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River

Dyle / Dijle

86 km from source to mouth · Belgium.

BelgiumBelgiumFlows into Rupel6th longest in Belgium

Follow the riverMonth by month

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

In numbers

Length

86km

Average flow

69m³/s

Basin

1,289km²

Drop

72m

from 70 m to -2 m

Country

1

The journey

From source to mouth

86 km of river and 64 stops on the way: 41 towns and cities on its banks, dams, bridges and the tributaries that feed it.

70 m-2 m
Houtain-le-Valat 70 m0 km
Wavre34,305 people16 km
Huldenberg9,892 people27 km
Bertem9,958 people33 km
Leuven101,032 people41 km
Voertributary45 km
Demertributary53 km
Haacht15,661 people59 km
Boortmeerbeek11,570 people66 km
Mechelen86,921 people75 km
Rupelat -2 m86 km
020406086 km
  1. 0 kmHoutain-le-Valat 70 m
  2. 0 kmHévillers2,547 people
  3. 1 kmMont-Saint-Guibert6,557 people
  4. 5 kmCourt-Saint-Étienne9,353 people
  5. 8 kmOttignies9,557 people
  6. 10 kmLimelette5,416 people
  7. 12 kmLimal9,443 people
  8. 13 kmBierges4,941 people
  9. 16 kmWavre34,305 people
  10. 16 kmPont du Christ, Wavre
  11. 22 kmArchennes1,571 people
  12. 24 kmOttenburg2,314 people
  13. 26 kmNethen1,987 people
  14. 27 kmHuldenberg9,892 people
  15. 27 kmSint-Agatha-Rode1,647 people
  16. 29 kmSint-Joris-Weert1,907 people
  17. 30 kmLoonbeek1,116 people
  18. 31 kmNeerijse1,789 people
  19. 33 kmBertem9,958 people
  20. 34 kmOud-Heverlee10,533 people
  21. 38 kmWatermolen Arenberg
  22. 39 kmHeverlee23,278 people
  23. 39 kmVolmolenbrug
  24. 41 kmLeuven101,032 people
  25. 41 kmBlauwput30,215 people
  26. 42 kmWilsele9,845 people
  27. 43 kmKessel-Lo30,215 people
  28. 44 kmHerent19,218 people
  29. 45 kmVoertributary
  30. 50 kmMaalderij Van Dooren
  31. 51 kmRotselaar15,007 people
  32. 53 kmDemertributary
  33. 53 kmWerchter bridge
  34. 53 kmWerchter3,572 people
  35. 54 kmHanewijkbrug
  36. 55 kmTremelo14,842 people
  37. 57 kmDamiaanbrug
  38. 59 kmHaacht15,661 people
  39. 59 kmOude Hans bridge
  40. 61 kmKeerbergen2,440 people
  41. 62 kmWittegoudbrug
  42. 65 kmKasteel Hollaken
  43. 65 kmRijmenam bridge
  44. 65 kmRijmenam5,755 people
  45. 66 kmBoortmeerbeek11,570 people
  46. 68 kmHever6,426 people
  47. 70 kmBonheiden1,840 people
  48. 71 kmMuizen bridge
  49. 71 kmMuizen5,386 people
  50. 71 kmParkgebied langs de Dijle
  51. 75 kmFonteinbrug
  52. 75 kmMechelen86,921 people
  53. 75 kmHoogbrug
  54. 76 kmKraanbrug
  55. 76 kmHet Predikheren
  56. 76 kmWinket bridge
  57. 76 kmEglegemvijver0.4 km²
  58. 77 kmHombeek4,182 people
  59. 81 kmHeffen2,172 people
  60. 81 kmWalem1,988 people
  61. 84 kmRumst14,521 people
  62. 85 kmReet6,865 people
  63. 86 kmTerhagen2,736 people
  64. 86 kmSennetributary
  65. 86 kmHazewinkel0.7 km²
  66. 86 kmRupelat -2 m

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

River in central Belgium

At the mouth it carries 69 m³/s on average: an Olympic pool every 36 seconds. It drops from 70 m to -2 m, 0.8 m per kilometre on average. Its basin covers 1,289 km², about the size of MQ. 2.1 million people live in it. Highest water: from December to January. No large dam holds it back: it is one of the world's free-flowing rivers.

