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.
A 168 km round trip from Schmitten - roughly 3 h 06 in the saddle. On the way it passes Watchtowers WP 3/15 to 3/19 including the, Watchtowers WP 2/35 to 2/48 including the, Watchtowers WP 2/5 to 2/6 and back through Watchtowers WP 2/35 to 2/48 including the.
Scenic road chapters
Rhine Romantic Route
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For about 26 km this is Rhine Romantic Route, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Chapter facts
Length
26 km
Named road
Rhine Romantic Route
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Watchtower WP 3/49*
High in the Taunus, the wooded hills northwest of Frankfurt, the Roman Limes followed the ridge line, and its watchtowers looked out over the forests to the north. Watchtower WP 3/49, near Schmitten and Glashütten, is one of hundreds of such posts recorded along the frontier, and today its remains lie in the woods, a low mound or a scatter of stones. The Limes path, a long-distance walking trail, follows the line through the forest, and walkers can trace the ditch and bank of the old frontier for kilometres. The whole line is part of the Upper German-Raetian Limes World Heritage site.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Watchtower WP 3/49* is where the day begins. Next is Watchtowers WP 3/15 to 3/19 including the.
2. Watchtowers WP 3/15 to 3/19 including the
In the hills of the Taunus north of Wiesbaden, the Roman frontier ran along the ridges through dense forest, and between watchtowers 3/15 and 3/19 near Idstein, its line can still be traced on the ground. The Romans built an earth bank and ditch, topped with a wooden palisade, with stone watchtowers at regular intervals, close enough to see each other and signal along the line. In the forest, the bank and ditch survive as a long, low ridge and hollow, and the foundations of watchtowers appear as low mounds, sometimes with a few stones visible. The Upper Germanic and Raetian Limes, more than five hundred kilometres long, has been a World Heritage site since 2005.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Watchtowers WP 3/15 to 3/19 including the comes up about 29 km into the recorded legs. Next is Watchtowers WP 2/35 to 2/48 including the.
3. Watchtowers WP 2/35 to 2/48 including the
West of the Taunus ridge, where the high country rolls down toward the Rhine gorge and the Lahn, the line of the Upper German Limes runs through farmland and forest near the villages of Holzhausen an der Haide, Katzenelnbogen and Nastätten. Archaeologists have catalogued the sites of the watchtowers along this stretch, numbered WP 2/35 to 2/48, and near Holzhausen are the remains of a stone fort, well preserved and easily visited, with its walls and gate outlines clear in the grass. The Limes here consisted of a palisade of wooden stakes, later backed by a ditch and bank, with watchtowers at regular intervals and forts a few kilometres behind. It formed the frontier of the Roman Empire for more than a century and a half.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 57 km into the recorded legs you reach Watchtowers WP 2/35 to 2/48 including the. Next is Watchtowers WP 2/5 to 2/6.
4. Watchtowers WP 2/5 to 2/6
WP 2/5 and 2/6 sound like spare parts, but they are the numbers archaeologists gave to two watchtower positions on the Upper Germanic-Raetian Limes, the fortified frontier Rome drew across southern Germany. Here, in the hills above the Lahn near Bad Ems, the line ran up from the Rhine and over the high ground, and every few hundred metres a tower stood with a view to the next. Today most of what survives are low mounds, traces of the bank and ditch, and in some places a reconstructed tower to give you scale. The whole frontier became part of the UNESCO Frontiers of the Roman Empire in 2005.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Watchtower WP 3/49* closes the day.
Leg by leg
Watchtower WP 3/49* to Watchtowers WP 3/15 to 3/19 including the
Watchtower WP 3/49* → Watchtowers WP 3/15 to 3/19 including the is 29 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtowers WP 3/15 to 3/19 including the to Watchtowers WP 2/35 to 2/48 including the
Watchtowers WP 3/15 to 3/19 including the → Watchtowers WP 2/35 to 2/48 including the is 28 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtowers WP 2/35 to 2/48 including the to Watchtowers WP 2/5 to 2/6
Watchtowers WP 2/35 to 2/48 including the → Watchtowers WP 2/5 to 2/6 is 26 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtowers WP 2/5 to 2/6 to back through Watchtowers WP 2/35 to 2/48 including the
Watchtowers WP 2/5 to 2/6 → back through Watchtowers WP 2/35 to 2/48 including the is 27 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Watchtowers WP 2/35 to 2/48 including the to back through Watchtowers WP 3/15 to 3/19 including the
back through Watchtowers WP 2/35 to 2/48 including the → back through Watchtowers WP 3/15 to 3/19 including the is 28 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Watchtowers WP 3/15 to 3/19 including the to Watchtower WP 3/49*
back through Watchtowers WP 3/15 to 3/19 including the → Watchtower WP 3/49* is 29 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.