Skip to content
riveryas
EN

River

Bistrița River

272 km from source to mouth · Romania.

RomaniaRomaniaFlows into Siret River10th longest in Romania

Follow the riverMonth by month

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

In numbers

Length

272km

Average flow

66m³/s

Basin

7,900km²

Drop

902m

from 1,039 m to 137 m

Country

1

The journey

From source to mouth

272 km of river and 33 stops on the way: 28 towns and cities on its banks, dams, bridges and the tributaries that feed it.

1,039 m137 m
Sourceat 1,039 m0 km
Dorna Rivertributary52 km
Vatra Dornei16,054 people52 km
Broşteni6,578 people97 km
Broșteni5,179 people98 km
Bistricioara Rivertributary136 km
Lake Izvorul Muntelui20 km²157 km
Piatra Neamţ102,688 people187 km
Cracău Rivertributary208 km
Siret Riverat 137 m272 km
0100200272 km
  1. 0 kmSourceat 1,039 m
  2. 40 kmIacobeni3,836 people
  3. 52 kmDorna Rivertributary
  4. 52 kmVatra Dornei16,054 people
  5. 97 kmBroşteni6,578 people
  6. 98 kmBroșteni5,179 people
  7. 111 kmBorca6,556 people
  8. 116 kmFărcaşa3,173 people
  9. 132 kmPoiana Teiului5,145 people
  10. 136 kmBistricioara Rivertributary
  11. 143 kmHangu4,046 people
  12. 157 kmLake Izvorul Muntelui20 km²
  13. 160 kmBicaz8,340 people
  14. 161 kmBicaz Rivertributary
  15. 166 kmTarcău3,504 people
  16. 177 kmViişoara5,014 people
  17. 187 kmPiatra Neamţ102,688 people
  18. 197 kmDumbrava Roşie7,104 people
  19. 200 kmPiatra Şoimului7,848 people
  20. 202 kmSăvineşti6,012 people
  21. 207 kmRoznov8,688 people
  22. 207 kmSlobozia3,136 people
  23. 208 kmCracău Rivertributary
  24. 210 kmZăneşti6,077 people
  25. 211 kmRuseni3,415 people
  26. 216 kmPodoleni5,520 people
  27. 222 kmCostişa3,540 people
  28. 230 kmBuhuşi18,395 people
  29. 236 kmRacova3,488 people
  30. 255 kmMărgineni-Munteni8,033 people
  31. 258 kmBacău136,087 people
  32. 262 kmLetea Veche4,893 people
  33. 265 kmUngureni3,728 people
  34. 269 kmTamaşi6,330 people
  35. 272 kmSiret Riverat 137 m

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

River in Romania, tributary to Siret River

At the mouth it carries 66 m³/s on average: an Olympic pool every 38 seconds. It drops from 1,039 m to 137 m, 3.3 m per kilometre on average. Its basin covers 7,900 km², about the size of PR. 497,000 people live in it. Highest water: May and July; lowest: from December to February. It is heavily dammed: reservoirs can hold 59% of a year's flow.

Read more on Wikipedia

Where to start

  • BacăuLargest city on its banks · 136,087 people
  • Bacău George Enescu International Airport (BCM)Nearest airport with scheduled flights, 5 km from the cityCar hire at BCM airport (Bacău)Discover Cars · Affiliate link
  • On the water2 ferry piers, marinas, boat rentals and boat ramps along the river (OpenStreetMap)
  • From June to SeptemberThe best months to visit

Bistrița River, month by month

Highest water: May and July

Lowest water: from December to February. Freezing months (average below −4 °C): January. Best months to visit: from June to September.

33
-5°28 mmJan
6.2
-4°26 mmFeb
190
2°29 mmMar
220
7°53 mmApr
270
13°79 mmMay
220
16°96 mmJun
240
18°93 mmJul
220
17°70 mmAug
170
13°47 mmSep
120
8°33 mmOct
100
2°32 mmNov
61
-2°29 mmDec
Water (estimated flow)Air (average) Rain (mm)Best months

From about 6.2 m³/s in the lowest month to 270 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 BCM airport (Bacău)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

Bistrița River: the basin in numbers

7,018 km² of land send their water to this river. This is what lives on it.

