Weltenburg‐Am Galget - Kleinkastell and Fort site and civil settlement of Kösching starting at Kelheim
Plan this ride
Recorded distance
198 km
Riding-time estimate
3 h 47
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.
From Kelheim it runs 198 km to Kelheim; allow about 3 h 47 of riding. The stops in between: Watchtowers WP 15/11 to 15/26 and fortlets, Fort site and civil settlement of Pfünz, Fort site and civil settlement of Kösching and back through Fort site and civil settlement of Pfünz.
Scenic road chapters
Weltenburg‐Am Galget - Kleinkastell → Watchtowers WP 15/11 to 15/26 an
Speed drops and stays down. Park rather than crawl through. 25 km through ground somebody thought worth listing. The road passes it rather than bypassing it.
Chapter facts
Length
32 km
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Weltenburg‐Am Galget - Kleinkastell
The Danube does something unexpected just upstream of Kelheim. Instead of wandering across flat Bavarian farmland, it cuts straight through a band of white Jurassic limestone, squeezed between cliffs that rise steeply from the water. This is the Weltenburg Narrows, and on the hill above the abbey at Weltenburg, at the spot called Am Galget, the Romans put a small fort to watch the river and the frontier.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Weltenburg‐Am Galget - Kleinkastell is where the day begins. Next is Watchtowers WP 15/11 to 15/26 and fortlets.
2. 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
Watchtowers WP 15/11 to 15/26 and fortlets comes up about 32 km into the recorded legs. Next is Fort site and civil settlement of Pfünz.
3. Fort site and civil settlement of Pfünz
Above the village of Pfünz, on a spur of white Jura limestone looking down into the Altmühl valley, the Romans built a fort they called Vetoniana. Today a reconstructed gate and a stretch of wall stand on the hilltop, and from up there you understand the choice at once: the valley floor curls below you, the river meanders slowly, and anyone moving along it would have been seen hours before they arrived.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 74 km into the recorded legs you reach Fort site and civil settlement of Pfünz. Next is Fort site and civil settlement of Kösching.
4. 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
Weltenburg‐Am Galget - Kleinkastell closes the day.
Leg by leg
Weltenburg‐Am Galget - Kleinkastell to Watchtowers WP 15/11 to 15/26 and fortlets
Weltenburg‐Am Galget - Kleinkastell → Watchtowers WP 15/11 to 15/26 and fortlets is 32 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtowers WP 15/11 to 15/26 and fortlets to Fort site and civil settlement of Pfünz
Watchtowers WP 15/11 to 15/26 and fortlets → Fort site and civil settlement of Pfünz is 42 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Fort site and civil settlement of Pfünz to Fort site and civil settlement of Kösching
Fort site and civil settlement of Pfünz → Fort site and civil settlement of Kösching is 25 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Fort site and civil settlement of Kösching to back through Fort site and civil settlement of Pfünz
Fort site and civil settlement of Kösching → back through Fort site and civil settlement of Pfünz is 25 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Fort site and civil settlement of Pfünz to back through Watchtowers WP 15/11 to 15/26 and fortlets
back through Fort site and civil settlement of Pfünz → back through Watchtowers WP 15/11 to 15/26 and fortlets is 42 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Watchtowers WP 15/11 to 15/26 and fortlets to Weltenburg‐Am Galget - Kleinkastell
back through Watchtowers WP 15/11 to 15/26 and fortlets → Weltenburg‐Am Galget - Kleinkastell is 32 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.