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River

Alzette

73 km from source to mouth · Luxembourg and France.

LuxembourgFranceLuxembourg and FranceFlows into Sauer2nd longest in Luxembourg

Follow the riverMonth by month

SourceMouthLuxembourg
The river and every tributary in its basin, drawn from RiverATLAS (CC BY 4.0).

In numbers

Length

73km

Average flow

14m³/s

Basin

1,172km²

Drop

74m

from 271 m to 197 m

Countries

2

The journey

From source to mouth

73 km of river and 52 stops on the way: 44 towns and cities on its banks, dams, bridges and the tributaries that feed it.

271 m197 m
Sourceat 271 m0 km
Bettembourg7,437 people8 km
Alzingen2,988 people18 km
Bonnevoie-Sud13,372 people25 km
Luxembourg137,678 people28 km
Walferdange7,819 people37 km
Steinsel1,879 people39 km
Eischtributary52 km
Mersch3,464 people52 km
Atterttributary66 km
Sauerat 197 m73 km
020406073 km
  1. 0 kmSourceat 271 m
  2. 0 kmBergem1,575 people
  3. 2 kmNoertzange1,072 people
  4. 8 kmBettembourg7,437 people
  5. 13 kmCrauthem1,632 people
  6. 14 kmBivange1,107 people
  7. 18 kmFentange2,705 people
  8. 18 kmAlzingen2,988 people
  9. 19 kmHesperange1,937 people
  10. 22 kmHowald5,815 people
  11. 23 kmItzig2,414 people
  12. 25 kmHamm1,557 people
  13. 25 kmBonnevoie-Sud13,372 people
  14. 26 kmBonnevoie-Nord-Verlorenkost4,582 people
  15. 27 kmCents6,517 people
  16. 27 kmClausen1,052 people
  17. 27 kmPulvermuhl Viaduct
  18. 27 kmGare11,360 people
  19. 28 kmClausen Viaduct
  20. 28 kmStierchen
  21. 28 kmPfaffenthal Viaduct
  22. 28 kmHollerich7,781 people
  23. 28 kmLuxembourg137,678 people
  24. 28 kmVille Haute3,449 people
  25. 29 kmPfaffenthal1,343 people
  26. 29 kmBeinchen Bridge
  27. 29 kmGrand Duchess Charlotte Bridge
  28. 29 kmBelair12,990 people
  29. 29 kmLimpertsberg11,521 people
  30. 30 kmWeimerskirch2,480 people
  31. 30 kmMuhlenbach2,497 people
  32. 31 kmEich2,976 people
  33. 31 kmKirchberg10,725 people
  34. 32 kmDommeldange3,012 people
  35. 34 kmBeggen3,954 people
  36. 35 kmHelmsange3,118 people
  37. 36 kmBéreldange4,665 people
  38. 37 kmWalferdange7,819 people
  39. 39 kmSteinsel1,879 people
  40. 39 kmHeisdorf1,586 people
  41. 40 kmMüllendorf1,239 people
  42. 42 kmBofferdange1,152 people
  43. 47 kmLintgen1,752 people
  44. 51 kmRollingen2,245 people
  45. 52 kmReckange1,046 people
  46. 52 kmEischtributary
  47. 52 kmMersch3,464 people
  48. 54 kmBeringen1,199 people
  49. 65 kmColmar1,776 people
  50. 66 kmAtterttributary
  51. 68 kmSchieren1,397 people
  52. 70 kmWarken1,554 people
  53. 71 kmEttelbruck6,364 people
  54. 73 kmSauerat 197 m

Water level along the river (RiverATLAS; the height is exaggerated). Towns: GeoNames and Wikidata; bridges, dams and tributaries: Wikidata.

River of France and Luxembourg

At the mouth it carries 14 m³/s on average: an Olympic pool every 175 seconds. It drops from 271 m to 197 m, 1.0 m per kilometre on average. Its basin covers 1,172 km², about the size of MQ. 355,000 people live in it. Highest water: from December to January. No large dam holds it back: it is one of the world's free-flowing rivers.

Read more on Wikipedia

Where to start

  • LuxembourgLargest city on its banks · 137,678 people
  • Luxembourg-Findel International Airport (LUX)Nearest airport with scheduled flights, 6 km from the cityCar hire at LUX airport (Luxembourg)Discover Cars · Affiliate link
  • On the water1 ferry piers, marinas, boat rentals and boat ramps along the river (OpenStreetMap)
  • From May to SeptemberThe best months to visit

Alzette, month by month

Highest water: from December to January

Best months to visit: from May to September.

22
1°68 mmJan
15
2°56 mmFeb
12
5°63 mmMar
5.8
8°53 mmApr
5.8
12°70 mmMay
4.7
16°70 mmJun
4.7
17°74 mmJul
4.7
17°71 mmAug
5.2
14°64 mmSep
9.2
9°67 mmOct
20
4°80 mmNov
25
2°78 mmDec
Water (estimated flow)Air (average) Rain (mm)Best months

From about 4.7 m³/s in the lowest month to 25 m³/s in the highest. An estimate: the monthly flow is modelled from the lowest and highest months of WaterGAP (RiverATLAS, 1971–2000) and the rain and snow along the river (WorldClim). Dams change the real rhythm. The chip is the average air temperature; below it, the month's rain.

