Köln-Alteburg and Kottenforst Nord | Domhecken 5

Scenic road chapters

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Köln-Alteburg

   The Roman navy is not the first thing most people associate with Cologne, but for almost two centuries the Rhine fleet, the Classis Germanica, had its main base here at Alteburg, just south of the Roman city. The fort sat on a terrace above the river in what is now the leafy district of Marienburg, near Bayenthal, and from here warships patrolled the Rhine, carried supplies and soldiers, and kept watch on the frontier. The site belongs to the Lower Germanic Limes, listed by UNESCO in 2021, though today it lies mostly under villas, streets and gardens, with only traces and information boards to show where it stood.

   Read the complete Köln-Alteburg write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Köln-Alteburg is where the day begins. Next is Kottenforst Nord | Am Weißen Stein 1.

2. 2. 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 comes up about 23 km into the recorded legs. Next is Iversheim.

3. 3. Iversheim

   Iversheim is a village in the valley of the Erft, at the northern edge of the Eifel, just downstream from the old spa town of Bad Münstereifel. It is known for one thing: a Roman lime-burning works, one of the best preserved in Europe. The Romans built a series of kilns here to burn limestone from the surrounding hills into quicklime, which was used to make mortar for the forts, towns and roads of the province of Lower Germany. The kilns were worked by detachments of soldiers from the Rhine legions, as inscriptions found on the site show.

   Read the complete Iversheim write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 50 km into the recorded legs you reach Iversheim. Next is Kottenforst Nord | Domhecken 5.

4. 4. 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, about halfway. Next is back through Iversheim.

5. 5. back through Iversheim

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Iversheim write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through Iversheim sits at 108 km, about halfway. Next is back through Kottenforst Nord | Am Weißen Stein 1.

6. 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 127 km into the recorded legs. Next is Köln-Alteburg.

7. 7. Köln-Alteburg

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Köln-Alteburg write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Köln-Alteburg closes the day.