Watchtowers WP WP 2/23 to 2/26 including f and Ruine Altenmuster
Plan this ride
Recorded distance
316 km
Riding-time estimate
4 h 32
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.
A 316 km round trip from Miehlen - roughly 4 h 32 in the saddle. On the way it passes Fort site and civil settlement of Saalburg, Ruine Altenmuster and back through Fort site and civil settlement of Saalburg. The line favours views over speed.
Scenic road chapters
Watchtowers WP WP 2/23 to 2/26 including f → Fort site and civil settl
Speed drops and stays down. Park rather than crawl through. 61 km through ground somebody thought worth listing. The road passes it rather than bypassing it.
Chapter facts
Length
68 km
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Watchtowers WP WP 2/23 to 2/26 including f
North of the Taunus ridge, the Limes crossed a high, open plateau between the Rhine and the Lahn, and the stretch with watchtowers 2/23 to 2/26 runs through the farmland and woods near Miehlen and Singhofen in the Rhein-Lahn district. The remains here are subtle, mostly low banks and the traces of towers in fields and forest edges, but the line of the frontier is marked by the long-distance Limes trail and information boards. This is part of the UNESCO Frontiers of the Roman Empire, a stretch of the line that few visitors ever see.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Watchtowers WP WP 2/23 to 2/26 including f is where the day begins. Next is Fort site and civil settlement of Saalburg.
2. Fort site and civil settlement of Saalburg
If you want to know what a Roman frontier fort actually looked like, this is the place. The Saalburg, on the ridge of the Taunus above Bad Homburg, is the only Limes fort in Germany rebuilt in full: walls, gates, towers, granary and the headquarters building, all standing again on their original foundations. The reconstruction was ordered by Kaiser Wilhelm II around 1900, who liked his Romans grand and imperial, and while archaeologists today debate some details, walking through the main gate is still a jolt.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Fort site and civil settlement of Saalburg comes up about 68 km into the recorded legs. Next is Ruine Altenmuster.
3. Ruine Altenmuster
Lorsch Abbey, founded in the eighth century, became one of the most powerful monasteries of the Carolingian empire, with vast estates, a famous library and the patronage of Charlemagne himself. Its first home, however, was not on the site of the later abbey, but a short distance away, on an island in the Weschnitz river, a place known as Altenmünster, the old minster. The ruins of that first foundation, a few low walls in a meadow, are a quiet counterpoint to the abbey's most famous building, the Torhalle, a gatehouse with a façade of red and white stone panels, one of the few surviving examples of Carolingian architecture. The abbey and Altenmünster together have been on the UNESCO list since 1991.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Watchtowers WP WP 2/23 to 2/26 including f. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Watchtowers WP WP 2/23 to 2/26 including f to Fort site and civil settlement of Saalburg
Watchtowers WP WP 2/23 to 2/26 including f → Fort site and civil settlement of Saalburg is 68 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Fort site and civil settlement of Saalburg to Ruine Altenmuster
Fort site and civil settlement of Saalburg → Ruine Altenmuster is 90 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Ruine Altenmuster to back through Fort site and civil settlement of Saalburg
Ruine Altenmuster → back through Fort site and civil settlement of Saalburg is 91 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Fort site and civil settlement of Saalburg to Watchtowers WP WP 2/23 to 2/26 including f
back through Fort site and civil settlement of Saalburg → Watchtowers WP WP 2/23 to 2/26 including f is 67 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.