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River

Saane/Sarine

126 km from source to mouth · Switzerland.

SwitzerlandSwitzerlandFlows into Aare5th longest in Switzerland

Follow the riverMonth by month

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

In numbers

Length

126km

Average flow

54m³/s

Basin

1,892km²

Drop

591m

from 1,040 m to 449 m

Country

1

The journey

From source to mouth

126 km of river and 68 stops on the way: 35 towns and cities on its banks, dams, bridges and the tributaries that feed it.

1,040 m449 m
Sourceat 1,040 m0 km
Rougemont882 people13 km
Château-d’Oex3,459 people24 km
Hongrintributary34 km
Broc2,651 people51 km
Bulle22,709 people52 km
Lac de la Gruyère6.3 km²69 km
Fribourg39,151 people85 km
Lac de Schiffenen3.0 km²100 km
Kleinbösingen693 people102 km
Lake Wohlen1.9 km²117 km
Aareat 449 m126 km
050100126 km
  1. 0 kmSourceat 1,040 m
  2. 0 kmGsteig bei Gstaad987 people
  3. 0 kmpipeline bridge near Gsteig (1)
  4. 0 kmpipeline bridge near Gsteig (2)
  5. 4 kmGstaad9,200 people
  6. 6 kmSaanen6,817 people
  7. 7 kmpipeline bridge near Saanen (1)
  8. 11 kmpipeline bridge near Saanen (2)
  9. 13 kmRougemont882 people
  10. 22 kmChâteau-d'Oex3,034 people
  11. 24 kmChâteau-d’Oex3,459 people
  12. 27 kmRossinière546 people
  13. 30 kmPont de la Tine
  14. 34 kmHongrintributary
  15. 35 kmCovered bridge
  16. 38 kmHaut-Intyamon1,542 people
  17. 42 kmGrandvillard844 people
  18. 46 kmBas-Intyamon1,454 people
  19. 48 kmGruyères2,199 people
  20. 49 kmCovered bridge, called Pont-qui-Branle
  21. 51 kmBroc2,651 people
  22. 51 kmChâteau d'En-Bas
  23. 52 kmBulle22,709 people
  24. 52 kmLa Tour-de-Trême3,686 people
  25. 53 kmpipeline bridge between Morlon and Broc
  26. 56 kmMorlon615 people
  27. 65 kmLa Roche1,405 people
  28. 67 kmGibloux7,447 people
  29. 69 kmLac de la Gruyère6.3 km²
  30. 72 kmTreyvaux1,470 people
  31. 73 kmVers-les-Châteaux, abandoned village - Middle Ages
  32. 74 kmArconciel949 people
  33. 76 kmLa Souche, mesolithic shelter
  34. 76 kmFarm of Hauterive abbey
  35. 77 kmHauterive2,497 people
  36. 77 kmAuberge d'Hauterive
  37. 78 kmEpendes1,006 people
  38. 79 kmVillars-sur-Glâne12,092 people
  39. 79 kmpipeline bridge between Posieux and Marly
  40. 79 kmChâtillon-sur-Glâne, Iron Age settlement
  41. 82 kmPont de Pérolles
  42. 83 kmMarly8,193 people
  43. 83 kmPierrafortscha156 people
  44. 85 kmFribourg39,151 people
  45. 85 kmPont de la Motta
  46. 85 kmPont de Saint-Jean
  47. 85 kmPont du Milieu
  48. 86 kmForge of the Balme known as Mooses House
  49. 86 kmPont de Zaehringen
  50. 86 kmPont de Berne
  51. 87 kmPoya Bridge
  52. 96 kmDüdingen7,961 people
  53. 100 kmLac de Schiffenen3.0 km²
  54. 102 kmKleinbösingen693 people
  55. 104 kmKriechenwil428 people
  56. 105 kmLaupen3,138 people
  57. 105 kmBösingen3,408 people
  58. 106 kmSensetributary
  59. 111 kmRailroad viaduct BN over the Saane
  60. 111 kmRailroad viaduct BN over the Saane - Part Mühleberg
  61. 111 kmRailroad viaduct BN over the Saane - Part Ferenbalm
  62. 112 kmCovered wooden bridge over the Saane River
  63. 112 kmCovered wooden bridge over the Saane River - Part Ferenbalm
  64. 112 kmFerenbalm1,260 people
  65. 114 kmMühleberg2,985 people
  66. 117 kmLake Wohlen1.9 km²
  67. 124 kmKallnach1,918 people
  68. 126 kmAarberg3,911 people
  69. 126 kmRadelfingen1,218 people
  70. 126 kmAareat 449 m

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

Left tributary of the Aare in Switzerland

At the mouth it carries 54 m³/s on average: an Olympic pool every 46 seconds. It drops from 1,040 m to 449 m, 4.7 m per kilometre on average. Its basin covers 1,892 km², about the size of GP. 748,000 people live in it. Highest water: February and April. Dams and reservoirs hold back a large share of its water (12% of a year's flow).

Read more on Wikipedia

Where to start

  • FribourgLargest city on its banks · 39,151 people
  • Bern Airport (BRN)Nearest airport with scheduled flights, 29 km from the cityCar hire at BRN airport (Bern)Discover Cars · Affiliate link
  • On the water21 ferry piers, marinas, boat rentals and boat ramps along the river (OpenStreetMap)
  • Kayak and canoe4 put-ins and rapids mapped (OpenStreetMap)
  • From June to SeptemberThe best months to visit

Saane/Sarine, month by month

Highest water: February and April

Best months to visit: from June to September.

