Watchtowers WP 1/89 to 1/92 and Kottenforst Süd | Oben der Krayermaar
Plan this ride
Recorded distance
206 km
Riding-time estimate
4 h 07
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.
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Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
A 206 km round trip from Bad Ems - roughly 4 h 07 in the saddle. On the way it passes Watchtowers WP 1/41 to 1/50 including the, Remagen, Kottenforst Süd | Oben der Krayermaar and back through Remagen. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
Scenic road chapters
Moselle Wine Route
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For about 34 km this is Moselle Wine Route, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Chapter facts
Length
34 km
Named road
Moselle Wine Route
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Watchtowers WP 1/89 to 1/92
Bad Ems is the sort of town that makes you straighten your collar. It lies in the narrow, wooded valley of the Lahn river, where hot springs have been used since Roman times, and in the nineteenth century it became one of the great spa towns of Europe. Kings, tsars and writers came to take the waters, among them Kaiser Wilhelm I, who was at Ems in July 1870 when a diplomatic telegram was edited by Bismarck and helped trigger the Franco-Prussian War. The Kurhaus, the colonnades and the grand hotels along the river still show what the town was like in those days.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Watchtowers WP 1/89 to 1/92 is where the day begins. Next is Watchtowers WP 1/41 to 1/50 including the.
2. Watchtowers WP 1/41 to 1/50 including the
The Upper Germanic Limes begins a few kilometres from here, at Rheinbrohl on the Rhine, and in its first miles it climbs straight up into the Westerwald. Watchtowers numbered WP 1/41 to 1/50 mark a short run of that frontier in the wooded hills behind Neuwied and Bendorf, near the villages of Stromberg, Anhausen and Heimbach-Weis. Do not expect towers. What remains is a low bank, a ditch you can trace through the beech trunks, and here and there the outline of a tower base marked by archaeologists.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Watchtowers WP 1/41 to 1/50 including the comes up about 34 km into the recorded legs. Next is Remagen.
3. Remagen
On 7 March 1945, soldiers of the US 9th Armored Division reached Remagen and found the Ludendorff railway bridge across the Rhine still standing, despite German attempts to blow it. They rushed across, and for the first time the Allies had a foothold on the far bank of the great river. Ten days later the damaged bridge collapsed, but by then pontoons had been built and the war in the west had entered its last chapter. What remains today are the black stone towers on both banks, and those on the Remagen side house a small peace museum telling the story with honesty and without glorification.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 73 km into the recorded legs you reach Remagen. Next is Kottenforst Süd | Oben der Krayermaar.
4. Kottenforst Süd | Oben der Krayermaar
The southern Kottenforst is the Bonn locals' own backyard, and on a fine Sunday it feels like it. Tracks and rides cross the woodland in all directions, and the people on them are walkers, joggers, riders and families on bicycles rather than motorbikes. The name on the label, with its mention of a pond-like hollow called Maar, hints at the wet, clay-lined depressions that dot this plateau and hold water after rain. Underneath lie old Roman remains too, including part of the Eifel aqueduct that carried water toward Cologne, though you will see it only if you know where to look.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Watchtowers WP 1/89 to 1/92 closes the day.
Leg by leg
Watchtowers WP 1/89 to 1/92 to Watchtowers WP 1/41 to 1/50 including the
Watchtowers WP 1/89 to 1/92 → Watchtowers WP 1/41 to 1/50 including the is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtowers WP 1/41 to 1/50 including the to Remagen
Watchtowers WP 1/41 to 1/50 including the → Remagen is 39 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Remagen to Kottenforst Süd | Oben der Krayermaar
Remagen → Kottenforst Süd | Oben der Krayermaar is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Kottenforst Süd | Oben der Krayermaar to back through Remagen
Kottenforst Süd | Oben der Krayermaar → back through Remagen is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Remagen to back through Watchtowers WP 1/41 to 1/50 including the
back through Remagen → back through Watchtowers WP 1/41 to 1/50 including the is 39 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Watchtowers WP 1/41 to 1/50 including the to Watchtowers WP 1/89 to 1/92
back through Watchtowers WP 1/41 to 1/50 including the → Watchtowers WP 1/89 to 1/92 is 32 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.