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River

Rhône

812 km from source to mouth · France and Switzerland.

FranceSwitzerlandFrance and SwitzerlandFlows into Mediterranean Sea2nd longest in France

Follow the riverMonth by month

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

In numbers

Length

812km

Average flow

1,800m³/s

Basin

98,000km²

Drop

1,352m

from 1,351 m to -1 m

Countries

2

The journey

From source to mouth

812 km of river and 68 stops on the way: 49 towns and cities on its banks, dams, bridges and the tributaries that feed it.

1,351 m-1 m
Rhone Glacierat 1,351 m0 km
Sion37,154 people97 km
Geneva209,061 people239 km
Vernier34,774 people243 km
Villeurbanne163,684 people438 km
Lyon519,127 people442 km
Bourg-lès-Valence19,992 people555 km
Valence64,458 people557 km
Avignon92,188 people687 km
Mediterranean Seaat -1 m812 km
0200400600812 km
  1. 0 kmRhone Glacierat 1,351 m
  2. 39 kmSaltinatributary
  3. 40 kmBrig-Glis13,109 people
  4. 43 kmMundbachtributary
  5. 50 kmVispatributary
  6. 72 kmIllgrabentributary
  7. 80 kmRaspilletributary
  8. 80 kmNavizencetributary
  9. 80 kmSierre17,829 people
  10. 93 kmLiennetributary
  11. 93 kmBorgnetributary
  12. 93 kmMorgetributary
  13. 97 kmSion37,154 people
  14. 125 kmMartigny22,247 people
  15. 127 kmDrancetributary
  16. 146 kmMonthey17,777 people
  17. 153 kmAigle11,752 people
  18. 239 kmLake Geneva572 km²
  19. 239 kmGeneva209,061 people
  20. 241 kmLancy37,259 people
  21. 243 kmVernier34,774 people
  22. 243 kmOnex18,977 people
  23. 246 kmArvetributary
  24. 256 kmChallex1,632 people
  25. 277 kmBellegarde-sur-Valserine11,965 people
  26. 281 kmBilliat713 people
  27. 288 kmCascade du Pain de sucre de Surjoux
  28. 294 kmLes Ussestributary
  29. 299 kmFiertributary
  30. 301 kmAnglefort1,174 people
  31. 309 kmCuloz3,416 people
  32. 313 kmLac du Bourget43 km²
  33. 331 kmBrens1,123 people
  34. 372 kmBriord1,119 people
  35. 388 kmLagnieu7,411 people
  36. 406 kmLoyettes3,554 people
  37. 417 kmBalan3,077 people
  38. 424 kmMeyzieu36,687 people
  39. 426 kmBeynost5,198 people
  40. 428 kmSaint-Maurice-de-Beynost4,332 people
  41. 430 kmMiribel10,395 people
  42. 432 kmLac des Eaux Bleues3.1 km²
  43. 433 kmVaulx-en-Velin53,069 people
  44. 433 kmDécines-Charpieu29,877 people
  45. 435 kmRillieux-la-Pape31,389 people
  46. 438 kmVilleurbanne163,684 people
  47. 440 kmCaluire-et-Cuire43,597 people
  48. 442 kmLyon519,127 people
  49. 443 kmLyon 03102,725 people
  50. 448 kmOullins38,168 people
  51. 465 kmGivors21,379 people
  52. 476 kmVienne31,778 people
  53. 539 kmTournon-sur-Rhône11,279 people
  54. 555 kmBourg-lès-Valence19,992 people
  55. 557 kmGuilherand-Granges11,235 people
  56. 557 kmValence64,458 people
  57. 607 kmMontélimar40,595 people
  58. 628 kmPierrelatte13,756 people
  59. 630 kmBourg-Saint-Andéol7,661 people
  60. 643 kmPont-Saint-Esprit10,958 people
  61. 669 kmOrange29,706 people
  62. 681 kmSorgues19,006 people
  63. 686 kmVilleneuve-lès-Avignon13,148 people
  64. 687 kmpont Saint-BénézetUNESCO World Heritage
  65. 687 kmAvignon92,188 people
  66. 713 kmBeaucaire15,692 people
  67. 714 kmTarascon15,396 people
  68. 729 kmArles51,811 people
  69. 735 kmCamargue
  70. 812 kmMediterranean Seaat -1 m

