Why this ride
A 79 km round trip from Miehlen - roughly 1 h 26 in the saddle. It goes by way of Watchtowers WP 2/5 to 2/6, Watchtower WP 1/73 and back through Watchtowers WP 2/5 to 2/6.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Watchtowers WP WP 2/23 to 2/26 including f and Watchtower WP 1/73
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 79 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 1 h 26
- 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
Rhine Romantic Route
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For about 21 km this is Rhine Romantic Route, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 21 km
- Named road
- Rhine Romantic Route
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.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP WP 2/23 to 2/26 including f write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
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 Watchtowers WP 2/5 to 2/6.
2. Watchtowers WP 2/5 to 2/6
WP 2/5 and 2/6 sound like spare parts, but they are the numbers archaeologists gave to two watchtower positions on the Upper Germanic-Raetian Limes, the fortified frontier Rome drew across southern Germany. Here, in the hills above the Lahn near Bad Ems, the line ran up from the Rhine and over the high ground, and every few hundred metres a tower stood with a view to the next. Today most of what survives are low mounds, traces of the bank and ditch, and in some places a reconstructed tower to give you scale. The whole frontier became part of the UNESCO Frontiers of the Roman Empire in 2005.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 2/5 to 2/6 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Watchtowers WP 2/5 to 2/6 comes up about 21 km into the recorded legs. Next is Watchtower WP 1/73.
3. Watchtower WP 1/73
The Roman frontier in Germany starts at the Rhine near Rheinbrohl and climbs into the hills of the Westerwald, and Watchtower WP 1/73, near Hillscheid, belongs to that first stretch. The numbers tell you where you are: section one, tower seventy-three. All that survives is a low mound in the woods, but in the second and third centuries it was a stone tower with a view over the frontier line and, behind it, the palisade and ditch that ran across the landscape. The Upper Germanic-Raetian Limes has been part of the UNESCO Frontiers of the Roman Empire since 2005, and this is where it all begins.
Read the complete Watchtower WP 1/73 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 40 km into the recorded legs you reach Watchtower WP 1/73. Next is back through Watchtowers WP 2/5 to 2/6.
4. back through Watchtowers WP 2/5 to 2/6
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 2/5 to 2/6 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Watchtowers WP 2/5 to 2/6, late in the day. Next is Watchtowers WP WP 2/23 to 2/26 including f.
5. Watchtowers WP WP 2/23 to 2/26 including f
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP WP 2/23 to 2/26 including f 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 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 Watchtowers WP 2/5 to 2/6
Watchtowers WP WP 2/23 to 2/26 including f → Watchtowers WP 2/5 to 2/6 is 21 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtowers WP 2/5 to 2/6 to Watchtower WP 1/73
Watchtowers WP 2/5 to 2/6 → Watchtower WP 1/73 is 19 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtower WP 1/73 to back through Watchtowers WP 2/5 to 2/6
Watchtower WP 1/73 → back through Watchtowers WP 2/5 to 2/6 is 21 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Watchtowers WP 2/5 to 2/6 to Watchtowers WP WP 2/23 to 2/26 including f
back through Watchtowers WP 2/5 to 2/6 → Watchtowers WP WP 2/23 to 2/26 including f is 18 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.