78
-1°74 mmJan
250
1°69 mmFeb
200
4°61 mmMar
230
8°64 mmApr
97
12°77 mmMay
120
15°95 mmJun
120
17°85 mmJul
170
17°112 mmAug
160
14°80 mmSep
140
9°62 mmOct
160
4°84 mmNov
190
0°72 mmDec
Water (estimated flow)Air (average) Rain (mm)Best months

From about 78 m³/s in the lowest month to 250 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 BRN airport (Bern)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

Saane/Sarine: the basin in numbers

5,097 km² of land send their water to this river. This is what lives on it.

Heavily regulatedReservoirs can hold 12% of a year's flow: dams shape its seasons.
  • 748,000people live in the basin
  • 150/km²people per km²
  • 1,384maverage altitude of the basin
  • 1,397mmof rain a year (basin average)
  • 4.4°Caverage air temperature
  • 8%protected areas
  • 1.9%covered by lakes
  • 4%glaciers
  • 4%permafrost
  • 0.6km³held in reservoirs

What covers the basin

  • 59% Forest
  • 6% Cropland
  • 21% Pasture
  • 7% Towns and cities
  • 4% 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

Saane/Sarine: what you find on the way

  • 5DamsLessoc, Staudamm Schiffenen and 3 more
  • 25Weirs
  • 11WaterfallsCascade du Ramaclé, Cascades des Allières, Cascade de la Tâna and 8 more
  • 4Canoe put-insSaanen, Pont de Perolles, Schiffenen and 1 more
  • 16Boat rampsBoot-Transportanlage and 15 more
  • 1Ferry piers
  • 3Marinas
  • 1Boat rentalsCanoës Gruyère
  • 6River beachesMorlon Beach, Plage de Corbières, Plage de Gumefens and 3 more

From OpenStreetMap, within 1.6 km of the river. Not mapped is not the same as not there.

Cross-checked with our atlases

Saane/Sarine 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.

  • 3lakes on its wayLakeyas
  • 175mountains at the sourcePeakyas

Lakes and reservoirs (3)

Lakes it flows through, by Lakeyas

  1. Lac de la Gruyèrekm 55 · 75 m deep6.3km²
  2. Lac de Schiffenenkm 79 · 38 m deep3.0km²
  3. Lake Wohlenkm 921.9km²

Lakeyas is coming soonOpen Lakeyas ↗

Mountains at the source (175)

Within 15 km of the source, by Peakyas

  1. Diablerets6.6 km away3,216m
  2. Wildhorn7.7 km away · prominence 981 m3,250m
  3. Arpelistock4.0 km away · prominence 66 m3,036m
  4. Grand Muveran15 km away · prominence 1,013 m3,051m
  5. Oldenhorn3.4 km away · prominence 307 m3,123m
  6. Haut de Cry11 km away · prominence 515 m2,969m
  7. Les Diablerets summit6.6 km away3,216m
  8. Geltenhorn5.5 km away · prominence 308 m3,065m

167 more on PeakyasOpen Peakyas ↗

From space

The source and the mouth, seen from orbit

Saane/Sarine: satellite view of the source
The source14 km across
Saane/Sarine: 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

Saane/Sarine in pictures

Fribourg - Brücken über Saane und Galtera
JoachimKohler-HB · CC BY-SA 4.0
Aare und Saane
Arkelin · CC BY 4.0
Amphibienlaichgebiet Petite Sarine, Posieux FR– Arconciel FR 20211031-jag9889
Jag9889 · CC BY-SA 4.0
Die Saane, Kleinbösingen FR – Bösingen FR 20211112-jag9889
Jag9889 · CC BY-SA 4.0

Tributaries

Where it flows, and what flows into it

It flows into

AareSwitzerlandSwitzerland295 km560 m³/s

Tributaries (10)

Also: Sense, Glâne, Jogne, Gottéron, Hongrin, Trême, Sonnaz, Gérine/Ärgera, Torneresse, Sionge

In the same basin

RhineThe NetherlandsThe Netherlands1,233 km2,200 m³/sMoselleGermanyGermany544 km320 m³/sMainGermanyGermany524 km200 m³/sNeckarGermanyGermany362 km140 m³/sLahnGermanyGermany242 km54 m³/sRuhrGermanyGermany217 km79 m³/sSaarGermanyGermany246 km78 m³/sLippeGermanyGermany255 km240 m³/sReussSwitzerlandSwitzerland159 km130 m³/sIllFranceFrance217 km54 m³/s

Nearby

Rivers nearby

ReussSwitzerlandSwitzerland159 km130 m³/s90 km awayLimmatSwitzerlandSwitzerland140 km100 m³/s90 km awayThurSwitzerlandSwitzerland135 km47 m³/s118 km awayArveSwitzerlandSwitzerland108 km78 m³/s128 km awayLinthSwitzerlandSwitzerland37 km55 m³/s127 km awayDoubsFranceFrance453 km180 m³/s172 km awayBregGermanyGermany49 km9.7 m³/s139 km awayOgnonFranceFrance214 km35 m³/s140 km away

Where these numbers come from

Name, length, placesWikidata (Q14333) · 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 atlasesLakeyas, 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