Why this ride
A 257 km round trip from Höhr-Grenzhausen - roughly 2 h 48 in the saddle. On the way it passes Watchtowers WP 3/23, Exhibition grounds 1904 and back through Watchtowers WP 3/23.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Watchtower WP 1/73 and Exhibition grounds 1904
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 257 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 2 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.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Watchtower WP 1/73
The Roman frontier in Germany starts at the Rhine near Rheinbrohl and climbs into the hills of the Westerwald, and Watchtower WP 1/73, near Hillscheid, belongs to that first stretch. The numbers tell you where you are: section one, tower seventy-three. All that survives is a low mound in the woods, but in the second and third centuries it was a stone tower with a view over the frontier line and, behind it, the palisade and ditch that ran across the landscape. The Upper Germanic-Raetian Limes has been part of the UNESCO Frontiers of the Roman Empire since 2005, and this is where it all begins.
Read the complete Watchtower WP 1/73 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Watchtower WP 1/73 is where the day begins. Next is Watchtowers WP 3/23.
2. Watchtowers WP 3/23
Idstein sits in a bowl of the Taunus hills north of Wiesbaden, and its centre is among the best-kept half-timbered towns in Hesse. The Killinger House, a tall timber-framed building with elaborate carving, is the showpiece, and the Witches' Tower, a stone remnant of the old castle, stands above the old town as a reminder of a darker chapter. The Roman Limes passes through the hills just to the north, and Watchtower 3/23 is one of many positions on the ridge, part of the line that ran for about five hundred kilometres across Germany.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 3/23 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Watchtowers WP 3/23 comes up about 79 km into the recorded legs. Next is Exhibition grounds 1904.
3. Exhibition grounds 1904
In 1899, Grand Duke Ernst Ludwig of Hesse invited a group of young artists and architects to Darmstadt and gave them a hill to build on. The Mathildenhöhe became an artists' colony and a showcase for Jugendstil, the German Art Nouveau, with studios, houses and exhibitions designed as total works of art, down to the cutlery. Behind it lay a simple idea: that art should shape everyday life, from the house to the chair to the wallpaper. The exhibitions of 1901, 1904, 1908 and 1914 drew visitors from all over Europe, and the ensemble was inscribed on the UNESCO list in 2021.
Read the complete Exhibition grounds 1904 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 141 km into the recorded legs you reach Exhibition grounds 1904. Next is back through Watchtowers WP 3/23.
4. back through Watchtowers WP 3/23
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 3/23 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 3/23, late in the day. Next is Watchtower WP 1/73.
5. Watchtower WP 1/73
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Watchtower WP 1/73 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 1/73. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Watchtower WP 1/73 to Watchtowers WP 3/23
Watchtower WP 1/73 → Watchtowers WP 3/23 is 79 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtowers WP 3/23 to Exhibition grounds 1904
Watchtowers WP 3/23 → Exhibition grounds 1904 is 62 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Exhibition grounds 1904 to back through Watchtowers WP 3/23
Exhibition grounds 1904 → back through Watchtowers WP 3/23 is 56 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Watchtowers WP 3/23 to Watchtower WP 1/73
back through Watchtowers WP 3/23 → Watchtower WP 1/73 is 60 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.