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.
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Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
306 km from Düsseldorf to Düsseldorf, about 4 h 59 of riding. It goes by way of Duisburg-Werthausen, Xanten-Fürstenberg, Kleve-Reichswald | East and Arnhem-Meinerswijk. It crosses from Germany into Netherlands - carry ID and check the toll rules. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
Scenic road chapters
Neuss-Reckberg | Wachtturm → Duisburg-Werthausen
Speed drops and stays down. Park rather than crawl through. 37 km through ground somebody thought worth listing. The road passes it rather than bypassing it.
Chapter facts
Length
40 km
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Neuss-Reckberg | Wachtturm
Neuss has been a garrison town for two thousand years, and it still carries the Roman name in a shortened form: Novaesium, the legionary fortress that stood on the Rhine near the mouth of the Erft, was one of the oldest Roman military sites in Germany, founded in the days of Augustus. The Rhine was the frontier here, the Lower Germanic Limes, with no wall but a river, fortresses and watchtowers like the one at Reckberg, and the whole line was added to the UNESCO list in 2021.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Neuss-Reckberg | Wachtturm is where the day begins. Next is Duisburg-Werthausen.
2. Duisburg-Werthausen
Werthausen sits on the left bank of the Rhine in Duisburg, across the river from the steelworks, harbour cranes and bridges of one of Europe's great industrial cities. It is an unexpected place to look for Rome, but the Lower Rhine was the frontier of the Roman Empire for centuries, and the line of forts, fortlets and watch posts along it is now inscribed on the UNESCO list as the Frontiers of the Roman Empire, the Lower German Limes. The site at Werthausen is one of these components, part of the chain of military posts that watched the river between the legionary bases at Neuss and Xanten.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Duisburg-Werthausen comes up about 40 km into the recorded legs. Next is Xanten-Fürstenberg.
3. Xanten-Fürstenberg
The Fürstenberg is a low hill on the edge of the Lower Rhine plain, just south of Xanten, and two thousand years ago it was one of the most important military bases in the Roman Empire. Here the Romans built Vetera, a legionary fortress that housed up to two legions and served as a springboard for campaigns into Germania under Augustus. In AD 69 and 70, during the Batavian revolt, Vetera was besieged, starved into surrender and destroyed, and a new fortress was built nearby. The site on the Fürstenberg is part of the Lower German Limes, the Roman frontier along the Rhine from the Alps to the North Sea, which was added to the World Heritage list in 2021. On the ground there is little to see, mostly fields and woods, but the elevated position, with views over the river plain, explains why the Romans chose it.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 81 km into the recorded legs you reach Xanten-Fürstenberg. Next is Kleve-Reichswald | East.
4. Kleve-Reichswald | East
South of Kleve, near the Dutch border, the Reichswald is one of the largest forests in the Lower Rhine region, a mix of oak, beech and pine on a low ridge of sand and gravel left behind by the glaciers of the Ice Age. On its edge, the Romans built military installations as part of the Lower German Limes, the frontier along the Rhine, and the remains in the Reichswald, including traces of camps, are part of the World Heritage site listed by UNESCO in 2021. There is little to see above ground, but the forest itself is a quiet, beautiful place to walk.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Kleve-Reichswald | East, about halfway. Next is Arnhem-Meinerswijk.
5. Arnhem-Meinerswijk
The Rhine has always been a frontier here. In Roman times, the Lower Rhine marked the northern edge of the empire, and the Romans built a chain of forts, watchtowers and roads along its banks to guard it. At Meinerswijk, on the southern bank of the river opposite Arnhem, the remains of one of those forts lie buried in the floodplain. It is part of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire, Lower German Limes, listed by UNESCO in 2021. There is little to see on the surface, but the floodplain itself, a wide expanse of meadows, ponds and willows, is a pleasant place to walk, and markers explain the history.