Vineyards climb above the Bopparder Hamm as the route follows the Rhine through Spay and Rhens towards Koblenz. Marksburg Castle stands across the river; further on, Stolzenfels rises above the western bank. In Koblenz, the route crosses the Rhine and runs beneath Ehrenbreitstein Fortress towards Vallendar. Here the sustained climb into the Westerwald begins. Woodland replaces the vineyards, and the road keeps rising and falling between villages. Höhr-Grenzhausen and Ransbach-Baumbach lie in the Kannenbäckerland, a pottery region shaped by its clay deposits. Beyond them, open uplands and wooded valleys lead towards Bad Marienberg. Across roughly 72 kilometres, the route climbs from the narrow Rhine valley into a landscape of higher pastures, forests and scattered villages.
