Why this ride
175 km from Nassau to Nassau, about 3 h 13 of riding. The stops in between: Watchtowers WP 1/67 to 1/66, Watchtowers WP 1/23 to 1/24, Remagen and back through Watchtowers WP 1/23 to 1/24. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Limessection between watchtowers WP 2/13 a and Remagen
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 175 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 3 h 13
- 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 33 km this is Moselle Wine Route, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 33 km
- Named road
- Moselle Wine Route
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Limessection between watchtowers WP 2/13 a
Up on the plateau of the Hintertaunus, north of the Rhine gorge, the Roman frontier crossed a quiet landscape of fields and forest near Singhofen, and a section of it between two watchtowers survives here as a faint bank and ditch running through the woods. This is the Upper German Limes, which ran for more than five hundred kilometres from the Rhine to the Danube, marking the boundary between the Roman Empire and the free Germanic tribes from the second century until the Romans withdrew in the third. It was not a great wall like Hadrian's in Britain, but a line of watchtowers, forts and a timber palisade, later strengthened with a ditch and bank. Together with the Raetian Limes, it was listed by UNESCO in 2005.
Read the complete Limessection between watchtowers WP 2/13 a write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Limessection between watchtowers WP 2/13 a is where the day begins. Next is Watchtowers WP 1/67 to 1/66.
2. Watchtowers WP 1/67 to 1/66
The Westerwald is a low, rain-washed plateau of beech, meadow and clay pits, and the Roman Limes cut straight across it. This stretch, marked by the surveyors' numbers for two watchtowers, lies close to Höhr-Grenzhausen, where the Limes was a palisade and ditch with timber towers every few hundred metres, replaced later by stone. You will not find tall walls. What you find is a gentle bank in the woods, a mound where a tower stood, and a signpost telling you that soldiers once watched the horizon from this exact spot.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 1/67 to 1/66 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Watchtowers WP 1/67 to 1/66 comes up about 33 km into the recorded legs. Next is Watchtowers WP 1/23 to 1/24.
3. Watchtowers WP 1/23 to 1/24
The Upper German-Raetian Limes began at the Rhine, at Rheinbrohl, and climbed into the hills on the east bank, and towers WP 1/23 and 1/24, near the wine village of Leutesdorf, are among the first along its route. They are now marked by foundations or mounds in the forest above the river, and they are part of the World Heritage listing. From here the frontier ran for more than five hundred kilometres to the Danube, and it is fascinating to stand at the very beginning of such an enormous undertaking.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 1/23 to 1/24 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 Watchtowers WP 1/23 to 1/24. Next is Remagen.
4. Remagen
On 7 March 1945, soldiers of the US 9th Armored Division reached Remagen and found the Ludendorff railway bridge across the Rhine still standing, despite German attempts to blow it. They rushed across, and for the first time the Allies had a foothold on the far bank of the great river. Ten days later the damaged bridge collapsed, but by then pontoons had been built and the war in the west had entered its last chapter. What remains today are the black stone towers on both banks, and those on the Remagen side house a small peace museum telling the story with honesty and without glorification.
Read the complete Remagen write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Remagen, about halfway. Next is back through Watchtowers WP 1/23 to 1/24.
5. back through Watchtowers WP 1/23 to 1/24
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 1/23 to 1/24 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 1/23 to 1/24 sits at 101 km, about halfway. Next is back through Watchtowers WP 1/67 to 1/66.
6. back through Watchtowers WP 1/67 to 1/66
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 1/67 to 1/66 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 1/67 to 1/66 comes up about 140 km into the recorded legs. Next is Limessection between watchtowers WP 2/13 a.
7. Limessection between watchtowers WP 2/13 a
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Limessection between watchtowers WP 2/13 a write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Limessection between watchtowers WP 2/13 a closes the day.
Leg by leg
Limessection between watchtowers WP 2/13 a to Watchtowers WP 1/67 to 1/66
Limessection between watchtowers WP 2/13 a → Watchtowers WP 1/67 to 1/66 is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtowers WP 1/67 to 1/66 to Watchtowers WP 1/23 to 1/24
Watchtowers WP 1/67 to 1/66 → Watchtowers WP 1/23 to 1/24 is 26 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtowers WP 1/23 to 1/24 to Remagen
Watchtowers WP 1/23 to 1/24 → Remagen is 27 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Remagen to back through Watchtowers WP 1/23 to 1/24
Remagen → back through Watchtowers WP 1/23 to 1/24 is 27 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Watchtowers WP 1/23 to 1/24 to back through Watchtowers WP 1/67 to 1/66
back through Watchtowers WP 1/23 to 1/24 → back through Watchtowers WP 1/67 to 1/66 is 27 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Watchtowers WP 1/67 to 1/66 to Limessection between watchtowers WP 2/13 a
back through Watchtowers WP 1/67 to 1/66 → Limessection between watchtowers WP 2/13 a is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.