Why this ride
254 km from Würzburg to Würzburg, about 4 h 50 of riding. It goes by way of Watchtower WP 7/37, Watchtowers WP 8/31 to 8/41, Watchtowers WP 9/14 to 9/32 including the and back through Watchtowers WP 8/31 to 8/41.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Residenz and Watchtowers WP 9/14 to 9/32 including the starting at Würzburg
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 254 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 4 h 50
- 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
Romantic Road
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For about 62 km this is Romantic Road, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 62 km
- Named road
- Romantic Road
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Residenz
The Residenz in Wurzburg is a palace that people go to see for a staircase. Balthasar Neumann, one of the great architects of the baroque, designed it for the prince-bishops of Wurzburg, who ruled this part of Franconia, and it was built between 1720 and 1744. The grand staircase is a single, unsupported vault, and above it, covering the whole ceiling, is a fresco by the Venetian painter Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, painted in 1752 and 1753. It shows the four continents, with Apollo and the gods above, and at roughly 600 square metres it is one of the largest ceiling paintings in the world.
Read the complete Residenz write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Residenz is where the day begins. Next is Watchtower WP 7/37.
2. Watchtower WP 7/37
The Romans liked straight lines, and nowhere more than here. On the edge of Walldürn, in the hilly country between the Odenwald and the Tauber valley, runs the course of the Upper Germanic-Raetian Limes, the frontier wall that marked the edge of the Roman Empire across what is now southern Germany. Watchtower WP 7/37 is one of hundreds of small posts that lined it, each within sight of the next, so that signals could be passed along the frontier. The Limes here famously runs almost dead straight for many kilometres, regardless of hills and valleys, a statement of Roman confidence and surveying skill.
Read the complete Watchtower WP 7/37 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Watchtower WP 7/37 comes up about 62 km into the recorded legs. Next is Watchtowers WP 8/31 to 8/41.
3. Watchtowers WP 8/31 to 8/41
Somewhere between Walldürn and the hills north of Stuttgart, the Roman surveyors drew a line on the map and simply refused to bend it. For about eighty kilometres, the Upper Germanic Limes runs almost perfectly straight across hill and valley, one of the most remarkable feats of ancient surveying in Europe. The watchtowers WP 8/31 to 8/41 near Osterburken and Adelsheim lie on that straight stretch, and like the rest of the frontier they are part of the UNESCO Frontiers of the Roman Empire. Most are now low mounds in fields and woods, but here and there you will find a reconstructed tower or a stretch of wall to give you an idea of what it looked like.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 8/31 to 8/41 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 94 km into the recorded legs you reach Watchtowers WP 8/31 to 8/41. Next is Watchtowers WP 9/14 to 9/32 including the.
4. Watchtowers WP 9/14 to 9/32 including the
For about eighty kilometres through northern Württemberg, the Roman frontier runs in a nearly perfectly straight line, ignoring hills, valleys and rivers as if someone had drawn it with a ruler on a map. Surveyors still argue about how the Romans managed it. The stretch with watchtowers 9/14 to 9/32, near Öhringen in the Hohenlohe region, lies along this remarkable line, and Öhringen itself grew from Roman forts, two of them, which guarded the frontier here. The line is part of the UNESCO Frontiers of the Roman Empire, and the Limes trail follows it through fields and forests.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 9/14 to 9/32 including the write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Watchtowers WP 9/14 to 9/32 including the, about halfway. Next is back through Watchtowers WP 8/31 to 8/41.
5. back through Watchtowers WP 8/31 to 8/41
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 8/31 to 8/41 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 8/31 to 8/41 sits at 155 km, about halfway. Next is back through Watchtower WP 7/37.
6. back through Watchtower WP 7/37
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Watchtower WP 7/37 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Watchtower WP 7/37 comes up about 187 km into the recorded legs. Next is Residenz.
7. Residenz
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Residenz write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Residenz closes the day.
Leg by leg
Residenz to Watchtower WP 7/37
Residenz → Watchtower WP 7/37 is 62 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtower WP 7/37 to Watchtowers WP 8/31 to 8/41
Watchtower WP 7/37 → Watchtowers WP 8/31 to 8/41 is 32 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtowers WP 8/31 to 8/41 to Watchtowers WP 9/14 to 9/32 including the
Watchtowers WP 8/31 to 8/41 → Watchtowers WP 9/14 to 9/32 including the is 32 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtowers WP 9/14 to 9/32 including the to back through Watchtowers WP 8/31 to 8/41
Watchtowers WP 9/14 to 9/32 including the → back through Watchtowers WP 8/31 to 8/41 is 26 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Watchtowers WP 8/31 to 8/41 to back through Watchtower WP 7/37
back through Watchtowers WP 8/31 to 8/41 → back through Watchtower WP 7/37 is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Watchtower WP 7/37 to Residenz
back through Watchtower WP 7/37 → Residenz is 67 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.