Why this ride
A 91 km round trip from Neuwied - roughly 1 h 27 in the saddle. On the way it passes Watchtower WP 1/60, Watchtower WP 1/88 and back through Watchtower WP 1/60. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Watchtower WP 1/31 and Watchtower WP 1/88
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 91 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 1 h 27
- 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 20 km this is Moselle Wine Route, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 20 km
- Named road
- Moselle Wine Route
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Watchtower WP 1/31
The Roman frontier in Germany was not a wall in the way that Hadrian's was in Britain. It was a line of wooden towers, small forts and a ditch and palisade, running for hundreds of kilometres from the Rhine near Neuwied to the Danube, and the stretch here, near Melsbach, is where it began. The Upper Germanic-Raetian Limes, as it is formally called, is a World Heritage Site, and the numbered watchtowers, of which this is one, were the eyes of the frontier.
Read the complete Watchtower WP 1/31 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Watchtower WP 1/31 is where the day begins. Next is Watchtower WP 1/60.
2. Watchtower WP 1/60
Above Koblenz, on the edge of the Westerwald, the potters of Höhr-Grenzhausen have been making grey, salt-glazed stoneware with cobalt-blue decoration for centuries, giving this corner of Germany its nickname, the Kannenbäckerland, the land of jug bakers. In the forest nearby, the site of Roman watchtower WP 1/60 on the Upper German-Raetian Limes is part of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire World Heritage Site. The tower was one of hundreds along the frontier, a wooden or stone structure from which soldiers watched the land beyond and signalled to their neighbours.
Read the complete Watchtower WP 1/60 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Watchtower WP 1/60 comes up about 20 km into the recorded legs. Next is Watchtower WP 1/88.
3. Watchtower WP 1/88
In the hills above the Lahn, in the Westerwald near Arzbach, the Roman frontier made a long, curving loop through a country of oak and beech forest, and watchtower 1/88 was one of the posts on its line. This district was thick with towers, and several neighbouring numbers lie within a few kilometres. The Romans placed them wherever the ground gave a good view, usually on a rise or a ridge, so that from one you could see the smoke or lamp of the next.
Read the complete Watchtower WP 1/88 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 49 km into the recorded legs you reach Watchtower WP 1/88. Next is back through Watchtower WP 1/60.
4. back through Watchtower WP 1/60
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Watchtower WP 1/60 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 1/60, late in the day. Next is Watchtower WP 1/31.
5. Watchtower WP 1/31
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Watchtower WP 1/31 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Watchtower WP 1/31. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Watchtower WP 1/31 to Watchtower WP 1/60
Watchtower WP 1/31 → Watchtower WP 1/60 is 20 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtower WP 1/60 to Watchtower WP 1/88
Watchtower WP 1/60 → Watchtower WP 1/88 is 29 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtower WP 1/88 to back through Watchtower WP 1/60
Watchtower WP 1/88 → back through Watchtower WP 1/60 is 22 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Watchtower WP 1/60 to Watchtower WP 1/31
back through Watchtower WP 1/60 → Watchtower WP 1/31 is 20 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.