach and the Büdingen forest, the Roman frontier did something unusual. Having come over the Taunus and swung north around the fertile plain, the Limes turned and ran almost due south towards the Main, enclosing the Wetterau like a hand cupped around something precious. The towers numbered WP 4/82 to 5/8, along with small fortlets, guarded this eastern flank, and their remains lie in fields and woodland edges where only a shallow bank or a marker stone gives them away.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 4/82 to 5/8 including fortl write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 83 km into the recorded legs you reach Watchtowers WP 4/82 to 5/8 including fortl. Next is Civil settlement of Niedernberg northern p.
Niedernberg is a quiet village on the left bank of the Main, a few kilometres downstream from Aschaffenburg, where the river was the Roman frontier. The Upper German-Raetian Limes, after running across the Odenwald, used the Main as its boundary between Großkrotzenburg and Miltenberg, and a fort with a civil settlement stood at Niedernberg, guarding the river line. The northern part of the civil settlement is listed separately as part of the UNESCO site. There is little to see above ground, as the remains lie under fields and houses, but the location by the river makes the Roman logic clear.
Read the complete Civil settlement of Niedernberg northern p write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Civil settlement of Niedernberg northern p, about halfway. Next is Watchtowers WP 7/1 to 7/36 including fortl.
At Miltenberg, the Roman frontier did something unusual: it stopped being a wall and became a river. North of the town, the Main served as the frontier for some fifty kilometres, guarded by forts and watchtowers along its western bank, and here, where the river bends, the land frontier began again, heading south through the Odenwald. The watchtowers WP 7/1 to 7/36 belong to this stretch, and while most are only traces in fields and forests, they are part of the UNESCO Frontiers of the Roman Empire. The Romans built forts at Miltenberg, too, and some of their finds are displayed in the town museum.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 7/1 to 7/36 including fortl write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Watchtowers WP 7/1 to 7/36 including fortl sits at 164 km, about halfway. Next is back through Civil settlement of Niedernberg northern p.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Civil settlement of Niedernberg northern p write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Civil settlement of Niedernberg northern p comes up about 201 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Watchtowers WP 4/82 to 5/8 including fortl.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 4/82 to 5/8 including fortl write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 253 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Watchtowers WP 4/82 to 5/8 including fortl. Next is back through Limessection between WP 4/37 and 4/39.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Limessection between WP 4/37 and 4/39 write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Limessection between WP 4/37 and 4/39, late in the day. Next is Fort site and civil settlement of Saalburg.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Fort site and civil settlement of Saalburg write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
The route ends here after 338 km.
Fort site and civil settlement of Saalburg → Limessection between WP 4/37 and 4/39 is 41 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Limessection between WP 4/37 and 4/39 → Watchtowers WP 4/82 to 5/8 including fortl is 42 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtowers WP 4/82 to 5/8 including fortl → Civil settlement of Niedernberg northern p is 52 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Civil settlement of Niedernberg northern p → Watchtowers WP 7/1 to 7/36 including fortl is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtowers WP 7/1 to 7/36 including fortl → back through Civil settlement of Niedernberg northern p is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Civil settlement of Niedernberg northern p → back through Watchtowers WP 4/82 to 5/8 including fortl is 52 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Watchtowers WP 4/82 to 5/8 including fortl → back through Limessection between WP 4/37 and 4/39 is 43 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Limessection between WP 4/37 and 4/39 → Fort site and civil settlement of Saalburg is 42 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.