Watchtowers WP 13/16 to 13/36 including fo and Watchtowers WP 9/36 to 9/68
Plan this ride
Recorded distance
282 km
Riding-time estimate
5 h 03
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.
From Wassertrüdingen it runs 282 km to Wassertrüdingen; allow about 5 h 03 of riding. On the way it passes Watchtowers WP 12/60 to 12/68, Watchtowers WP 9/36 to 9/68 and back through Watchtowers WP 12/60 to 12/68. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
Scenic road chapters
Romantic Road
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For about 75 km this is Romantic Road, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Chapter facts
Length
75 km
Named road
Romantic Road
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Watchtowers WP 13/16 to 13/36 including fo
The Raetian Limes ran across southern Franconia as a stone wall, and between Wassertrüdingen and Gunzenhausen it climbed over low hills and crossed the valleys of small rivers, with watchtowers at regular intervals. The group from WP 13/16 to 13/36 includes the sites of several towers and a fortlet, now visible as low mounds and foundations, sometimes with reconstructions, and they are part of the Upper German-Raetian Limes World Heritage listing. In the woods and fields, a line of stones or a slight bank may mark the course of the wall.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Watchtowers WP 13/16 to 13/36 including fo is where the day begins. Next is Watchtowers WP 12/60 to 12/68.
2. Watchtowers WP 12/60 to 12/68
The Roman frontier wall known as the Limes ran for more than five hundred kilometres across what is now southern Germany, from the Rhine to the Danube, and near Aalen it passed through the Kocher valley and over the hills of the Ostalb. Along its length, watchtowers were built at regular intervals, numbered by archaeologists in sequence: WP 12/60 to 12/68 are a group of tower sites near Hüttlingen, mostly now visible as low mounds or reconstructed foundations. The Upper Germanic-Raetian Limes was inscribed by UNESCO in 2005 as part of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Watchtowers WP 12/60 to 12/68 comes up about 75 km into the recorded legs. Next is Watchtowers WP 9/36 to 9/68.
3. Watchtowers WP 9/36 to 9/68
Between Öhringen and Mainhardt, the Upper German Limes does something a Roman engineer must have been proud of: it runs dead straight for many kilometres, up hill and down dale, ignoring the terrain as if drawn with a ruler on a map. The watchtower sites numbered along this section lie on that line, in the Hohenlohe country of northern Württemberg, between the open farmland around Pfedelbach and the dark wooded hills of the Swabian-Franconian Forest.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Watchtowers WP 13/16 to 13/36 including fo. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Watchtowers WP 13/16 to 13/36 including fo to Watchtowers WP 12/60 to 12/68
Watchtowers WP 13/16 to 13/36 including fo → Watchtowers WP 12/60 to 12/68 is 75 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtowers WP 12/60 to 12/68 to Watchtowers WP 9/36 to 9/68
Watchtowers WP 12/60 to 12/68 → Watchtowers WP 9/36 to 9/68 is 66 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Watchtowers WP 9/36 to 9/68 to back through Watchtowers WP 12/60 to 12/68
Watchtowers WP 9/36 to 9/68 → back through Watchtowers WP 12/60 to 12/68 is 65 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Watchtowers WP 12/60 to 12/68 to Watchtowers WP 13/16 to 13/36 including fo
back through Watchtowers WP 12/60 to 12/68 → Watchtowers WP 13/16 to 13/36 including fo is 75 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.