CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
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: planning record, not independently verified geometry.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distances and riding times are planning figures. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
343 km from Acre to Acre, about 5 h 55 of riding. On the way it passes Qalaat Chama’, Qalaat Chakra, Anjar and back through Qalaat Chakra. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,500 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. It crosses from Israel into Lebanon - carry ID and check the toll rules. The line favours views over speed.
Acre has been a port for roughly four thousand years, but the city you walk through today is a layered one. Beneath the Ottoman streets lies the headquarters of the Crusader kingdom's last years, when Acre was the capital and a thriving trading harbour, with the Knights Hospitaller building a vast complex of vaulted halls that were buried and forgotten for centuries. In 1291 the Mamluks took the city, and with that the Crusader presence on the mainland ended. The tunnels and halls have been dug out and restored, and walking through the knights' halls is eerie and cool even in August.
Read the complete Old City of Acre write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Old City of Acre is where the day begins. Next is Qalaat Chama’.
Before anything else: this is one of the most sensitive places on any of these routes. Qalaat Chama, or Shamaa castle, stands on a hilltop in southern Lebanon, a few kilometres north of the border with Israel and inland from Naqoura, in an area that has seen repeated conflict, including heavy fighting in recent years, and that many governments advise against visiting under any circumstances. Damage to historic sites in the area has been reported, and conditions may have changed. Do not go without checking current official travel advice, and if in doubt, do not go at all.
Read the complete Qalaat Chama’ write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Qalaat Chama’ comes up about 38 km into the recorded legs. Next is Qalaat Chakra.
Before anything else, the honest part: this place lies in southern Lebanon, a few kilometres from the border with Israel, in an area that has seen repeated war, most recently in 2024, and that remains militarised and unpredictable. The listed neighbours on the route sheet, from Kiryat Shmona to Tyre, sit on opposite sides of a frontier that is closed to ordinary travel. Check your government's travel advice and local conditions very carefully before even thinking about a visit, and do not try to approach from the Israeli side.
Read the complete Qalaat Chakra write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 73 km into the recorded legs you reach Qalaat Chakra. Next is Anjar.
In the Bekaa valley of Lebanon, close to the Syrian border, an Umayyad city lies laid out in a perfect grid, as if drawn with a ruler. Anjar was built in the early eighth century, probably under the caliph al-Walid I, as a palace town and commercial centre on the trade routes between Damascus and the coast. Its plan echoes Roman cities, with two main streets crossing at a four-sided monument, the tetrapylon, lined with the bases of hundreds of shops. Arches of the great palace, built of alternating courses of stone and brick, rise against the backdrop of the Anti-Lebanon mountains, and in the late afternoon the stone glows warm gold. The city flourished only briefly before being abandoned, which is why it is so clearly preserved. UNESCO listed it in 1984.
Read the complete Anjar write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Anjar, about halfway. Next is back through Qalaat Chakra.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Qalaat Chakra write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Qalaat Chakra sits at 229 km, about halfway. Next is back through Qalaat Chama’.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Qalaat Chama’ write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Qalaat Chama’ comes up about 304 km into the recorded legs. Next is Old City of Acre.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Old City of Acre write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Old City of Acre closes the day.
Old City of Acre → Qalaat Chama’ is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Qalaat Chama’ → Qalaat Chakra is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Qalaat Chakra → Anjar is 98 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Anjar → back through Qalaat Chakra is 98 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Qalaat Chakra → back through Qalaat Chama’ is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Qalaat Chama’ → Old City of Acre is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.