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CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE

Upper Middle Rhine Valley and Iversheim

Plan this ride

Recorded distance
316 km
Riding-time estimate
6 h 48
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.

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Why this ride

316 km from Sankt Goarshausen to Sankt Goarshausen, about 6 h 48 of riding. It goes by way of Watchtower WP 1/77, Watchtowers WP 1/11 to 1/20 including the, Kottenforst Süd | Heiderhof and Iversheim. Rivers set the line for much of the day.

Scenic road chapters

Moselle Wine Route

Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For about 37 km this is Moselle Wine Route, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.

Chapter facts
Length
37 km
Named road
Moselle Wine Route

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

  1. 1. Upper Middle Rhine Valley

    Between Bingen and Koblenz, the Rhine cuts a deep, winding gorge through the slate hills of the Rhenish Massif, and for centuries this has been one of the great landscapes of Europe: steep slopes covered with vineyards, castles on every crag, villages of half-timbered houses along the river, and barges gliding past. The Upper Middle Rhine Valley was listed by UNESCO in 2002, and Sankt Goarshausen sits at its heart, at the foot of the most famous rock on the river.

    Read the complete Upper Middle Rhine Valley write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    Upper Middle Rhine Valley is where the day begins. Next is Watchtower WP 1/77.

  2. 2. Watchtower WP 1/77

    In the hills of the Westerwald, east of Koblenz, the Roman frontier ran from the Rhine up across the high ground towards the Taunus, and archaeologists have numbered every tower site along it. Watchtower WP 1/77, near the villages of Kadenbach and Arzbach, is one of them, now marked by a low mound or reconstructed foundations in the woods. The frontier here was a palisade of timber and later an earth bank and ditch, with towers every few hundred metres, and the whole system is part of the Upper German-Raetian Limes World Heritage listing.

    Read the complete Watchtower WP 1/77 write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    Watchtower WP 1/77 comes up about 37 km into the recorded legs. Next is Watchtowers WP 1/11 to 1/20 including the.

  3. 3. Watchtowers WP 1/11 to 1/20 including the

    Here is where the Upper German-Raetian Limes, the longest stretch of Roman frontier in Europe, begins. The Romans started the line at the Rhine near Rheinbrohl and ran it up over the hills of the Westerwald, then on through the Taunus and beyond for more than five hundred kilometres to the Danube. The section with watchtowers numbered WP 1/11 to 1/20 follows the first climb away from the river through the forests above Rheinbrohl, Hammerstein and Niederbreitbach. Most of the towers survive only as low mounds of stone in the woods, but the course of the frontier ditch and rampart can often be traced on foot, and there are information boards and a few reconstructions along the way.

    Read the complete Watchtowers WP 1/11 to 1/20 including the 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 1/11 to 1/20 including the. Next is Kottenforst Süd | Heiderhof.

  4. 4. Kottenforst Süd | Heiderhof

    There is very little to see at first glance here, which is exactly what makes the place oddly moving. South of Bonn, in the edge of the Kottenforst near the Heiderhof quarter of Bad Godesberg and the town of Wachtberg, the forest floor hides the faint outlines of Roman practice camps. Legionaries stationed at the fortress of Bonna on the Rhine marched out here to train at the hard, boring work that won the empire its wars: digging ditches, throwing up earth ramparts and laying out a camp to the standard plan in a few hours. A handful of these training camps in the Kottenforst are part of the Lower German Limes, the Roman frontier along the Rhine recognised by UNESCO in 2021.

    Read the complete Kottenforst Süd | Heiderhof write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    Kottenforst Süd | Heiderhof, about halfway. Next is Iversheim.

  5. 5. Iversheim

    Iversheim is a village in the valley of the Erft, at the northern edge of the Eifel, just downstream from the old spa town of Bad Münstereifel. It is known for one thing: a Roman lime-burning works, one of the best preserved in Europe. The Romans built a series of kilns here to burn limestone from the surrounding hills into quicklime, which was used to make mortar for the forts, towns and roads of the province of Lower Germany. The kilns were worked by detachments of soldiers from the Rhine legions, as inscriptions found on the site show.

    Read the complete Iversheim write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    Iversheim sits at 141 km, about halfway. Next is back through Kottenforst Süd | Heiderhof.

  6. 6. back through Kottenforst Süd | Heiderhof

    Return visit. Read the place description above.

    Read the complete Kottenforst Süd | Heiderhof write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    back through Kottenforst Süd | Heiderhof comes up about 195 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Watchtowers WP 1/11 to 1/20 including the.

  7. 7. back through Watchtowers WP 1/11 to 1/20 including the

    Return visit. Read the place description above.

    Read the complete Watchtowers WP 1/11 to 1/20 including the write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    about 231 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Watchtowers WP 1/11 to 1/20 including the. Next is back through Watchtower WP 1/77.

  8. 8. back through Watchtower WP 1/77

    Return visit. Read the place description above.

    Read the complete Watchtower WP 1/77 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 1/77, late in the day. Next is Upper Middle Rhine Valley.

  9. 9. Upper Middle Rhine Valley

    Return visit. Read the place description above.

    Read the complete Upper Middle Rhine Valley 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 316 km.

Leg by leg

Upper Middle Rhine Valley to Watchtower WP 1/77

Upper Middle Rhine Valley → Watchtower WP 1/77 is 37 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

Watchtower WP 1/77 to Watchtowers WP 1/11 to 1/20 including the

Watchtower WP 1/77 → Watchtowers WP 1/11 to 1/20 including the is 46 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

Watchtowers WP 1/11 to 1/20 including the to Kottenforst Süd | Heiderhof

Watchtowers WP 1/11 to 1/20 including the → Kottenforst Süd | Heiderhof is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

Kottenforst Süd | Heiderhof to Iversheim

Kottenforst Süd | Heiderhof → Iversheim is 37 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

Iversheim to back through Kottenforst Süd | Heiderhof

Iversheim → back through Kottenforst Süd | Heiderhof is 37 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

back through Kottenforst Süd | Heiderhof to back through Watchtowers WP 1/11 to 1/20 including the

back through Kottenforst Süd | Heiderhof → back through Watchtowers WP 1/11 to 1/20 including the is 36 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

back through Watchtowers WP 1/11 to 1/20 including the to back through Watchtower WP 1/77

back through Watchtowers WP 1/11 to 1/20 including the → back through Watchtower WP 1/77 is 47 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

back through Watchtower WP 1/77 to Upper Middle Rhine Valley

back through Watchtower WP 1/77 → Upper Middle Rhine Valley is 39 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

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