Watchtower WP 1/87 and Watchtowers WP 1/32 to 1/34
Plan this ride
Recorded distance
105 km
Riding-time estimate
1 h 25
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.
105 km from Bad Ems to Bad Ems, about 1 h 25 of riding. It goes by way of Limessection between watchtowers WP 1/60 a, Watchtowers WP 1/32 to 1/34 and back through Limessection between watchtowers WP 1/60 a. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
Scenic road chapters
Moselle Wine Route
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For about 33 km this is Moselle Wine Route, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Chapter facts
Length
33 km
Named road
Moselle Wine Route
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Watchtower WP 1/87
The Limes crosses the Lahn at Bad Ems, and this stretch of the Rhineland-Palatinate hills is where the Roman frontier meets one of Germany's prettiest river valleys. The Lahn runs through a deep, wooded gorge here, with vineyards and steep slopes, and old spa towns along the banks. Dausenau is a small medieval town of half-timbered houses that still has its town wall, and a church tower that leans, a result of an unstable foundation. Arzbach lies on the high ground to the north, known for pottery.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Watchtower WP 1/87 is where the day begins. Next is Limessection between watchtowers WP 1/60 a.
2. Limessection between watchtowers WP 1/60 a
Höhr-Grenzhausen is a town that makes things out of mud. The Westerwald plateau here sits on one of Europe's finest deposits of stoneware clay, and for centuries potters have dug it, thrown it and fired it in salt-glaze kilns to make grey-and-blue jugs, tankards and storage jars. The area is called the Kannenbäckerland, the land of the jug bakers, and its pots were shipped down the Rhine and across the world. The Westerwald Ceramics Museum in Höhr-Grenzhausen tells the story, and several workshops in town still sell hand-made pieces. Take a mug home and you will be surprised how heavy it is.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Limessection between watchtowers WP 1/60 a comes up about 33 km into the recorded legs. Next is Watchtowers WP 1/32 to 1/34.
3. Watchtowers WP 1/32 to 1/34
Just north of Neuwied, the Westerwald begins to climb out of the Rhine valley, and the Roman frontier ran up through the woods from its starting point on the river, rising and falling over the low ridges. The Limes here is the Upper German section in its earliest stretch, where watchtowers 1/32 to 1/34 stood close together on the hillside above the Wied, a small river that runs through a pretty, wooded valley to join the Rhine. Melsbach, a village of two thousand people next to the point, lies in this valley, and the surrounding hills are a mix of beech forest, meadow and the fields of the Neuwied basin.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Watchtower WP 1/87. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Watchtower WP 1/87 to Limessection between watchtowers WP 1/60 a
Watchtower WP 1/87 → Limessection between watchtowers WP 1/60 a is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Limessection between watchtowers WP 1/60 a to Watchtowers WP 1/32 to 1/34
Limessection between watchtowers WP 1/60 a → Watchtowers WP 1/32 to 1/34 is 24 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtowers WP 1/32 to 1/34 to back through Limessection between watchtowers WP 1/60 a
Watchtowers WP 1/32 to 1/34 → back through Limessection between watchtowers WP 1/60 a is 22 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Limessection between watchtowers WP 1/60 a to Watchtower WP 1/87
back through Limessection between watchtowers WP 1/60 a → Watchtower WP 1/87 is 27 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.