Why this ride
A 218 km round trip from Wachtberg - roughly 3 h 30 in the saddle. The stops in between: Iversheim, Köln-Alteburg, Dormagen and back through Köln-Alteburg. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Kottenforst Süd | Villiprot and Dormagen
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 218 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 3 h 30
- 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
Iversheim → Köln-Alteburg
Speed drops and stays down. Park rather than crawl through. 51 km through ground somebody thought worth listing. The road passes it rather than bypassing it.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 49 km
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Kottenforst Süd | Villiprot
South of Bonn the Kottenforst climbs onto the same ridge that carries the villages of Wachtberg and the town of Meckenheim, and the woods here feel older and quieter than the suburbs around them. Beech and oak stand over a floor of leaf mould, with springs and small streams that gather in damp hollows, and the old hunting rides still run ruler-straight through the trees. The name Villiprot is one of those forest place names that sounds Roman, and the forest does carry Roman traces: the Eifel aqueduct, which brought spring water to Cologne over about ninety-five kilometres, crossed this country, and parts of its line can be followed on walking trails.
Read the complete Kottenforst Süd | Villiprot write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Kottenforst Süd | Villiprot is where the day begins. Next is Iversheim.
2. 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
Iversheim comes up about 29 km into the recorded legs. Next is Köln-Alteburg.
3. 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
about 78 km into the recorded legs you reach Köln-Alteburg. Next is Dormagen.
4. 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, about halfway. Next is back through Köln-Alteburg.
5. back through 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 through Köln-Alteburg sits at 149 km, about halfway. Next is back through Iversheim.
6. 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 comes up about 188 km into the recorded legs. Next is Kottenforst Süd | Villiprot.
7. Kottenforst Süd | Villiprot
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Kottenforst Süd | Villiprot write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Kottenforst Süd | Villiprot closes the day.
Leg by leg
Kottenforst Süd | Villiprot to Iversheim
Kottenforst Süd | Villiprot → Iversheim is 29 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Iversheim to Köln-Alteburg
Iversheim → Köln-Alteburg is 49 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Köln-Alteburg to Dormagen
Köln-Alteburg → Dormagen is 29 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Dormagen to back through Köln-Alteburg
Dormagen → back through Köln-Alteburg is 27 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Köln-Alteburg to back through Iversheim
back through Köln-Alteburg → back through Iversheim is 54 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Iversheim to Kottenforst Süd | Villiprot
back through Iversheim → Kottenforst Süd | Villiprot is 29 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.