Why this ride
A 154 km round trip from Pleinfeld - roughly 3 h 29 in the saddle. The stops in between: Watchtower WP 13/54, Watchtowers WP 13/16 to 13/36 including fo, Watchtowers WP 13/6 to 13/12 and Watchtowers WP 12/86 to 13/5 including for.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Watchtower WP 14/28 and Watchtowers WP 12/86 to 13/5 including for
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 154 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 3 h 29
- 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
Romantic Road
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For about 22 km this is Romantic Road, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 22 km
- Named road
- Romantic Road
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Watchtower WP 14/28
Near the Franconian town of Pleinfeld, the Raetian Limes, the stone wall that marked the frontier of the province of Raetia, crossed a landscape of woods, fields and small rivers, and a watchtower stood here, one of hundreds along the line. Watchtower WP 14/28 is now a low mound or reconstructed foundation, but it is part of the Upper Germanic-Raetian Limes World Heritage listing. The frontier here was a stone wall, known locally as the Teufelsmauer, the devil's wall, because medieval villagers could not believe that humans had built it.
Read the complete Watchtower WP 14/28 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Watchtower WP 14/28 is where the day begins. Next is Watchtower WP 13/54.
2. Watchtower WP 13/54
Gunzenhausen is a small town in Middle Franconia, on the Altmühl river, and the Roman frontier ran right through it. Watchtower WP 13/54 stood within what is now the town, and the course of the frontier is traced through the streets. It is unusual to find the Roman frontier in an urban setting, and it is a nice surprise as you wander the streets.
Read the complete Watchtower WP 13/54 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Watchtower WP 13/54 comes up about 21 km into the recorded legs. Next is Watchtowers WP 13/16 to 13/36 including fo.
3. Watchtowers WP 13/16 to 13/36 including fo
The Raetian Limes ran across southern Franconia as a stone wall, and between Wassertrüdingen and Gunzenhausen it climbed over low hills and crossed the valleys of small rivers, with watchtowers at regular intervals. The group from WP 13/16 to 13/36 includes the sites of several towers and a fortlet, now visible as low mounds and foundations, sometimes with reconstructions, and they are part of the Upper German-Raetian Limes World Heritage listing. In the woods and fields, a line of stones or a slight bank may mark the course of the wall.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 13/16 to 13/36 including fo write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 37 km into the recorded legs you reach Watchtowers WP 13/16 to 13/36 including fo. Next is Watchtowers WP 13/6 to 13/12.
4. Watchtowers WP 13/6 to 13/12
Along the Wörnitz valley in western Middle Franconia, near the village of Weiltingen, the line of the Raetian Limes cuts across the countryside, and the places where Roman watchtowers once stood are numbered by archaeologists in a dry sequence: WP 13/6, 13/7, and so on. In Raetia, the frontier was not a palisade, as in Upper Germany, but a stone wall about three metres high, and local people called its remains the Teufelsmauer, the Devil's Wall, believing that only the devil could have built something so long and straight. Today, you may see a low bank in a field or a line of trees following the old route, and in some places the foundations of towers have been marked or reconstructed.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 13/6 to 13/12 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Watchtowers WP 13/6 to 13/12, about halfway. Next is Watchtowers WP 12/86 to 13/5 including for.
5. Watchtowers WP 12/86 to 13/5 including for
Near Rainau, not far from here, the Romans built a monumental gate in the Raetian Limes, a showpiece entrance probably connected with a visit by the emperor Caracalla in the early third century. Today the Limestor Dalkingen is protected under a glass and steel shelter, an impressive sight. The watchtowers numbered in this section, around Stödtlen, Wört and Tannhausen, were part of the same frontier, which ran here as a stone wall across the hilly country between the Ries crater and the Swabian Forest, toward the Danube.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 12/86 to 13/5 including for write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Watchtowers WP 12/86 to 13/5 including for sits at 73 km, about halfway. Next is back through Watchtowers WP 13/6 to 13/12.
6. back through Watchtowers WP 13/6 to 13/12
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 13/6 to 13/12 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 13/6 to 13/12 comes up about 97 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Watchtowers WP 13/16 to 13/36 including fo.
7. back through Watchtowers WP 13/16 to 13/36 including fo
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 13/16 to 13/36 including fo write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 118 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Watchtowers WP 13/16 to 13/36 including fo. Next is back through Watchtower WP 13/54.
8. back through Watchtower WP 13/54
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Watchtower WP 13/54 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 13/54, late in the day. Next is Watchtower WP 14/28.
9. Watchtower WP 14/28
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Watchtower WP 14/28 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 154 km.
Leg by leg
Watchtower WP 14/28 to Watchtower WP 13/54
Watchtower WP 14/28 → Watchtower WP 13/54 is 21 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtower WP 13/54 to Watchtowers WP 13/16 to 13/36 including fo
Watchtower WP 13/54 → Watchtowers WP 13/16 to 13/36 including fo is 16 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtowers WP 13/16 to 13/36 including fo to Watchtowers WP 13/6 to 13/12
Watchtowers WP 13/16 to 13/36 including fo → Watchtowers WP 13/6 to 13/12 is 22 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtowers WP 13/6 to 13/12 to Watchtowers WP 12/86 to 13/5 including for
Watchtowers WP 13/6 to 13/12 → Watchtowers WP 12/86 to 13/5 including for is 18 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtowers WP 12/86 to 13/5 including for to back through Watchtowers WP 13/6 to 13/12
Watchtowers WP 12/86 to 13/5 including for → back through Watchtowers WP 13/6 to 13/12 is 20 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Watchtowers WP 13/6 to 13/12 to back through Watchtowers WP 13/16 to 13/36 including fo
back through Watchtowers WP 13/6 to 13/12 → back through Watchtowers WP 13/16 to 13/36 including fo is 21 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Watchtowers WP 13/16 to 13/36 including fo to back through Watchtower WP 13/54
back through Watchtowers WP 13/16 to 13/36 including fo → back through Watchtower WP 13/54 is 17 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Watchtower WP 13/54 to Watchtower WP 14/28
back through Watchtower WP 13/54 → Watchtower WP 14/28 is 20 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.