Why this ride
A 217 km round trip from Deutz - roughly 3 h 04 in the saddle. On the way it passes Dormagen, Krefeld-Gellep, Alpen-Drüpt and back through Krefeld-Gellep. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Köln-Deutz and Alpen-Drüpt
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 217 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 3 h 04
- 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.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Köln-Deutz
Opposite the great cathedral of Cologne, on the right bank of the Rhine, stands Deutz, which began as a Roman fort named Divitia. Around the year 310 the emperor Constantine had a fortress built here, connected to Colonia Agrippinensis on the opposite bank by a stone bridge, one of the first permanent bridges across the Rhine. The fort was about a hundred and fifty metres square, with massive walls and towers, and it gave the Romans a bridgehead on the edge of the Germanic lands. Sections of the walls have been excavated and can be seen in the area, and the fort belongs to the Lower Germanic Limes.
Read the complete Köln-Deutz write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Köln-Deutz is where the day begins. Next is Dormagen.
2. Dormagen
Dormagen is not the sort of place that ends up on postcards, and it does not try to be. It is a working town of some sixty thousand on the left bank of the Rhine between Cologne and Düsseldorf, dominated on its northern side by a huge chemical park whose pipes and stacks glow at night. Yet the name itself comes from Roman times: Durnomagus was a fort on the Lower German Limes, the Rhine frontier that UNESCO listed in 2021, and a cavalry unit was stationed here to patrol the river and the road along it.
Read the complete Dormagen write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Dormagen comes up about 27 km into the recorded legs. Next is Krefeld-Gellep.
3. Krefeld-Gellep
Most people pass Krefeld-Gellep without a second thought, because the view is dominated by the harbour of Uerdingen, chemical works and Rhine barges. Yet this is one of the most important Roman and early medieval sites on the Lower Rhine. The Roman fort here was called Gelduba, and it belongs to the Lower German Limes, the frontier along the river that UNESCO recognised in 2021. Tacitus mentions Gelduba in his account of the Batavian revolt of 69 and 70 AD, when legions and rebels fought around the camp, and archaeologists have found traces of that violence in the ground.
Read the complete Krefeld-Gellep write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 69 km into the recorded legs you reach Krefeld-Gellep. Next is Alpen-Drüpt.
4. Alpen-Drüpt
On the flat farmland of the Lower Rhine, between Alpen and Rheinberg, there is little to catch the eye: fields of maize and potatoes, poplars along ditches, brick farmhouses and the occasional windmill. Yet this was once the edge of the Roman world. The Rhine formed the frontier of the empire, and along its banks the Romans built legionary fortresses, forts, watchtowers and temporary camps. Alpen-Drüpt is one of the sites included in the Frontiers of the Roman Empire, Lower German Limes, inscribed by UNESCO in 2021; like many on the list, it survives mainly below ground, known from aerial photographs and excavations rather than standing ruins.
Read the complete Alpen-Drüpt write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Alpen-Drüpt, about halfway. Next is back through Krefeld-Gellep.
5. back through Krefeld-Gellep
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Krefeld-Gellep write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Krefeld-Gellep sits at 141 km, about halfway. Next is back through Dormagen.
6. back through Dormagen
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Dormagen write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Dormagen comes up about 192 km into the recorded legs. Next is Köln-Deutz.
7. Köln-Deutz
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Köln-Deutz write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Köln-Deutz closes the day.
Leg by leg
Köln-Deutz to Dormagen
Köln-Deutz → Dormagen is 27 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Dormagen to Krefeld-Gellep
Dormagen → Krefeld-Gellep is 42 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Krefeld-Gellep to Alpen-Drüpt
Krefeld-Gellep → Alpen-Drüpt is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Alpen-Drüpt to back through Krefeld-Gellep
Alpen-Drüpt → back through Krefeld-Gellep is 41 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Krefeld-Gellep to back through Dormagen
back through Krefeld-Gellep → back through Dormagen is 44 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Dormagen to Köln-Deutz
back through Dormagen → Köln-Deutz is 25 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.