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

River in Switzerland and France

At the mouth it carries 1,780 m³/s on average: an Olympic pool every 1.4 seconds. It drops from 1,351 m to -1 m, 1.7 m per kilometre on average. Its basin covers 98,000 km², about the size of KR. 10.4 million people live in it. Highest water: from November to February. Dams and reservoirs hold back a large share of its water (10% of a year's flow).

Read more on Wikipedia

Where to start

Rhône, month by month

Highest water: from November to February

Best months to visit: from May to September.

2,100
2°64 mmJan
2,000
4°67 mmFeb
1,800
7°67 mmMar
1,500
10°62 mmApr
1,400
14°76 mmMay
1,200
18°73 mmJun
890
20°55 mmJul
860
20°75 mmAug
1,200
17°83 mmSep
1,700
12°84 mmOct
2,100
7°80 mmNov
2,200
3°69 mmDec
Water (estimated flow)Air (average) Rain (mm)Best months

From about 860 m³/s in the lowest month to 2,200 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 LYS airport (Colombier-Saugnieu, Rhône)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

Rhône: the basin in numbers

95,894 km² of land send their water to this river. This is what lives on it.

Heavily regulatedReservoirs can hold 10% of a year's flow: dams shape its seasons.
  • 10.4millionpeople live in the basin
  • 111/km²people per km²
  • 786maverage altitude of the basin
  • 1,016mmof rain a year (basin average)
  • 8.6°Caverage air temperature
  • 22%protected areas
  • 0.9%covered by lakes
  • 1%glaciers
  • 1%permafrost
  • 5.5km³held in reservoirs

What covers the basin

  • 46% Forest
  • 19% Cropland
  • 21% Pasture
  • 5% Towns and cities
  • 1% Ice

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

Rhône: what you find on the way

  • 63DamsBettmersee, Oberems, Barrage du Seujet and 60 more
  • 173WeirsDam, Barrage de l'aménagement hydroélectrique de Lavey (VD), Seuil de Lucey and 170 more
  • 69LocksLe Rhône - Dérivation de Chautagne, Bras de Barrage de Savières, Le Rhône - Canal de La Feyssine and 66 more
  • 60WaterfallsJolischlucht, Tschingel, Wasserfall Turtmann and 57 more
  • 4RapidsVague de Miribel, Hawaii-sur-Rhône and 2 more
  • 9Canoe put-ins
  • 251Boat rampsJetée de l'Etire, Port Saint Jean, Mise à l'eau de la gare and 248 more
  • 43Ferry piersLe Bouveret, Yvoire, Nernier and 40 more
  • 71MarinasPort des Pêcheurs d'Yvoire, Port de Nernier, Port des Aberiaux and 68 more
  • 14Boat rentalsNyon Bateaux, Louage, Marti Marine and 11 more
  • 44River beachesPlage du Bouveret, Plage de la Garite, Pointe de Promenthoux and 41 more

From OpenStreetMap, within 2.4 km of the river. Not mapped is not the same as not there.

Cross-checked with our atlases

Rhône 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.

