Why this ride
264 km from Würzburg to Würzburg, about 4 h 10 of riding. On the way it passes Watchtower WP 7/37, Watchtowers WP 8/11 to 8/28 including fort, Fortlet Lehnenwiesen and Watchtowers WP 9/14 to 9/32 including the.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Residenz and Watchtowers WP 9/14 to 9/32 including the
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 264 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 4 h 10
- 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 8/11 to 8/28 including fort.
3. Watchtowers WP 8/11 to 8/28 including fort
The Romans did not much care for the shape of the land when they drew this frontier. Around Osterburken the Upper Germanic Limes stops following valleys and ridges and simply runs in long, stubborn straight lines across the Bauland, the rolling limestone country between the Odenwald and the Jagst. The watchtower sites numbered in this stretch were once timber, then stone, posts spaced so that each could see its neighbours, strung along a palisade and ditch that marked where the province ended and the unconquered north began.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 8/11 to 8/28 including fort write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 83 km into the recorded legs you reach Watchtowers WP 8/11 to 8/28 including fort. Next is Fortlet Lehnenwiesen.
4. Fortlet Lehnenwiesen
Götz von Berlichingen, the knight with the iron hand, was born in Jagsthausen around 1480, and he is remembered for a rude phrase he supposedly shouted at an enemy, made famous by Goethe in his play about the knight. Jagsthausen's castle, where Götz grew up, hosts an open-air theatre festival every summer, and the iron hand, a prosthesis he wore after losing his right hand in battle, is displayed there. A few kilometres away, in the fields near Widdern, the fortlet of Lehnenwiesen was a small Roman post on the Upper Germanic Limes, part of the chain of forts and watchtowers that ran through this landscape.
Read the complete Fortlet Lehnenwiesen write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Fortlet Lehnenwiesen, about halfway. Next is Watchtowers WP 9/14 to 9/32 including the.
5. 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 sits at 117 km, about halfway. Next is back through Fortlet Lehnenwiesen.
6. back through Fortlet Lehnenwiesen
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Fortlet Lehnenwiesen write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Fortlet Lehnenwiesen comes up about 153 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Watchtowers WP 8/11 to 8/28 including fort.
7. back through Watchtowers WP 8/11 to 8/28 including fort
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 8/11 to 8/28 including fort write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 174 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Watchtowers WP 8/11 to 8/28 including fort. Next is back through Watchtower WP 7/37.
8. 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, late in the day. Next is Residenz.
9. 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
The route ends here after 264 km.
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 8/11 to 8/28 including fort
Watchtower WP 7/37 → Watchtowers WP 8/11 to 8/28 including fort is 21 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtowers WP 8/11 to 8/28 including fort to Fortlet Lehnenwiesen
Watchtowers WP 8/11 to 8/28 including fort → Fortlet Lehnenwiesen is 26 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Fortlet Lehnenwiesen to Watchtowers WP 9/14 to 9/32 including the
Fortlet Lehnenwiesen → Watchtowers WP 9/14 to 9/32 including the is 24 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 Fortlet Lehnenwiesen
Watchtowers WP 9/14 to 9/32 including the → back through Fortlet Lehnenwiesen is 20 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Fortlet Lehnenwiesen to back through Watchtowers WP 8/11 to 8/28 including fort
back through Fortlet Lehnenwiesen → back through Watchtowers WP 8/11 to 8/28 including fort is 21 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Watchtowers WP 8/11 to 8/28 including fort to back through Watchtower WP 7/37
back through Watchtowers WP 8/11 to 8/28 including fort → back through Watchtower WP 7/37 is 23 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.