One of Europe's great trade arteries, lined with castles, vineyards and industrial cities from the Alps to the North Sea.
Length
1,233 km
Source
Swiss Alps (Lake Toma)
Mouth
North Sea (Rotterdam delta)
Continent
Europe
Countries
Switzerland, Germany & Netherlands
Did you know?
The Rhine is one of the busiest waterways in the world, carrying a huge share of Europe's inland freight.
Little-known fact
The legendary Lorelei rock, where a siren was said to lure boatmen to their doom, marks the narrowest, most dangerous bend of the river.
Highlights
- A key European trade route
- One of the world's busiest rivers
- Home of the Lorelei legend
Life in the Rhine
The fish and animals, waterbirds and water plants — including some of the rarest — that this water supports.
Animals & fish
Atlantic salmon
The “king of fish” — it is born in a river, grows at sea, then fights its way back upstream to spawn where it hatched.
Wels catfish
A monstrous European catfish that can top 2.5 m and has learned to beach itself to catch pigeons.
Eurasian otter
A sleek, playful hunter whose return to a river is a sign the water has run clean again.
Waterbirds
Common kingfisher
A dazzling blue-and-orange dart that plunges from a perch to spear fish in an instant.
Grey heron
A patient, statue-still angler that stalks the shallows of rivers and lakes across the Old World.
Mute swan
The great white swan of European waters, gliding in pairs that often mate for life.
Mallard
The familiar green-headed dabbling duck — ancestor of most domestic ducks — found on waters worldwide.
Interactive · 3D journey
Journey of a river · source → sea
Every river runs the same great journey — from an icy mountain spring, down through gorges and looping meanders, to a wide delta where it meets the sea. Tap a stage to follow the water downstream.
Tip: hover to tilt the valley · tap a stage to float downstream
The Source
Every river begins high up — in a mountain spring, a melting glacier or a boggy upland. The water is cold, clear and fast, tumbling down the steepest ground of its whole journey.
Landforms here