Why this ride
A 159 km round trip from Neuss - roughly 3 h 00 in the saddle. On the way it passes Dormagen, Cologne Cathedral, Castles of Augustusburg and Falkenlust at and Kottenforst Nord | Domhecken 5.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Neuss-Koenenlager and Kottenforst Nord | Domhecken 5
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 159 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 3 h 00
- 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
Dormagen → Cologne Cathedral
Speed drops and stays down. Park rather than crawl through. 25 km through ground somebody thought worth listing. The road passes it rather than bypassing it.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 25 km
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Neuss-Koenenlager
On the southern edge of Neuss, in a residential area near the Rhine, lies one of the most important Roman military sites in Germany, though you would hardly know it from the surface. This was Novaesium, a legionary fortress that housed thousands of soldiers for much of the first century, and it is known as the Koenenlager after Constantin Koenen, the local archaeologist who excavated it systematically in the late nineteenth century. His work revealed the layout of an entire legionary camp, with headquarters, barracks, granaries and a hospital, and it became a model for Roman military archaeology. The site is part of the Lower German Limes, listed by UNESCO in 2021.
Read the complete Neuss-Koenenlager write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Neuss-Koenenlager 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 17 km into the recorded legs. Next is Cologne Cathedral.
3. Cologne Cathedral
Six hundred and thirty-two years. That is how long it took to finish Cologne Cathedral, from the laying of the foundation stone in 1248 to the completion of the spires in 1880, and when you stand at its foot by the main station it feels as though the building is still growing. The twin towers climb to around 157 metres, black with soot and weather, and for a few years after completion they made it the tallest building in the world.
Read the complete Cologne Cathedral write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 42 km into the recorded legs you reach Cologne Cathedral. Next is Castles of Augustusburg and Falkenlust at.
4. 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, about halfway. Next is Kottenforst Nord | Domhecken 5.
5. Kottenforst Nord | Domhecken 5
Between Bonn and the Eifel lies the Kottenforst, a broad, flat forest of oak, beech and hornbeam on the plateau of the Ville, once a hunting ground of the Electors of Cologne, who laid out long straight rides through the trees for their stag hunts. Hidden in the woods are the faint outlines of Roman camps, earthworks left by soldiers who trained or camped here when Bonn, then called Bonna, was the base of a Roman legion on the Rhine frontier. The site at Domhecken, in the northern part of the forest, is one of the components of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire, Lower German Limes, listed by UNESCO in 2021. Like many such sites, it is subtle, a low bank and ditch among the trees, but it adds a layer of history to a walk or a ride through the forest.
Read the complete Kottenforst Nord | Domhecken 5 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Kottenforst Nord | Domhecken 5 sits at 78 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 94 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Cologne Cathedral.
7. back through Cologne Cathedral
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Cologne Cathedral write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 112 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Cologne Cathedral. Next is back through Dormagen.
8. 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, late in the day. Next is Neuss-Koenenlager.
9. Neuss-Koenenlager
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Neuss-Koenenlager 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 159 km.
Leg by leg
Neuss-Koenenlager to Dormagen
Neuss-Koenenlager → Dormagen is 17 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Dormagen to Cologne Cathedral
Dormagen → Cologne Cathedral is 25 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Cologne Cathedral to Castles of Augustusburg and Falkenlust at
Cologne Cathedral → Castles of Augustusburg and Falkenlust at is 18 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Castles of Augustusburg and Falkenlust at to Kottenforst Nord | Domhecken 5
Castles of Augustusburg and Falkenlust at → Kottenforst Nord | Domhecken 5 is 17 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Kottenforst Nord | Domhecken 5 to back through Castles of Augustusburg and Falkenlust at
Kottenforst Nord | Domhecken 5 → back through Castles of Augustusburg and Falkenlust at is 17 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Castles of Augustusburg and Falkenlust at to back through Cologne Cathedral
back through Castles of Augustusburg and Falkenlust at → back through Cologne Cathedral is 18 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Cologne Cathedral to back through Dormagen
back through Cologne Cathedral → back through Dormagen is 25 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Dormagen to Neuss-Koenenlager
back through Dormagen → Neuss-Koenenlager is 17 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.