Köln-Alteburg and Kottenforst Süd | Riesenweg

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 Kottenforst Süd | Riesenweg.

3. 3. Kottenforst Süd | Riesenweg

   South of Bonn the land rises into the Kottenforst, a big forest on a low plateau that the archbishops of Cologne once kept as a hunting ground. They cut long straight rides through it, many meeting at star-shaped junctions so that a hunting party could see the quarry and follow it, and the pattern survives. The woods are mostly beech and oak, with a few conifer plantations and damp hollows, and they cover a large part of the area between Bonn, Meckenheim and Wachtberg. The Riesenweg, the Giants' Way, is one of the paths that cross it, a name that suggests something older and bigger than the track you walk on.

   Read the complete Kottenforst Süd | Riesenweg write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   about 59 km into the recorded legs you reach Kottenforst Süd | Riesenweg. Next is back through Kottenforst Nord | Am Weißen Stein 1.

4. 4. 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, late in the day. Next is Köln-Alteburg.

5. 5. 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

   Back at Köln-Alteburg. That is the ride.