  • 1waterfall on the riverCascadyas
  • 3lakes on its wayLakeyas
  • 16beaches at the mouth and on the banksCoastya
  • 221mountains at the sourcePeakyas

Waterfalls (1)

On the river, by Cascadyas

  1. Cascade du Pain de sucre de Surjouxkm 278

Cascadyas is coming soonOpen Cascadyas ↗

Lakes and reservoirs (3)

Lakes it flows through, by Lakeyas

  1. Lake Genevakm 231 · 309 m deep572km²
  2. Lac du Bourgetkm 302 · 145 m deep43km²
  3. Lac des Eaux Bleueskm 418 · 7 m deep3.1km²

Lakeyas is coming soonOpen Lakeyas ↗

Beaches (16)

At the mouth (25 km) and on the banks, by Coastya

  1. Plage de Piemanson4.1 km away22.2°C
  2. Plage de Sainte-Croix22 km away22.3°C
  3. Plage Napoléon6.6 km away22.2°C
  4. Plage de Beauduc17 km away22.1°C
  5. Plage des Laurons18 km away22.3°C
  6. Anse de Canal-Vieil15 km away · cove22.2°C
  7. Anse de Lavéra16 km away · cove22.3°C
  8. Anse d'Auguette16 km away · cove22.3°C

8 more on CoastyaOpen Coastya ↗

Mountains at the source (221)

Within 15 km of the source, by Peakyas

  1. Dammastock8.3 km away · prominence 1,467 m3,630m
  2. Galenstock5.1 km away · prominence 252 m3,586m
  3. Eggstock9.1 km away3,555m
  4. Schneestock8.7 km away · prominence 38 m3,608m
  5. Sustenhorn15 km away · prominence 423 m3,503m
  6. Hinter Tierberg12 km away · prominence 185 m3,445m
  7. Tiefenstock6.7 km away · prominence 90 m3,515m
  8. Gwächtenhorn13 km away · prominence 218 m3,420m

213 more on PeakyasOpen Peakyas ↗

From space

The source and the mouth, seen from orbit

Rhône: satellite view of the source
The source14 km across
Rhône: satellite view of the mouth
The mouth42 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

Rhône in pictures

Embouchure du Rhône dans le Léman depuis Le Grammont
Christian David · CC BY-SA 4.0
Rhône vers son embouchure dans le Léman
Christian David · CC BY-SA 4.0
Rhône
Xavier · CC BY 2.0
Vue du Rhône depuis le Pont Wilson (Lyon), mai 2019
Benoît Prieur · CC0

Tributaries

Where it flows, and what flows into it

Tributaries (95)

SaôneFranceFrance480 km470 m³/sjoins at km 433DuranceFranceFrance324 km180 m³/sjoins at km 670IsèreFranceFrance286 km360 m³/sjoins at km 533AinFranceFrance190 km120 m³/sjoins at km 397GardonFranceFrance127 km32 m³/sjoins at km 684ArdècheFranceFrance125 km65 m³/sjoins at km 623DrômeFranceFrance111 km20 m³/sjoins at km 562ArveSwitzerlandSwitzerland108 km78 m³/sjoins at km 237

Also: Ouvèze, Drance, Aigues, Vispa, Massa, Cèze, Fier, Borgne, Allondon, Eyrieux, Lonza, Galaure, Guiers, Valserine, Navizence, Bourbre, Doux, Trient, Salanfe, Grande Eau, Lizerne, Gier, Séran, Saltina

In the same basin

DoubsFranceFrance453 km180 m³/sVerdonFranceFrance166 km27 m³/sDracFranceFrance130 km100 m³/sOgnonFranceFrance214 km35 m³/sArcFranceFrance128 km49 m³/s

Nearby

Rivers nearby

DuranceFranceFrance324 km180 m³/s61 km awayGardonFranceFrance127 km32 m³/s54 km awayVerdonFranceFrance166 km27 m³/s83 km awayArdècheFranceFrance125 km65 m³/s98 km awayHéraultFranceFrance148 km44 m³/s111 km awayAudeFranceFrance224 km49 m³/s128 km awayOrbFranceFrance135 km23 m³/s122 km awayIsèreFranceFrance286 km360 m³/s177 km away

Where these numbers come from

Name, length, placesWikidata (Q602) · 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 atlasesCascadyas, Lakeyas, Coastya, Peakyas — 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