DammedReservoirs can hold 59% of a year's flow: much of the river is a chain of lakes.
  • 497,000people live in the basin
  • 72/km²people per km²
  • 918maverage altitude of the basin
  • 701mmof rain a year (basin average)
  • 5.6°Caverage air temperature
  • 8%protected areas
  • 0.4%covered by lakes
  • 1.2km³held in reservoirs

What covers the basin

  • 83% Forest
  • 10% Cropland
  • 13% Pasture
  • 2% 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

Bistrița River: what you find on the way

  • 12DamsBarajul Racova and 11 more
  • 3Weirs
  • 3Locks
  • 1WaterfallsCascada Pufu
  • 2MarinasPort Bicaz, La Ponton

From OpenStreetMap, within 1.7 km of the river. Not mapped is not the same as not there.

Cross-checked with our atlases

Bistrița River 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.

  • 1lake on its wayLakeyas
  • 8mountains at the sourcePeakyas

Lakes and reservoirs (1)

Lakes it flows through, by Lakeyas

  1. Lake Izvorul Munteluikm 15520km²

Lakeyas is coming soonOpen Lakeyas ↗

Mountains at the source (8)

Within 15 km of the source, by Peakyas

  1. Ineu9.9 km away2,278m
  2. Ineuț9.8 km away2,057m
  3. Omu12 km away2,043m
  4. Roșu11 km away1,977m
  5. Stănițoarei13 km away1,603m
  6. Ciarcănul11 km away
  7. Fluturica11 km away
  8. Vârful Omului14 km away

Open Peakyas ↗

From space

The source and the mouth, seen from orbit

Bistrița River: satellite view of the source
The source14 km across
Bistrița River: satellite view of the mouth
The mouth11 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

Bistrița River in pictures

Bistrita
Bernd Schade · CC BY-SA 3.0
Bistrita.cristibur
Cristibur at English Wikipedia · CC BY 3.0
Raul Bistrita Aurie
Cezar Suceveanu · CC BY 3.0
20171004 174648 Bistrița Hotel, Bacau October 2017
Rakoon · CC0

Tributaries

Where it flows, and what flows into it

It flows into

Siret RiverRomaniaRomania740 km230 m³/s

Tributaries (58)

Also: Bicaz River, Cracău River, Dorna River, Bistricioara River, Buda River, Țibău River, Blăgești River, Dragova River, Broșteni River, Trebiș River, Afinișul River, Crasnița River, Calul River, Crasna River, Câlneș River, Doamna River, Afinetu River, Agârcia River, Bretila River, Bârjaba River, Bârnaru River, Bârnărel River, Chilii River, Cuejdiu River

In the same basin

DanubeRomaniaRomania2,850 km5,400 m³/sTiszaSerbiaSerbia966 km800 m³/sSavaSerbiaSerbia945 km1,700 m³/sDravaCroatiaCroatia720 km620 m³/sInnGermanyGermany517 km740 m³/sPrutMoldovaMoldova953 km120 m³/sIsarGermanyGermany292 km170 m³/sMoravaAustriaAustria388 km110 m³/sDrinaSerbiaSerbia346 km120 m³/sOlt RiverRomaniaRomania615 km170 m³/s

Nearby

Rivers nearby

Moldova RiverRomaniaRomania205 km32 m³/s47 km awayJijia RiverRomaniaRomania275 km160 m³/s98 km awayPrutMoldovaMoldova953 km120 m³/s150 km awayBârlad RiverRomaniaRomania207 km9.0 m³/s106 km awaySuceava RiverRomaniaRomania160 km20 m³/s119 km awayDanubeRomaniaRomania2,850 km5,400 m³/s253 km awayBuzău RiverRomaniaRomania325 km28 m³/s134 km awayRăutMoldovaMoldova286 km320 m³/s187 km away

Where these numbers come from

Name, length, placesWikidata (Q767793) · CC0
Course, profile, basinRiverATLAS v1.0 (HydroATLAS, Linke et al. 2019) · CC BY 4.0 — followed along the river network from the point 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