Why this ride
300 km from Miehlen to Miehlen, about 5 h 01 of riding. On the way it passes Watchtower WP 1/64, Limes section between watchtowers WP 1/2 a, Watchtower WP 1/65 and Watchtowers WP 1/1 to 1/2. A steady touring day rather than a sprint.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Watchtowers WP WP 2/23 to 2/26 including f and Watchtowers WP 1/1 to 1/2
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 300 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 5 h 01
- 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
Moselle Wine Route
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For about 39 km this is Moselle Wine Route, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 39 km
- Named road
- Moselle Wine 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 Watchtower WP 1/64.
2. Watchtower WP 1/64
Höhr-Grenzhausen smells of clay and fire. The town, in the Westerwald hills north east of Koblenz, is the heart of the Kannenbäckerland, the jug-bakers' land, where potters have been making salt-glazed stoneware for centuries, with its characteristic grey body and cobalt blue decoration. Westerwald stoneware jugs, mugs and pots were exported across Europe and beyond, and the craft is still alive today, with workshops, a ceramics museum and a college for ceramic design. The Roman frontier ran right past the town, and the site of watchtower WP 1/64, near Höhr-Grenzhausen, is one of the many traces of the Upper German Limes, part of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire World Heritage Site.
Read the complete Watchtower WP 1/64 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Watchtower WP 1/64 comes up about 39 km into the recorded legs. Next is Limes section between watchtowers WP 1/2 a.
3. Limes section between watchtowers WP 1/2 a
Two thousand years ago, the frontier of the Roman Empire in Germany began right here. The Upper Germanic-Raetian Limes, a line of watchtowers, forts, palisades and ditches stretching more than five hundred kilometres to the Danube, started on the right bank of the Rhine at Rheinbrohl, and the watchtowers numbered WP 1/1 and onwards marched away from the river into the wooded hills. This little section between Rheinbrohl and Bad Hönningen is the very beginning of the line, part of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire World Heritage site.
Read the complete Limes section between watchtowers WP 1/2 a write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 72 km into the recorded legs you reach Limes section between watchtowers WP 1/2 a. Next is Watchtower WP 1/65.
4. Watchtower WP 1/65
Höhr-Grenzhausen is the capital of the Kannenbäckerland, the jug-bakers' land, a corner of the Westerwald where the clay is so good that people have been making pots from it for five hundred years. The grey stoneware, fired at high temperature and decorated in cobalt blue, was exported across Europe in the form of jugs, tankards and bottles, and the workshops and kilns still fill the town. The German Ceramics Museum in Höhr-Grenzhausen is one of the best of its kind, with objects from medieval jugs to modern art.
Read the complete Watchtower WP 1/65 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Watchtower WP 1/65, about halfway. Next is Watchtowers WP 1/1 to 1/2.
5. Watchtowers WP 1/1 to 1/2
This is where it all begins, or ends, depending on which way you are walking. At Rheinbrohl, on the east bank of the Rhine between Bonn and Koblenz, the Upper Germanic-Raetian Limes left the river and struck out across country, running more than five hundred kilometres to the Danube near Regensburg. The first watchtowers, numbered 1/1 and 1/2, stood here near the river, and the line can be followed into the hills from the edge of the village. The whole frontier is part of the UNESCO Frontiers of the Roman Empire, and Rheinbrohl has a modern museum, the RömerWelt, which brings the frontier to life with reconstructions, exhibits and hands-on activities.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 1/1 to 1/2 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Watchtowers WP 1/1 to 1/2 sits at 139 km, about halfway. Next is back through Watchtower WP 1/65.
6. back through Watchtower WP 1/65
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Watchtower WP 1/65 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Watchtower WP 1/65 comes up about 189 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Limes section between watchtowers WP 1/2 a.
7. back through Limes section between watchtowers WP 1/2 a
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Limes section between watchtowers WP 1/2 a write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 226 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Limes section between watchtowers WP 1/2 a. Next is back through Watchtower WP 1/64.
8. back through Watchtower WP 1/64
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Watchtower WP 1/64 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Watchtower WP 1/64, late in the day. Next is Watchtowers WP WP 2/23 to 2/26 including f.
9. 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
The route ends here after 300 km.
Leg by leg
Watchtowers WP WP 2/23 to 2/26 including f to Watchtower WP 1/64
Watchtowers WP WP 2/23 to 2/26 including f → Watchtower WP 1/64 is 39 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtower WP 1/64 to Limes section between watchtowers WP 1/2 a
Watchtower WP 1/64 → Limes section between watchtowers WP 1/2 a is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Limes section between watchtowers WP 1/2 a to Watchtower WP 1/65
Limes section between watchtowers WP 1/2 a → Watchtower WP 1/65 is 39 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtower WP 1/65 to Watchtowers WP 1/1 to 1/2
Watchtower WP 1/65 → Watchtowers WP 1/1 to 1/2 is 40 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtowers WP 1/1 to 1/2 to back through Watchtower WP 1/65
Watchtowers WP 1/1 to 1/2 → back through Watchtower WP 1/65 is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Watchtower WP 1/65 to back through Limes section between watchtowers WP 1/2 a
back through Watchtower WP 1/65 → back through Limes section between watchtowers WP 1/2 a is 37 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Limes section between watchtowers WP 1/2 a to back through Watchtower WP 1/64
back through Limes section between watchtowers WP 1/2 a → back through Watchtower WP 1/64 is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Watchtower WP 1/64 to Watchtowers WP WP 2/23 to 2/26 including f
back through Watchtower WP 1/64 → Watchtowers WP WP 2/23 to 2/26 including f is 41 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.