Why this ride
A 253 km round trip from Altenstadt - roughly 2 h 54 in the saddle. On the way it passes Mathildenhöhe Darmstadt, Watchtower WP 3/23* and back through Mathildenhöhe Darmstadt.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Watchtowers WP 4/82 to 5/8 including fortl and Watchtower WP 3/23*
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 253 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 2 h 54
- 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
German Fairy Tale Route
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For about 67 km this is German Fairy Tale Route, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 67 km
- Named road
- German Fairy Tale Route
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Watchtowers WP 4/82 to 5/8 including fortl
Out here on the eastern rim of the Wetterau, between Altenstadt, Hammersbach and the Büdingen forest, the Roman frontier did something unusual. Having come over the Taunus and swung north around the fertile plain, the Limes turned and ran almost due south towards the Main, enclosing the Wetterau like a hand cupped around something precious. The towers numbered WP 4/82 to 5/8, along with small fortlets, guarded this eastern flank, and their remains lie in fields and woodland edges where only a shallow bank or a marker stone gives them away.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 4/82 to 5/8 including fortl write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Watchtowers WP 4/82 to 5/8 including fortl is where the day begins. Next is Mathildenhöhe Darmstadt.
2. Mathildenhöhe Darmstadt
On a low hill above Darmstadt, at the very end of the nineteenth century, the young Grand Duke Ernst Ludwig of Hesse decided to gather artists and let them build a new way of living. The Mathildenhöhe became an artists' colony from 1899, and its buildings are some of the best Jugendstil, the German Art Nouveau, anywhere. UNESCO listed the ensemble in 2021. Joseph Maria Olbrich designed most of the first generation, including the exhibition hall and the tall Wedding Tower, with its fingers of brick at the top, finished in 1908 as a gift for the Grand Duke's marriage.
Read the complete Mathildenhöhe Darmstadt write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Mathildenhöhe Darmstadt comes up about 67 km into the recorded legs. Next is Watchtower WP 3/23*.
3. Watchtower WP 3/23*
On the wooded ridges near Idstein, the Taunus Limes crossed some of its highest and most remote ground, and Watchtower WP 3/23 is one of the many sites along this stretch. The asterisk in the official label suggests a site whose exact location is uncertain or reconstructed from survey work, which is common along the frontier, where many towers survive only as faint mounds in the forest. Still, walking the Limes trail here, with the bank and ditch running through the beech woods, gives a real sense of the Roman border.
Read the complete Watchtower WP 3/23* write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 122 km into the recorded legs you reach Watchtower WP 3/23*. Next is back through Mathildenhöhe Darmstadt.
4. back through Mathildenhöhe Darmstadt
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Mathildenhöhe Darmstadt write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Mathildenhöhe Darmstadt, late in the day. Next is Watchtowers WP 4/82 to 5/8 including fortl.
5. Watchtowers WP 4/82 to 5/8 including fortl
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 4/82 to 5/8 including fortl write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Watchtowers WP 4/82 to 5/8 including fortl. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Watchtowers WP 4/82 to 5/8 including fortl to Mathildenhöhe Darmstadt
Watchtowers WP 4/82 to 5/8 including fortl → Mathildenhöhe Darmstadt is 67 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Mathildenhöhe Darmstadt to Watchtower WP 3/23*
Mathildenhöhe Darmstadt → Watchtower WP 3/23* is 55 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtower WP 3/23* to back through Mathildenhöhe Darmstadt
Watchtower WP 3/23* → back through Mathildenhöhe Darmstadt is 64 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Mathildenhöhe Darmstadt to Watchtowers WP 4/82 to 5/8 including fortl
back through Mathildenhöhe Darmstadt → Watchtowers WP 4/82 to 5/8 including fortl is 68 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.