Watchtowers WP 14/63 to 14/78 including fo and Watchtowers WP 15/11 to 15/26 and fortlets
Plan this ride
Recorded distance
138 km
Riding-time estimate
2 h 20
Journey
Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
The recorded total and the leg detail need reconciliation. Inspect the leg notes before using this record for timing or navigation. 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.
From Greding it runs 138 km to Greding; allow about 2 h 20 of riding. The stops in between: Watchtowers WP 15/8 to 15/10, Fort site and civil settlement of Kösching, Fort site and civil settlement of Pfoerrin and Watchtowers WP 15/11 to 15/26 and fortlets.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Watchtowers WP 14/63 to 14/78 including fo
Between Greding and Eichstätt, the Raetian Limes runs across the high Franconian Jura plateau, and the names on the map, WP 14/63 to 14/78, are archaeologists' shorthand for a sequence of Roman watchtower sites along this section of the frontier. The Raetian Limes was the wall part of the Upper German-Raetian Limes, inscribed by UNESCO as part of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire. Here, the Romans built a stone wall rather than the timber palisade used further west. Locals later called the remains the Teufelsmauer, the Devil's Wall, believing nothing human could have built it.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Watchtowers WP 14/63 to 14/78 including fo is where the day begins. Next is Watchtowers WP 15/8 to 15/10.
2. Watchtowers WP 15/8 to 15/10
The Raetian Limes, the eastern stretch of Rome's frontier in Germany, was built differently from its western counterpart. Instead of a wooden palisade, the Romans eventually raised a stone wall here, running for over a hundred and sixty kilometres across what is now Bavaria, towards the Danube. Locals later called it the Teufelsmauer, the Devil's Wall, convinced that only a demon could have built something so long. Watchtowers stood along it every few hundred metres, and the group between WP 15/8 and 15/10, in the hills between Greding and Dietfurt, is part of the UNESCO World Heritage site of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire. In places, low remains of the wall and towers can be traced in the forest and fields.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Watchtowers WP 15/8 to 15/10 comes up 18 km in. Next is Fort site and civil settlement of Kösching.
3. Fort site and civil settlement of Kösching
North of the Danube, on the edge of the Franconian Jura, the Romans built a string of forts behind the Raetian frontier to guard the river valley and the roads leading to it. Kösching, today a market town near Ingolstadt, was the site of one of them, an auxiliary fort with a civilian settlement around it, home to craftsmen, traders and the families of soldiers. Little is visible today, as the modern town has grown over it, but the site is part of the UNESCO Frontiers of the Roman Empire. The Danube valley was a busy corridor in Roman times, and remains so today.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
37 km in you reach Fort site and civil settlement of Kösching. Next is Fort site and civil settlement of Pfoerrin.
4. Fort site and civil settlement of Pfoerrin
Between Ingolstadt and Kelheim, the Danube flows through a broad, flat valley in Bavaria, with hop gardens, fields of maize and asparagus beds on its banks. Pförring is a small market town on the north bank, with Neustadt an der Donau and Vohburg on the other side. In Roman times, this was the frontier: the Raetian Limes ended at the Danube just downstream, and the Romans built a fort here, known as Celeusum, with a civil settlement outside its walls.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Fort site and civil settlement of Pfoerrin, about halfway. Next is Watchtowers WP 15/11 to 15/26 and fortlets.
5. Watchtowers WP 15/11 to 15/26 and fortlets
The Altmühl valley in Bavaria is one of Germany's best kept riding secrets, a winding river valley cut deep into Jurassic limestone, lined with juniper heaths, rock towers and castles. Near where the valley meets the Danube, the Roman frontier, the Raetian Limes, ran across the land, and the stretch of watchtowers and small forts numbered WP 15/11 to 15/26 lies in the wooded hills here, between Riedenburg, Dietfurt and the Danube town of Vohburg.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 138 km.
Leg by leg
Watchtowers WP 14/63 to 14/78 including fo to Watchtowers WP 15/8 to 15/10
Watchtowers WP 14/63 to 14/78 including fo → Watchtowers WP 15/8 to 15/10 is 19 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtowers WP 15/8 to 15/10 to Fort site and civil settlement of Kösching
Watchtowers WP 15/8 to 15/10 → Fort site and civil settlement of Kösching is 20 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Fort site and civil settlement of Kösching to Fort site and civil settlement of Pfoerrin
Fort site and civil settlement of Kösching → Fort site and civil settlement of Pfoerrin is 18 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Fort site and civil settlement of Pfoerrin to Watchtowers WP 15/11 to 15/26 and fortlets
Fort site and civil settlement of Pfoerrin → Watchtowers WP 15/11 to 15/26 and fortlets is 17 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtowers WP 15/11 to 15/26 and fortlets to back through Fort site and civil settlement of Pfoerrin
Watchtowers WP 15/11 to 15/26 and fortlets → back through Fort site and civil settlement of Pfoerrin is 17 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Fort site and civil settlement of Pfoerrin to back through Fort site and civil settlement of Kösching
back through Fort site and civil settlement of Pfoerrin → back through Fort site and civil settlement of Kösching is 18 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Fort site and civil settlement of Kösching to back through Watchtowers WP 15/8 to 15/10
back through Fort site and civil settlement of Kösching → back through Watchtowers WP 15/8 to 15/10 is 20 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Watchtowers WP 15/8 to 15/10 to Watchtowers WP 14/63 to 14/78 including fo
back through Watchtowers WP 15/8 to 15/10 → Watchtowers WP 14/63 to 14/78 including fo is 19 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.