Along the Rhône river

Rhône River identity card

Name: the Rhône
Celtic, Gallic, Greek (?) Rhodanos, from rho (to flow) and danu (bold, proud)*.

Size: 812 kilometres
545 km in France, 267 in Switzerland*.

Birthplace: Gletsch
Rhône glacier* in Switzerland, at 2,209 metres in the Alps.


Affluence*: Mediterranean
Camargue and Rhône delta.

Cartography
At the source
Along the river
The identity of the Rhône river

Mapping the Rhône river

River, tributaries, Lake Geneva, towns and villages…

Maps to follow, locate and discover the Rhône landscape:

Waterways and river tourism on the Rhône.

Maps, anchorages, ports, itineraries and mobile application:

Etymology of the Rhône

At the source of the Rhône

Hydronymy, geography, hydrology, morphology, histories, bridges, figures and data, managers, ecological status, notes and reference encyclopaedia.

Rhône Wikipedia

Etymology

Celtic, Gallic, Greek and Roman, when the flow of languages meets popular legend.

Rhodanus dictionary
Celtic Encyclopaedia (French)

Along the Rhône river

Practical, direct and geographical, here are a few links to help you explore further, online or in the field:

Municipalities, towns and villages

Along the Rhône river

Rhône region

Research and geography

A la carte cards

IGN road, Top25 and blue series

Where to sleep?

Hotel, rental and Rhône valley

The Rhône

Au fil du Rhône en 13 reportages

Let’s head off along the Rhône with Passe-moi les Jumelles, a programme broadcast by RTS, Radio Télévision Suisse, for a series of 13 reports from the river’s source to the Mediterranean, across Switzerland and France.

The Rhône route on video

Daniel Fiévet takes a video tour of the Rhône route, from the glacier to the Swiss border. La route du Rhône en vidéo, 5 episodes produced by Brut for the Compagne Nationale du Rhône (CNR) to discover the river from its source to its mouth.

Tributaries of the Rhône river

Let’s explore the Rhône’s main tributaries together , with their unique characteristics, as well as their ecological, historical and geographical importance. From the Swiss border to the Mediterranean, travel from the Ain to the Durance to discover the rivers along the way.

At the source, a glacier in the Alps

Exploring the source of the Rhône is an adventure in itself. Its wild and powerful waters stretch for 812 kilometres from the Alps glacier, through the Rhône watershed to the Mediterranean Sea via its delta.

Mobile application for navigation on the Rhône

  • Canals and waterways of France
  • The Rhône River between Switzerland and the Mediterranean
  • A free river information service
The NAVI application
Sailing on the Rhône
Sailing on the Rhône