River
Ticino
248 km from source to mouth · Italy and Switzerland.
Italy and SwitzerlandFlows into Po7th longest in Italy
In numbers
Length
248km
Average flow
1,000m³/s
Basin
7,228km²
Drop
1,226m
from 1,277 m to 51 m
Countries
2
The journey
From source to mouth
248 km of river and 35 stops on the way: 25 towns and cities on its banks, dams, bridges and the tributaries that feed it.
- 0 kmSourceat 1,277 m
- 35 kmCrevoladossola4,216 people
- 40 kmDomodossola17,778 people
- 47 kmVilladossola6,633 people
- 73 kmOrnavasso3,056 people
- 78 kmGravellona Toce7,077 people
- 82 kmLago di Mergozzo1.7 km²
- 87 kmBaveno3,918 people
- 87 kmTocetributary
- 90 kmVerbania31,070 people
- 92 kmStresa3,985 people
- 98 kmLeggiuno3,022 people
- 103 kmIspra4,499 people
- 112 kmAngera4,724 people
- 113 kmArona12,970 people
- 122 kmCastelletto Sopra Ticino9,213 people
- 122 kmSesto Calende8,434 people
- 128 kmBorgo Ticino3,997 people
- 129 kmVarallo Pombia4,531 people
- 133 kmLake Maggiore208 km²
- 134 kmSomma Lombardo14,851 people
- 151 kmPonte di Oleggio
- 160 kmTurbigo7,268 people
- 163 kmGalliate bridge
- 170 kmCuggiono7,997 people
- 175 kmBoffalora Sopra Ticino3,992 people
- 175 kmBoffalora sopra Ticino railway bridge
- 179 kmCerano6,499 people
- 187 kmCassolnovo6,673 people
- 207 kmMotta Visconti7,601 people
- 230 kmPavia railway bridge
- 231 kmSan Martino Siccomario4,072 people
- 231 kmPonte della Libertà
- 232 kmPonte Coperto
- 232 kmPavia70,636 people
- 242 kmPonte della Becca
- 248 kmPoat 51 m
Water level along the river (RiverATLAS; the height is exaggerated). Towns: GeoNames and Wikidata; bridges, dams and tributaries: Wikidata.
River in Switzerland and Italy
At the mouth it carries 1,018 m³/s on average: an Olympic pool every 2.5 seconds. It drops from 1,277 m to 51 m, 4.9 m per kilometre on average. Its basin covers 7,228 km², about the size of PS. 6.3 million people live in it. Highest water: from November to December. Its dams hold back little of its water (4.9% of a year's flow).
Where to start
- PaviaLargest city on its banks · 70,636 people
- Milano Linate Airport (LIN)Nearest airport with scheduled flights, 30 km from the cityCar hire at LIN airport (Segrate)Discover Cars · Affiliate link↗
- On the water105 ferry piers, marinas, boat rentals and boat ramps along the river (OpenStreetMap)
- From May to SeptemberThe best months to visit
Ticino, month by month
Highest water: from November to December
Best months to visit: from May to September.
From about 590 m³/s in the lowest month to 1,800 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
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
Ticino: the basin in numbers
37,321 km² of land send their water to this river. This is what lives on it.
- 6.3millionpeople live in the basin
- 172/km²people per km²
- 923maverage altitude of the basin
- 1,104mmof rain a year (basin average)
- 8.5°Caverage air temperature
- 8%protected areas
- 0.9%covered by lakes
- 2%permafrost
- 1.6km³held in reservoirs
What covers the basin
- 47% Forest
- 26% Cropland
- 7% Pasture
- 9% 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
Ticino: what you find on the way
- 176WeirsBriglia acquedotto Domodossola, Briglia acquedotto, La Paladella and 173 more
- 41LocksNaviglio Grande, Conca di Porta Cairoli, Naviglio Pavese and 38 more
- 40WaterfallsCascata, Cascata Rio d'Antin, Cascata Rio Alba and 37 more
- 30Boat ramps
- 21Ferry piersBaveno, Isola Superiore, Pallanza and 18 more
- 53MarinasPorto turistico comunale di Feriolo di Baveno, Verbano Yacht Club, Escursioni alle Isole Borromee and 50 more
- 14River beachesLa Quartina, La Rustica, Spiaggia Lido Toce and 11 more
From OpenStreetMap, within 2.1 km of the river. Not mapped is not the same as not there.
Cross-checked with our atlases
Ticino 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.
2lakes on its wayLakeyas
219mountains at the sourcePeakyas
Lakes and reservoirs (2)
Lakes it flows through, by Lakeyas
- Lago di Mergozzokm 72 · 74 m deep1.7km²
- Lake Maggiorekm 116 · 372 m deep208km²
Lakeyas is coming soonOpen Lakeyas ↗
Mountains at the source (219)
Within 15 km of the source, by Peakyas
- Basòdino9.7 km away · prominence 960 m3,272m
- Galenstock14 km away · prominence 252 m3,586m
- Blinnenhorn9.9 km away · prominence 945 m3,374m
- Ofenhorn13 km away · prominence 334 m3,235m
- Pizzo Rotondo5.8 km away · prominence 749 m3,192m
- Gross Bielenhorn13 km away3,210m
- Witenwasserenstock7.1 km away · prominence 118 m3,085m
- Hohsandhorn12 km away · prominence 138 m3,182m
211 more on PeakyasOpen Peakyas ↗
From space
The source and the mouth, seen from orbit
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
Ticino in pictures
Tributaries
Where it flows, and what flows into it
It flows into
PoItaly652 km1,500 m³/sTributaries (6)
Also: Toce, Moesa, Brenno, Morobbia, Vernavola, Piumogna
Nearby
Rivers nearby
Where these numbers come from
| Name, length, places | Wikidata (Q14366) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| Course, profile, basin | RiverATLAS v1.0 (HydroATLAS, Linke et al. 2019) · CC BY 4.0 — followed from the source to the mouth given by Wikidata |
| Flow | WaterGAP (RiverATLAS), 1971–2000 · CC BY 4.0 |
| Climate along the river | WorldClim (RiverATLAS), 1970–2000 · CC BY 4.0 |
| Towns, bridges, dams | Wikidata · CC0; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0 |
| Along the river | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Images | EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons |
| Our other atlases | Lakeyas, 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.
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Every waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Coming soonVisit 
islands
Every island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.Coming soonVisit 
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Every river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.You are here
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Every canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Coming soonVisit