Read more on Wikipedia

Where to start

  • LeuvenLargest city on its banks · 101,032 people
  • Brussels Airport (BRU)Nearest airport with scheduled flights, 16 km from the cityCar hire at BRU airport (Zaventem)Discover Cars · Affiliate link
  • On the water9 ferry piers, marinas, boat rentals and boat ramps along the river (OpenStreetMap)
  • Kayak and canoe3 put-ins and rapids mapped (OpenStreetMap)
  • From May to SeptemberThe best months to visit

Dyle / Dijle, month by month

Highest water: from December to January

Best months to visit: from May to September.

110
2°71 mmJan
91
4°50 mmFeb
88
6°71 mmMar
57
9°50 mmApr
51
13°65 mmMay
40
16°71 mmJun
40
18°67 mmJul
32
18°59 mmAug
36
16°65 mmSep
59
12°75 mmOct
83
6°67 mmNov
100
3°68 mmDec
Water (estimated flow)Air (average) Rain (mm)Best months

From about 32 m³/s in the lowest month to 110 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 BRU airport (Zaventem)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

Dyle / Dijle: the basin in numbers

5,294 km² of land send their water to this river. This is what lives on it.

Free-flowingDams upstream can hold only 0.0% of a year's flow: the river still keeps its natural rhythm.
  • 2.1millionpeople live in the basin
  • 397/km²people per km²
  • 53maverage altitude of the basin
  • 805mmof rain a year (basin average)
  • 9.8°Caverage air temperature
  • 12%protected areas
  • 0.3%covered by lakes

What covers the basin

  • 12% Forest
  • 34% Cropland
  • 8% Pasture
  • 42% 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

Dyle / Dijle: what you find on the way

  • 6Dams
  • 49WeirsBarrage du Gardon and 48 more
  • 13LocksDijle, Kanaal Leuven-Dijle and 11 more
  • 3Canoe put-insKano- en Kajakroute Dijle
  • 4Boat ramps
  • 1MarinasJachthaven Leuven
  • 4Boat rentalsDobber Mechelen, Dobber De Schorre and 2 more

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

Cross-checked with our atlases

Dyle / Dijle 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

Lakes and reservoirs (2)

Lakes it flows through, by Lakeyas

  1. Eglegemvijverkm 670.4km²
  2. Hazewinkelkm 760.7km²

Lakeyas is coming soonOpen Lakeyas ↗

From space

The source and the mouth, seen from orbit

Dyle / Dijle: satellite view of the source
The source14 km across
Dyle / Dijle: 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

Dyle / Dijle in pictures

Dijlemechelen
Paul Hermans at Dutch Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0
Demer an Dijle bei Werchter
Original: Boerkevitz at Dutch Wikipedia Modifications: Les Meloures at Luxembourgish Wikip · CC BY-SA 3.0
Dijle rivier
Niksbij26 · CC BY 4.0
Dyle a Court-Saint-Etienne 01
Olnnu · CC BY-SA 4.0

Tributaries

Where it flows, and what flows into it

Tributaries (9)

SenneBelgiumBelgium103 km5.5 m³/sjoins at km 75

Also: Demer, IJse, Lasne, Thyle, Voer, Train, Nethen, Cala

In the same basin

LysBelgiumBelgium202 km22 m³/sDenderBelgiumBelgium65 km8.8 m³/s

Nearby

Rivers nearby

RhineThe NetherlandsThe Netherlands1,233 km2,200 m³/s100 km awaySenneBelgiumBelgium103 km5.5 m³/s2 km awayMeuseThe NetherlandsThe Netherlands950 km230 m³/s74 km awayDenderBelgiumBelgium65 km8.8 m³/s22 km awayLysBelgiumBelgium202 km22 m³/s46 km awaySambreBelgiumBelgium190 km36 m³/s76 km awayOurtheBelgiumBelgium165 km55 m³/s97 km awayRurThe NetherlandsThe Netherlands164 km25 m³/s113 km away

Where these numbers come from

Name, length, placesWikidata (Q934226) · 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 — 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