Why this ride
From Idstein it runs 250 km to Idstein; allow about 4 h 16 of riding. The stops in between: Watchtowers WP 2/20 to 2/22, Watchtower WP 1/62, Remagen and back through Watchtower WP 1/62. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Watchtower SP 3/5* and Remagen
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 250 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 4 h 16
- 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
Moselle Wine Route
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For about 39 km this is Moselle Wine Route, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 39 km
- Named road
- Moselle Wine Route
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Watchtower SP 3/5*
Taunusstein did not exist as a town until 1971, when ten villages on the high plateau north of Wiesbaden were merged into one municipality, and so it has no old centre, just a cluster of former villages, each with its church, its half-timbered houses and its fields. One of them, Wehen, gave its name to the football club SV Wehen Wiesbaden, which started here before moving to the city. The Roman frontier ran along the edge of this plateau, and watchtower SP 3/5, close to the line, is one of the many small sites that mark it in the forest between Taunusstein and Idstein.
Read the complete Watchtower SP 3/5* write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Watchtower SP 3/5* is where the day begins. Next is Watchtowers WP 2/20 to 2/22.
2. Watchtowers WP 2/20 to 2/22
A few kilometres west of Miehlen, the Limes crosses the Einrich, a high, open plateau of fields and meadows between the Rhine and the Lahn, and the stretch with watchtowers 2/20 to 2/22, near Singhofen and Holzhausen an der Haide, is one of the quietest parts of the whole frontier. Nearby, the fort of Holzhausen is one of the best-preserved Roman forts on the Limes, with its stone walls, gates and corner towers clearly visible in the forest, a rare sight on a frontier where most remains have vanished into the fields. The whole line is part of the UNESCO Frontiers of the Roman Empire.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 2/20 to 2/22 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Watchtowers WP 2/20 to 2/22 comes up about 36 km into the recorded legs. Next is Watchtower WP 1/62.
3. Watchtower WP 1/62
Höhr-Grenzhausen smells faintly of kilns if you catch it on the right day. This small town on the western edge of the Westerwald, a few kilometres north-east of Koblenz, sits at the heart of the Kannenbäckerland, the jug-bakers' country, where potters have been turning the local grey clay into salt-glazed stoneware for centuries. The Roman frontier passed right through here too, and watchtower WP 1/62 was one of the posts on the Upper Germanic Limes as it ran across these hills, now part of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire World Heritage site.
Read the complete Watchtower WP 1/62 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 75 km into the recorded legs you reach Watchtower WP 1/62. Next is Remagen.
4. Remagen
On 7 March 1945, soldiers of the US 9th Armored Division reached Remagen and found the Ludendorff railway bridge across the Rhine still standing, despite German attempts to blow it. They rushed across, and for the first time the Allies had a foothold on the far bank of the great river. Ten days later the damaged bridge collapsed, but by then pontoons had been built and the war in the west had entered its last chapter. What remains today are the black stone towers on both banks, and those on the Remagen side house a small peace museum telling the story with honesty and without glorification.
Read the complete Remagen write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Remagen, about halfway. Next is back through Watchtower WP 1/62.
5. back through Watchtower WP 1/62
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Watchtower WP 1/62 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 1/62 sits at 151 km, about halfway. Next is back through Watchtowers WP 2/20 to 2/22.
6. back through Watchtowers WP 2/20 to 2/22
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 2/20 to 2/22 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 2/20 to 2/22 comes up about 213 km into the recorded legs. Next is Watchtower SP 3/5*.
7. Watchtower SP 3/5*
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Watchtower SP 3/5* write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Watchtower SP 3/5* closes the day.
Leg by leg
Watchtower SP 3/5* to Watchtowers WP 2/20 to 2/22
Watchtower SP 3/5* → Watchtowers WP 2/20 to 2/22 is 36 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtowers WP 2/20 to 2/22 to Watchtower WP 1/62
Watchtowers WP 2/20 to 2/22 → Watchtower WP 1/62 is 39 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtower WP 1/62 to Remagen
Watchtower WP 1/62 → Remagen is 48 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Remagen to back through Watchtower WP 1/62
Remagen → back through Watchtower WP 1/62 is 49 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Watchtower WP 1/62 to back through Watchtowers WP 2/20 to 2/22
back through Watchtower WP 1/62 → back through Watchtowers WP 2/20 to 2/22 is 41 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Watchtowers WP 2/20 to 2/22 to Watchtower SP 3/5*
back through Watchtowers WP 2/20 to 2/22 → Watchtower SP 3/5* is 36 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.