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CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE

Porta Nigra and La place forte de Longwy

Plan this ride

Recorded distance
176 km
Riding-time estimate
2 h 31
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.

Open this ride in CurveScout

Why this ride

From Trier it runs 176 km to Trier; allow about 2 h 31 of riding. On the way it passes City of Luxembourg: its Old Quarters and F, La place forte de Longwy and back through City of Luxembourg: its Old Quarters and F. It crosses Germany, Luxembourg and France - carry ID and check vignette or toll rules.

Scenic road chapters

Luxembourg Mullerthal Route

For about 49 km this is Luxembourg Mullerthal Route, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it — expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast.

Chapter facts
Length
49 km
Named road
Luxembourg Mullerthal Route

Luxembourg Mullerthal Route

The ride follows Luxembourg Mullerthal Route for 39 km.

Chapter facts
Length
39 km
Named road
Luxembourg Mullerthal Route

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

  1. 1. Porta Nigra

    The Porta Nigra is the largest Roman city gate north of the Alps, and it has been standing, in one form or another, for roughly eighteen centuries. Built in the second century from huge blocks of sandstone cut so precisely that they were held together with iron clamps instead of mortar, it once formed the northern entrance to Augusta Treverorum, the Roman city on the Moselle. The stone has weathered to a dark grey, almost black, which gave rise to the medieval name, the black gate, though the Romans themselves would have seen a pale, honey-coloured building.

    Read the complete Porta Nigra write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    Porta Nigra is where the day begins. Next is City of Luxembourg: its Old Quarters and F.

  2. 2. City of Luxembourg: its Old Quarters and F

    Luxembourg City is built on a rocky plateau above the deep, green valleys of the Alzette and Pétrusse rivers, and for centuries it was one of the most powerful fortresses in Europe, nicknamed the Gibraltar of the North. Spanish, French, Austrian and Prussian armies all held it, and each added to its walls, bastions and tunnels. In 1867, after an international treaty, most of the fortifications were dismantled, but enough remains to make the old quarters and fortifications a UNESCO World Heritage site, inscribed in 1994.

    Read the complete City of Luxembourg: its Old Quarters and F write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    City of Luxembourg: its Old Quarters and F comes up about 49 km into the recorded legs. Next is La place forte de Longwy.

  3. 3. La place forte de Longwy

    In 1678, after Louis XIV won Longwy from the Spanish Netherlands in the Treaty of Nijmegen, he sent his great military engineer Vauban to make sure nobody took it back. Vauban did not just fortify the old town; he built a new one, Longwy-Haut, on the plateau, designing a star-shaped stronghold with bastions, ditches and a geometric grid of streets around a central square with a well and church. It is one of the twelve sites grouped as the Fortifications of Vauban on the World Heritage list, and walking the ramparts you can still read the logic of seventeenth-century siege warfare in the earth and stone.

    Read the complete La place forte de Longwy write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    about 88 km into the recorded legs you reach La place forte de Longwy. Next is back through City of Luxembourg: its Old Quarters and F.

  4. 4. back through City of Luxembourg: its Old Quarters and F

    Return visit. Read the place description above.

    Read the complete City of Luxembourg: its Old Quarters and F write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    back through City of Luxembourg: its Old Quarters and F, late in the day. Next is Porta Nigra.

  5. 5. Porta Nigra

    Return visit. Read the place description above.

    Read the complete Porta Nigra write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    Back at Porta Nigra. That is the ride.

Leg by leg

Porta Nigra to City of Luxembourg: its Old Quarters and F

Porta Nigra → City of Luxembourg: its Old Quarters and F is 49 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

City of Luxembourg: its Old Quarters and F to La place forte de Longwy

City of Luxembourg: its Old Quarters and F → La place forte de Longwy is 39 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

La place forte de Longwy to back through City of Luxembourg: its Old Quarters and F

La place forte de Longwy → back through City of Luxembourg: its Old Quarters and F is 39 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

back through City of Luxembourg: its Old Quarters and F to Porta Nigra

back through City of Luxembourg: its Old Quarters and F → Porta Nigra is 48 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

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