Why this ride
165 km from Andernach to Andernach, about 3 h 36 of riding. The stops in between: Watchtower WP 1/52, Watchtowers WP 1/78 to 1/81, Watchtower WP 1/51 and Watchtower WP 1/77.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Watchtowers WP 1/21 to 1/22 and Watchtower WP 1/77
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 165 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 3 h 36
- 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 16 km this is Moselle Wine Route, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 16 km
- Named road
- Moselle Wine Route
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Watchtowers WP 1/21 to 1/22
Above Leutesdorf, on the right bank of the Rhine between Neuwied and Bad Hönningen, the hills climb steeply from the river, covered with vineyards and forests, and the Roman frontier ran along their crest. Watchtowers WP 1/21 and 1/22 stood here in the early part of the Upper Germanic Limes, just a few kilometres from its starting point at Rheinbrohl, watching over the valley and the lands beyond. Today the tower sites are quiet spots in the woods, part of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire World Heritage site.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 1/21 to 1/22 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Watchtowers WP 1/21 to 1/22 is where the day begins. Next is Watchtower WP 1/52.
2. Watchtower WP 1/52
The Roman frontier in Germany began on the Rhine at Rheinbrohl, a few kilometres downstream from Koblenz, where the first watchtower of the Upper Germanic Limes, WP 1/1, stood on the riverbank. From there, the frontier ran south-east through the Westerwald and the Taunus, and the watchtower WP 1/52, near Bendorf, stood on this early section, close to the Rhine and the confluence of the Moselle at Koblenz. The tower is long gone, but its site is part of the UNESCO listing of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire, and the Roemerwelt museum at Rheinbrohl brings the life of the frontier soldiers vividly to life with reconstructions and hands-on exhibits.
Read the complete Watchtower WP 1/52 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Watchtower WP 1/52 comes up about 16 km into the recorded legs. Next is Watchtowers WP 1/78 to 1/81.
3. Watchtowers WP 1/78 to 1/81
Kadenbach, Arzbach and Eitelborn are three small villages on the broad, wooded plateau of the Westerwald, a short way north of the Lahn valley, and the four watchtowers here sit in a short run along the Roman frontier. Numbers 1/78 to 1/81 belong to the first section of the Upper German-Raetian Limes, running from the Rhine towards the Taunus. The frontier was a palisade with towers placed within sight of one another, and the signal system relied on fire at night and smoke or flag by day. In this area the Romans picked ridges and shoulders of hills so the view ran for miles over land that was then forest and scrub.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 1/78 to 1/81 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 38 km into the recorded legs you reach Watchtowers WP 1/78 to 1/81. Next is Watchtower WP 1/51.
4. Watchtower WP 1/51
The Upper Germanic Limes does not start with a bang. Near Bendorf, on the slopes where the Westerwald drops toward the Rhine at the Neuwied basin, it is a matter of reading the woods: a low bank here, a shallow ditch there, and the spot where a Roman watchtower once stood, numbered by archaeologists as WP 1/51. The towers were placed within sight of each other, timber at first and later stone, so that a signal could pass along the frontier faster than any rider. Standing here among the beech trees you are close to the northern end of a border that ran more than five hundred kilometres to the Danube.
Read the complete Watchtower WP 1/51 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Watchtower WP 1/51, about halfway. Next is Watchtower WP 1/77.
5. Watchtower WP 1/77
In the hills of the Westerwald, east of Koblenz, the Roman frontier ran from the Rhine up across the high ground towards the Taunus, and archaeologists have numbered every tower site along it. Watchtower WP 1/77, near the villages of Kadenbach and Arzbach, is one of them, now marked by a low mound or reconstructed foundations in the woods. The frontier here was a palisade of timber and later an earth bank and ditch, with towers every few hundred metres, and the whole system is part of the Upper German-Raetian Limes World Heritage listing.
Read the complete Watchtower WP 1/77 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Watchtower WP 1/77 sits at 68 km, about halfway. Next is back through Watchtower WP 1/51.
6. back through Watchtower WP 1/51
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Watchtower WP 1/51 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 1/51 comes up about 103 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Watchtowers WP 1/78 to 1/81.
7. back through Watchtowers WP 1/78 to 1/81
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 1/78 to 1/81 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 127 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Watchtowers WP 1/78 to 1/81. Next is back through Watchtower WP 1/52.
8. back through Watchtower WP 1/52
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Watchtower WP 1/52 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 1/52, late in the day. Next is Watchtowers WP 1/21 to 1/22.
9. Watchtowers WP 1/21 to 1/22
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 1/21 to 1/22 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 165 km.
Leg by leg
Watchtowers WP 1/21 to 1/22 to Watchtower WP 1/52
Watchtowers WP 1/21 to 1/22 → Watchtower WP 1/52 is 16 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtower WP 1/52 to Watchtowers WP 1/78 to 1/81
Watchtower WP 1/52 → Watchtowers WP 1/78 to 1/81 is 22 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtowers WP 1/78 to 1/81 to Watchtower WP 1/51
Watchtowers WP 1/78 to 1/81 → Watchtower WP 1/51 is 24 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtower WP 1/51 to Watchtower WP 1/77
Watchtower WP 1/51 → Watchtower WP 1/77 is 20 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtower WP 1/77 to back through Watchtower WP 1/51
Watchtower WP 1/77 → back through Watchtower WP 1/51 is 21 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Watchtower WP 1/51 to back through Watchtowers WP 1/78 to 1/81
back through Watchtower WP 1/51 → back through Watchtowers WP 1/78 to 1/81 is 24 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Watchtowers WP 1/78 to 1/81 to back through Watchtower WP 1/52
back through Watchtowers WP 1/78 to 1/81 → back through Watchtower WP 1/52 is 21 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Watchtower WP 1/52 to Watchtowers WP 1/21 to 1/22
back through Watchtower WP 1/52 → Watchtowers WP 1/21 to 1/22 is 17 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.