Why this ride
A 346 km round trip from Kadenbach - roughly 7 h 15 in the saddle. The stops in between: Watchtowers WP 1/11 to 1/20 including the, Kottenforst Süd | Heiderhof, Iversheim and Köln-Praetorium. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Watchtowers WP 1/78 to 1/81 and Köln-Praetorium
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 346 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 7 h 15
- 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 45 km this is Moselle Wine Route, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 45 km
- Named road
- Moselle Wine Route
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. 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
Watchtowers WP 1/78 to 1/81 is where the day begins. Next is Watchtowers WP 1/11 to 1/20 including the.
2. Watchtowers WP 1/11 to 1/20 including the
Here is where the Upper German-Raetian Limes, the longest stretch of Roman frontier in Europe, begins. The Romans started the line at the Rhine near Rheinbrohl and ran it up over the hills of the Westerwald, then on through the Taunus and beyond for more than five hundred kilometres to the Danube. The section with watchtowers numbered WP 1/11 to 1/20 follows the first climb away from the river through the forests above Rheinbrohl, Hammerstein and Niederbreitbach. Most of the towers survive only as low mounds of stone in the woods, but the course of the frontier ditch and rampart can often be traced on foot, and there are information boards and a few reconstructions along the way.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 1/11 to 1/20 including the write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Watchtowers WP 1/11 to 1/20 including the comes up about 45 km into the recorded legs. Next is Kottenforst Süd | Heiderhof.
3. Kottenforst Süd | Heiderhof
There is very little to see at first glance here, which is exactly what makes the place oddly moving. South of Bonn, in the edge of the Kottenforst near the Heiderhof quarter of Bad Godesberg and the town of Wachtberg, the forest floor hides the faint outlines of Roman practice camps. Legionaries stationed at the fortress of Bonna on the Rhine marched out here to train at the hard, boring work that won the empire its wars: digging ditches, throwing up earth ramparts and laying out a camp to the standard plan in a few hours. A handful of these training camps in the Kottenforst are part of the Lower German Limes, the Roman frontier along the Rhine recognised by UNESCO in 2021.
Read the complete Kottenforst Süd | Heiderhof write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 83 km into the recorded legs you reach Kottenforst Süd | Heiderhof. Next is Iversheim.
4. Iversheim
Iversheim is a village in the valley of the Erft, at the northern edge of the Eifel, just downstream from the old spa town of Bad Münstereifel. It is known for one thing: a Roman lime-burning works, one of the best preserved in Europe. The Romans built a series of kilns here to burn limestone from the surrounding hills into quicklime, which was used to make mortar for the forts, towns and roads of the province of Lower Germany. The kilns were worked by detachments of soldiers from the Rhine legions, as inscriptions found on the site show.
Read the complete Iversheim write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Iversheim, about halfway. Next is Köln-Praetorium.
5. Köln-Praetorium
Under Cologne's town hall there is a Roman palace, and you can walk through it. The Praetorium was the residence of the governor of the province of Lower Germany, a large building complex on the edge of the Rhine that dates from the first century and grew over the next few hundred years. The city, called Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium, was founded in the first century AD and named for Agrippina, the mother of the emperor Nero, who was born in a camp nearby. The remains of the palace were found during rebuilding after the Second World War, and the cellars and corridors are now open as an archaeological site.
Read the complete Köln-Praetorium write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Köln-Praetorium sits at 163 km, about halfway. Next is back through Iversheim.
6. back through Iversheim
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Iversheim write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Iversheim comes up about 225 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Kottenforst Süd | Heiderhof.
7. back through Kottenforst Süd | Heiderhof
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Kottenforst Süd | Heiderhof write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 262 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Kottenforst Süd | Heiderhof. Next is back through Watchtowers WP 1/11 to 1/20 including the.
8. back through Watchtowers WP 1/11 to 1/20 including the
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 1/11 to 1/20 including the 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 1/11 to 1/20 including the, late in the day. Next is Watchtowers WP 1/78 to 1/81.
9. 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
The route ends here after 346 km.
Leg by leg
Watchtowers WP 1/78 to 1/81 to Watchtowers WP 1/11 to 1/20 including the
Watchtowers WP 1/78 to 1/81 → Watchtowers WP 1/11 to 1/20 including the is 45 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtowers WP 1/11 to 1/20 including the to Kottenforst Süd | Heiderhof
Watchtowers WP 1/11 to 1/20 including the → Kottenforst Süd | Heiderhof is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Kottenforst Süd | Heiderhof to Iversheim
Kottenforst Süd | Heiderhof → Iversheim is 37 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Iversheim to Köln-Praetorium
Iversheim → Köln-Praetorium is 50 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Köln-Praetorium to back through Iversheim
Köln-Praetorium → back through Iversheim is 55 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Iversheim to back through Kottenforst Süd | Heiderhof
back through Iversheim → back through Kottenforst Süd | Heiderhof is 37 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Kottenforst Süd | Heiderhof to back through Watchtowers WP 1/11 to 1/20 including the
back through Kottenforst Süd | Heiderhof → back through Watchtowers WP 1/11 to 1/20 including the is 36 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Watchtowers WP 1/11 to 1/20 including the to Watchtowers WP 1/78 to 1/81
back through Watchtowers WP 1/11 to 1/20 including the → Watchtowers WP 1/78 to 1/81 is 48 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.