Why this ride
A 167 km round trip from Bendorf - roughly 3 h 21 in the saddle. It goes by way of Limessection north of Arzbach, Limessection between watchtowers WP 2/13 a, Upper Middle Rhine Valley and Watchtowers WP 2/17 to 2/19 including fort.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Watchtowers WP 1/53 to 1/57 and Watchtowers WP 2/17 to 2/19 including fort
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 167 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 3 h 21
- 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 26 km this is Moselle Wine Route, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 26 km
- Named road
- Moselle Wine Route
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Watchtowers WP 1/53 to 1/57
This stretch of the Limes sits close to Bendorf and Stromberg, on the plateau above the Rhine near Koblenz, and the watchtowers numbered here, five in all, follow the line as it climbs from the river. The frontier was a controlled boundary: a palisade or bank, a ditch, and a series of towers within sight of each other, with a patrol path behind. Traces survive as low banks in forest and field, and some positions have been marked or partly reconstructed, which makes this a good place to understand how the system worked.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 1/53 to 1/57 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Watchtowers WP 1/53 to 1/57 is where the day begins. Next is Limessection north of Arzbach.
2. Limessection north of Arzbach
North of Arzbach the land lifts out of the Lahn valley and into the Westerwald, and the Roman frontier did the same. The Limes here is a section rather than a single tower, a line where a ditch, bank and a string of watchtowers once ran across the ridge. It is a faint thing now, a low earthwork under trees, but you can follow it on foot if you know where to look, and the local Limes trail marks the way. The nearest villages, Arzbach and Kadenbach, are small and quiet, with only a couple of thousand people between them.
Read the complete Limessection north of Arzbach write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Limessection north of Arzbach comes up about 26 km into the recorded legs. Next is Limessection between watchtowers WP 2/13 a.
3. Limessection between watchtowers WP 2/13 a
Up on the plateau of the Hintertaunus, north of the Rhine gorge, the Roman frontier crossed a quiet landscape of fields and forest near Singhofen, and a section of it between two watchtowers survives here as a faint bank and ditch running through the woods. This is the Upper German Limes, which ran for more than five hundred kilometres from the Rhine to the Danube, marking the boundary between the Roman Empire and the free Germanic tribes from the second century until the Romans withdrew in the third. It was not a great wall like Hadrian's in Britain, but a line of watchtowers, forts and a timber palisade, later strengthened with a ditch and bank. Together with the Raetian Limes, it was listed by UNESCO in 2005.
Read the complete Limessection between watchtowers WP 2/13 a write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 50 km into the recorded legs you reach Limessection between watchtowers WP 2/13 a. Next is Upper Middle Rhine Valley.
4. Upper Middle Rhine Valley
Between Bingen and Koblenz, the Rhine cuts a deep, winding gorge through the slate hills of the Rhenish Massif, and for centuries this has been one of the great landscapes of Europe: steep slopes covered with vineyards, castles on every crag, villages of half-timbered houses along the river, and barges gliding past. The Upper Middle Rhine Valley was listed by UNESCO in 2002, and Sankt Goarshausen sits at its heart, at the foot of the most famous rock on the river.
Read the complete Upper Middle Rhine Valley write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Upper Middle Rhine Valley, about halfway. Next is Watchtowers WP 2/17 to 2/19 including fort.
5. Watchtowers WP 2/17 to 2/19 including fort
In the Taunus and Westerwald country of Rhineland-Palatinate, the Limes crosses hills so wooded that it is easy to miss. The numbering here records three watchtower positions and a fort, and from the start of the sequence you can follow the frontier as a line of mounds through forest and field.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 2/17 to 2/19 including fort write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Watchtowers WP 2/17 to 2/19 including fort sits at 68 km, about halfway. Next is back through Upper Middle Rhine Valley.
6. back through Upper Middle Rhine Valley
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Upper Middle Rhine Valley write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Upper Middle Rhine Valley comes up about 103 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Limessection between watchtowers WP 2/13 a.
7. back through Limessection between watchtowers WP 2/13 a
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Limessection between watchtowers WP 2/13 a write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 120 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Limessection between watchtowers WP 2/13 a. Next is back through Limessection north of Arzbach.
8. back through Limessection north of Arzbach
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Limessection north of Arzbach write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Limessection north of Arzbach, late in the day. Next is Watchtowers WP 1/53 to 1/57.
9. Watchtowers WP 1/53 to 1/57
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 1/53 to 1/57 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 167 km.
Leg by leg
Watchtowers WP 1/53 to 1/57 to Limessection north of Arzbach
Watchtowers WP 1/53 to 1/57 → Limessection north of Arzbach is 26 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Limessection north of Arzbach to Limessection between watchtowers WP 2/13 a
Limessection north of Arzbach → Limessection between watchtowers WP 2/13 a is 24 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Limessection between watchtowers WP 2/13 a to Upper Middle Rhine Valley
Limessection between watchtowers WP 2/13 a → Upper Middle Rhine Valley is 17 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Upper Middle Rhine Valley to Watchtowers WP 2/17 to 2/19 including fort
Upper Middle Rhine Valley → Watchtowers WP 2/17 to 2/19 including fort is 18 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtowers WP 2/17 to 2/19 including fort to back through Upper Middle Rhine Valley
Watchtowers WP 2/17 to 2/19 including fort → back through Upper Middle Rhine Valley is 18 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Upper Middle Rhine Valley to back through Limessection between watchtowers WP 2/13 a
back through Upper Middle Rhine Valley → back through Limessection between watchtowers WP 2/13 a is 17 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Limessection between watchtowers WP 2/13 a to back through Limessection north of Arzbach
back through Limessection between watchtowers WP 2/13 a → back through Limessection north of Arzbach is 24 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Limessection north of Arzbach to Watchtowers WP 1/53 to 1/57
back through Limessection north of Arzbach → Watchtowers WP 1/53 to 1/57 is 22 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.