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 Bad Hönningen it runs 299 km to Bad Hönningen; allow about 5 h 07 of riding. The stops in between: Watchtower WP 1/64, Watchtowers WP WP 2/23 to 2/26 including f, Watchtowers WP 3/20 to 3/22 and Fortlet Lochmühle. The line favours views over speed.
Scenic road chapters
Moselle Wine Route
For about 33 km this is Moselle Wine 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.
Chapter facts
Length
33 km
Named road
Moselle Wine Route
Watchtowers WP 3/20 to 3/22 → Fortlet Lochmühle
38 km on Watchtowers WP 3/20 to 3/22 → Fortlet Lochmühle.
Chapter facts
Length
38 km
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Fortlet Rheinbohl
Rheinbrohl is where Germany's longest Roman frontier begins. The Upper Germanic Limes, a line of watchtowers, palisades and forts, starts at the Rhine here and runs east and south for some five hundred kilometres across Germany. At the Rheinbohl fortlet you can see the lines of a small Roman post, a few dozen soldiers who watched the river approach and the crossing over to the left bank. It is a modest place in terms of stonework, but the idea is wonderfully clear: an empire decided that this is where it ended, and put a post on the end of it.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Fortlet Rheinbohl is where the day begins. Next is Watchtower WP 1/64.
2. Watchtower WP 1/64
Höhr-Grenzhausen smells of clay and fire. The town, in the Westerwald hills north east of Koblenz, is the heart of the Kannenbäckerland, the jug-bakers' land, where potters have been making salt-glazed stoneware for centuries, with its characteristic grey body and cobalt blue decoration. Westerwald stoneware jugs, mugs and pots were exported across Europe and beyond, and the craft is still alive today, with workshops, a ceramics museum and a college for ceramic design. The Roman frontier ran right past the town, and the site of watchtower WP 1/64, near Höhr-Grenzhausen, is one of the many traces of the Upper German Limes, part of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire World Heritage Site.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Watchtower WP 1/64 comes up about 33 km into the recorded legs. Next is Watchtowers WP WP 2/23 to 2/26 including f.
3. Watchtowers WP WP 2/23 to 2/26 including f
North of the Taunus ridge, the Limes crossed a high, open plateau between the Rhine and the Lahn, and the stretch with watchtowers 2/23 to 2/26 runs through the farmland and woods near Miehlen and Singhofen in the Rhein-Lahn district. The remains here are subtle, mostly low banks and the traces of towers in fields and forest edges, but the line of the frontier is marked by the long-distance Limes trail and information boards. This is part of the UNESCO Frontiers of the Roman Empire, a stretch of the line that few visitors ever see.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 76 km into the recorded legs you reach Watchtowers WP WP 2/23 to 2/26 including f. Next is Watchtowers WP 3/20 to 3/22.
4. Watchtowers WP 3/20 to 3/22
The Taunus is the low, wooded range north of Frankfurt, and the Romans chose it as the place to draw their line. The Limes crossed the ridge at a height that gave good views over both sides, and watchtowers placed close together made it possible to send signals by fire and smoke from tower to tower. The numbers, such as WP 3/20, are from the survey carried out by German archaeologists at the end of the nineteenth century, and they refer to the third section of the line. The Upper Germanic-Raetian Limes was listed by UNESCO in 2005.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Watchtowers WP 3/20 to 3/22, about halfway. Next is Fortlet Lochmühle.
5. Fortlet Lochmühle
The Lochmühle is a small fortlet on the Limes in the Taunus, near Wehrheim and the famous Saalburg, and it guarded a spot where the frontier crossed the valley of the Erlenbach stream. Fortlets like this were small outposts, housing a handful of soldiers who watched the border and controlled traffic, and they formed a link between the watchtowers and the larger forts. Its remains are modest, but the location, in a quiet valley surrounded by forest, has a peaceful charm. The name comes from a nearby mill, now a popular leisure park for families with play areas and farm animals.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Watchtowers WP 3/20 to 3/22 comes up about 189 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Watchtowers WP WP 2/23 to 2/26 including f.
7. back through Watchtowers WP WP 2/23 to 2/26 including f
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 299 km.
Leg by leg
Fortlet Rheinbohl to Watchtower WP 1/64
Fortlet Rheinbohl → Watchtower WP 1/64 is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtower WP 1/64 to Watchtowers WP WP 2/23 to 2/26 including f
Watchtower WP 1/64 → Watchtowers WP WP 2/23 to 2/26 including f is 43 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtowers WP WP 2/23 to 2/26 including f to Watchtowers WP 3/20 to 3/22
Watchtowers WP WP 2/23 to 2/26 including f → Watchtowers WP 3/20 to 3/22 is 37 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtowers WP 3/20 to 3/22 to Fortlet Lochmühle
Watchtowers WP 3/20 to 3/22 → Fortlet Lochmühle is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Fortlet Lochmühle to back through Watchtowers WP 3/20 to 3/22
Fortlet Lochmühle → back through Watchtowers WP 3/20 to 3/22 is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Watchtowers WP 3/20 to 3/22 to back through Watchtowers WP WP 2/23 to 2/26 including f
back through Watchtowers WP 3/20 to 3/22 → back through Watchtowers WP WP 2/23 to 2/26 including f is 37 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Watchtowers WP WP 2/23 to 2/26 including f to back through Watchtower WP 1/64
back through Watchtowers WP WP 2/23 to 2/26 including f → back through Watchtower WP 1/64 is 40 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Watchtower WP 1/64 to Fortlet Rheinbohl
back through Watchtower WP 1/64 → Fortlet Rheinbohl is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.