Why this ride
A 330 km round trip from Wachtberg - roughly 6 h 46 in the saddle. It goes by way of Watchtowers WP 1/11 to 1/20 including the, Watchtower WP 1/73, Watchtower WP 2/31 and Watchtower WP 3/23*. A steady touring day rather than a sprint.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Kottenforst Süd | Wattendorfer Allee 2 and Watchtower WP 3/23*
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 330 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 6 h 46
- 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
Moselle Wine Route
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For about 46 km this is Moselle Wine Route, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 46 km
- Named road
- Moselle Wine Route
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Kottenforst Süd | Wattendorfer Allee 2
Kottenforst is the name of a forest, but on the ride it is a long, patient place to be. This is the southern end of that great woodland ridge above Bonn, and the Wattendorfer Allee is one of the straight, wide avenues driven through it in the eighteenth century for the Electors of Cologne. The avenues radiate from older hunting points, and they still run dead straight for kilometres, so that from the right spot you can look down a green corridor that ends in a pinprick of light.
Read the complete Kottenforst Süd | Wattendorfer Allee 2 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Kottenforst Süd | Wattendorfer Allee 2 is where the day begins. Next is Watchtowers WP 1/11 to 1/20 including the.
2. Watchtowers WP 1/11 to 1/20 including the
Here is where the Upper German-Raetian Limes, the longest stretch of Roman frontier in Europe, begins. The Romans started the line at the Rhine near Rheinbrohl and ran it up over the hills of the Westerwald, then on through the Taunus and beyond for more than five hundred kilometres to the Danube. The section with watchtowers numbered WP 1/11 to 1/20 follows the first climb away from the river through the forests above Rheinbrohl, Hammerstein and Niederbreitbach. Most of the towers survive only as low mounds of stone in the woods, but the course of the frontier ditch and rampart can often be traced on foot, and there are information boards and a few reconstructions along the way.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 1/11 to 1/20 including the write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Watchtowers WP 1/11 to 1/20 including the comes up about 38 km into the recorded legs. Next is Watchtower WP 1/73.
3. Watchtower WP 1/73
The Roman frontier in Germany starts at the Rhine near Rheinbrohl and climbs into the hills of the Westerwald, and Watchtower WP 1/73, near Hillscheid, belongs to that first stretch. The numbers tell you where you are: section one, tower seventy-three. All that survives is a low mound in the woods, but in the second and third centuries it was a stone tower with a view over the frontier line and, behind it, the palisade and ditch that ran across the landscape. The Upper Germanic-Raetian Limes has been part of the UNESCO Frontiers of the Roman Empire since 2005, and this is where it all begins.
Read the complete Watchtower WP 1/73 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 84 km into the recorded legs you reach Watchtower WP 1/73. Next is Watchtower WP 2/31.
4. Watchtower WP 2/31
Holzhausen an der Haide is a small village on the high ground of the western Taunus, between the Rhine and the Lahn, and it has one of the better-preserved Roman fort sites along the Limes. The stone walls of Kastell Holzhausen still stand to a modest height in the fields just outside the village, outlining the fort's rectangle with its rounded corners and gates. Watchtower WP 2/31 belongs to the chain of towers that linked forts like this one along the frontier, and in this open landscape you can easily imagine the signals passing from hill to hill.
Read the complete Watchtower WP 2/31 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Watchtower WP 2/31, about halfway. Next is Watchtower WP 3/23*.
5. Watchtower WP 3/23*
On the wooded ridges near Idstein, the Taunus Limes crossed some of its highest and most remote ground, and Watchtower WP 3/23 is one of the many sites along this stretch. The asterisk in the official label suggests a site whose exact location is uncertain or reconstructed from survey work, which is common along the frontier, where many towers survive only as faint mounds in the forest. Still, walking the Limes trail here, with the bank and ditch running through the beech woods, gives a real sense of the Roman border.
Read the complete Watchtower WP 3/23* write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Watchtower WP 3/23* sits at 140 km, about halfway. Next is back through Watchtower WP 2/31.
6. back through Watchtower WP 2/31
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Watchtower WP 2/31 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Watchtower WP 2/31 comes up about 213 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Watchtower WP 1/73.
7. back through Watchtower WP 1/73
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Watchtower WP 1/73 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 247 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Watchtower WP 1/73. Next is back through Watchtowers WP 1/11 to 1/20 including the.
8. back through Watchtowers WP 1/11 to 1/20 including the
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 1/11 to 1/20 including the write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Watchtowers WP 1/11 to 1/20 including the, late in the day. Next is Kottenforst Süd | Wattendorfer Allee 2.
9. Kottenforst Süd | Wattendorfer Allee 2
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Kottenforst Süd | Wattendorfer Allee 2 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 330 km.
Leg by leg
Kottenforst Süd | Wattendorfer Allee 2 to Watchtowers WP 1/11 to 1/20 including the
Kottenforst Süd | Wattendorfer Allee 2 → Watchtowers WP 1/11 to 1/20 including the is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtowers WP 1/11 to 1/20 including the to Watchtower WP 1/73
Watchtowers WP 1/11 to 1/20 including the → Watchtower WP 1/73 is 46 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtower WP 1/73 to Watchtower WP 2/31
Watchtower WP 1/73 → Watchtower WP 2/31 is 37 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtower WP 2/31 to Watchtower WP 3/23*
Watchtower WP 2/31 → Watchtower WP 3/23* is 52 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtower WP 3/23* to back through Watchtower WP 2/31
Watchtower WP 3/23* → back through Watchtower WP 2/31 is 40 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Watchtower WP 2/31 to back through Watchtower WP 1/73
back through Watchtower WP 2/31 → back through Watchtower WP 1/73 is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Watchtower WP 1/73 to back through Watchtowers WP 1/11 to 1/20 including the
back through Watchtower WP 1/73 → back through Watchtowers WP 1/11 to 1/20 including the is 43 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Watchtowers WP 1/11 to 1/20 including the to Kottenforst Süd | Wattendorfer Allee 2
back through Watchtowers WP 1/11 to 1/20 including the → Kottenforst Süd | Wattendorfer Allee 2 is 40 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.