Why this ride
From Wachtberg it runs 240 km to Wachtberg; allow about 3 h 39 of riding. The stops in between: Castles of Augustusburg and Falkenlust at, Dormagen, Krefeld-Gellep and back through Dormagen. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Kottenforst Süd | Villiper Bach and Krefeld-Gellep
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 240 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 3 h 39
- 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.
Scenic road chapters
Kottenforst Süd | Villiper Bach → Castles of Augustusburg and Falkenlu
Speed drops and stays down. Park rather than crawl through. 29 km through ground somebody thought worth listing. The road passes it rather than bypassing it.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 41 km
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Kottenforst Süd | Villiper Bach
South of Bonn, between the Rhine and the Eifel foothills, the Kottenforst is a big forest that most people drive around and few really enter. For centuries it was a hunting forest of the Electors of Cologne, who ran straight rides through the trees for their parties, and some of those long avenues survive as forest tracks. Oak and beech dominate, with ponds and damp hollows where the Villiper Bach, a small stream, begins its journey toward the Rhine. In spring the floor is carpeted with wood anemones, and in autumn the leaf litter smells sharp and sweet.
Read the complete Kottenforst Süd | Villiper Bach write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Kottenforst Süd | Villiper Bach is where the day begins. Next is Castles of Augustusburg and Falkenlust at.
2. Castles of Augustusburg and Falkenlust at
Clemens August of Bavaria, prince-elector and archbishop of Cologne in the eighteenth century, loved two things above all: hunting with falcons and building in the latest style. At Brühl, just south of Cologne, he created two of the finest rococo buildings in Germany. Augustusburg Palace, his summer residence, has a staircase designed by Balthasar Neumann that is one of the masterpieces of the period, a whirl of marble, stucco and frescoes, and a formal French garden that stretches toward the forest. Falkenlust, a smaller hunting lodge at the end of a long avenue, was built for falconry, with a delightful interior decorated with tiles and lacquerwork. The two castles were listed by UNESCO in 1984.
Read the complete Castles of Augustusburg and Falkenlust at write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Castles of Augustusburg and Falkenlust at comes up about 41 km into the recorded legs. Next is Dormagen.
3. 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
about 83 km into the recorded legs you reach Dormagen. Next is Krefeld-Gellep.
4. 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
Krefeld-Gellep, about halfway. Next is back through Dormagen.
5. 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 sits at 145 km, about halfway. Next is back through Castles of Augustusburg and Falkenlust at.
6. back through Castles of Augustusburg and Falkenlust at
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Castles of Augustusburg and Falkenlust at write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Castles of Augustusburg and Falkenlust at comes up about 209 km into the recorded legs. Next is Kottenforst Süd | Villiper Bach.
7. Kottenforst Süd | Villiper Bach
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Kottenforst Süd | Villiper Bach write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Kottenforst Süd | Villiper Bach closes the day.
Leg by leg
Kottenforst Süd | Villiper Bach to Castles of Augustusburg and Falkenlust at
Kottenforst Süd | Villiper Bach → Castles of Augustusburg and Falkenlust at is 41 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Castles of Augustusburg and Falkenlust at to Dormagen
Castles of Augustusburg and Falkenlust at → Dormagen is 42 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 back through Dormagen
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 back through Castles of Augustusburg and Falkenlust at
back through Dormagen → back through Castles of Augustusburg and Falkenlust at is 40 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Castles of Augustusburg and Falkenlust at to Kottenforst Süd | Villiper Bach
back through Castles of Augustusburg and Falkenlust at → Kottenforst Süd | Villiper Bach is 32 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.