Plan the trip

Plan the trip: boat trips, a bed by the river, a car

Car hire at LUX airport (Luxembourg)Discover CarsSee 

Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.

The basin

Alzette: the basin in numbers

1,164 km² of land send their water to this river. This is what lives on it.

Free-flowingDams upstream can hold only 0.0% of a year's flow: the river still keeps its natural rhythm.
  • 355,000people live in the basin
  • 304/km²people per km²
  • 336maverage altitude of the basin
  • 864mmof rain a year (basin average)
  • 8.9°Caverage air temperature
  • 20%protected areas

What covers the basin

  • 23% Forest
  • 29% Cropland
  • 24% Pasture
  • 21% Towns and cities

RiverATLAS (HydroATLAS v1.0, CC BY 4.0): land cover, people, protected areas, glaciers and dams over the whole basin upstream of the mouth.

Along the river

Alzette: what you find on the way

  • 10Dams
  • 32Weirs
  • 1Waterfalls
  • 1Boat ramps

From OpenStreetMap, within 1.2 km of the river. Not mapped is not the same as not there.

Cross-checked with our atlases

Alzette in our other atlases

What our sister atlases know about the waterfalls on this river, the lakes it flows through, the beaches at its mouth, the mountains where it rises and the islands off its mouth.

  • 5mountains at the sourcePeakyas

Mountains at the source (5)

Within 15 km of the source, by Peakyas

  1. Mont St. Jean7.5 km away410m
  2. Gaalgebierg2.1 km away401m
  3. Zolwerknapp5.4 km away422m
  4. Titelberg9.7 km away397m
  5. Tattebierg8.7 km away316m

Open Peakyas ↗

From space

The source and the mouth, seen from orbit

Alzette: satellite view of the source
The source14 km across
Alzette: satellite view of the mouth
The mouth10 km across

Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX IT Services GmbH (contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2016), CC BY 4.0. The glowing line is the river as drawn by RiverATLAS.

Photos

Alzette in pictures

Fussgängerbrücke im Park Mersch am Zusammfluss von Alzette und Eisch 01
MMFE · CC BY-SA 4.0
Zusammfluss von Alzette und Mamer in Mersch 01
MMFE · CC BY-SA 4.0

Tributaries

Where it flows, and what flows into it

It flows into

SauerGermanyGermany173 km220 m³/s

Tributaries (9)

EischLuxembourgLuxembourg50 km5.9 m³/sjoins at km 35

Also: Attert, Mamer, Mess, Wark, Keelbach, Mierbech River, Dipbech, Kiemelbach

In the same basin

RhineThe NetherlandsThe Netherlands1,233 km2,200 m³/sMoselleGermanyGermany544 km320 m³/sMainGermanyGermany524 km200 m³/sAareSwitzerlandSwitzerland295 km560 m³/sNeckarGermanyGermany362 km140 m³/sLahnGermanyGermany242 km54 m³/sRuhrGermanyGermany217 km79 m³/sSaarGermanyGermany246 km78 m³/sLippeGermanyGermany255 km240 m³/sReussSwitzerlandSwitzerland159 km130 m³/s

Nearby

Rivers nearby

SaarGermanyGermany246 km78 m³/s36 km awayOurLuxembourgLuxembourg96 km9.4 m³/s13 km awayEischLuxembourgLuxembourg50 km5.9 m³/s11 km awayMoselleGermanyGermany544 km320 m³/s122 km awayLahnGermanyGermany242 km54 m³/s123 km awayChiersFranceFrance112 km31 m³/s84 km awaySemoisFranceFrance210 km35 m³/s99 km awayOurtheBelgiumBelgium165 km55 m³/s94 km away

Where these numbers come from

Name, length, placesWikidata (Q450722) · CC0
Course, profile, basinRiverATLAS v1.0 (HydroATLAS, Linke et al. 2019) · CC BY 4.0 — followed from the source to the mouth given by Wikidata
FlowWaterGAP (RiverATLAS), 1971–2000 · CC BY 4.0
Climate along the riverWorldClim (RiverATLAS), 1970–2000 · CC BY 4.0
Towns, bridges, damsWikidata · CC0; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0
Along the river© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
ImagesEOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons
Our other atlasesPeakyas — Wikidata · CC0; © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0; HydroLAKES · CC BY 4.0; NOAA OISST

Every source and licence is on the data sources page.

The family

Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers or canyons?

Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, month by month, in seven languages.

beachesCoastyaFind your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit
lakesLakeyasEvery lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Coming soonVisit
mountainsPeakyasEvery summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit
waterfallsCascadyasEvery waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Coming soonVisit
islandsIslandyasEvery island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.Coming soonVisit
riversRiveryasEvery river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.You are here
canyonsCanyonyasEvery canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Coming soonVisit