River
Olt River
615 km from source to mouth · Romania.
RomaniaFlows into Danube3rd longest in Romania
In numbers
Length
615km
Average flow
170m³/s
Basin
24,050km²
Drop
744m
from 766 m to 22 m
Country
1
The journey
From source to mouth
615 km of river and 59 stops on the way: 40 towns and cities on its banks, dams, bridges and the tributaries that feed it.
- 0 kmSourceat 766 m
- 0 kmBălan7,275 people
- 8 kmSândominic6,306 people
- 15 kmCârţa5,407 people
- 17 kmDăneşti4,455 people
- 30 kmSiculeni6,807 people
- 40 kmMiercurea-Ciuc34,484 people
- 46 kmSâncrăieni6,105 people
- 55 kmSânsimion3,397 people
- 86 kmMalnaş4,804 people
- 107 kmSfântu Gheorghe50,080 people
- 109 kmDebren Rivertributary
- 121 kmRâul Negrutributary
- 132 kmBod3,839 people
- 140 kmBârsa Rivertributary
- 141 kmFeldioara6,307 people
- 153 kmMăieruș Rivertributary
- 168 kmOrmeniş3,325 people
- 199 kmBogata Rivertributary
- 207 kmHoghiz4,876 people
- 233 kmFelmer Rivertributary
- 247 kmFăgăraș30,714 people
- 259 kmVoila4,513 people
- 263 kmSâmbăta Rivertributary
- 299 kmPorumbacu de Jos3,166 people
- 307 kmAvrig14,032 people
- 313 kmMârșa3,220 people
- 321 kmTălmaciu5,849 people
- 321 kmCibin Rivertributary
- 335 kmLotrioara Rivertributary
- 349 kmBoia Rivertributary
- 365 kmBrezoi6,668 people
- 367 kmLotru Rivertributary
- 383 kmCălimăneşti8,485 people
- 394 kmBujoreni3,830 people
- 402 kmRâmnicu Vâlcea93,151 people
- 407 kmBudeşti5,362 people
- 424 kmBistrița Rivertributary
- 425 kmTopolog Rivertributary
- 427 kmGalicea4,054 people
- 430 kmLuncavăț Rivertributary
- 436 kmIoneşti4,379 people
- 452 kmPrundeni4,596 people
- 463 kmVerguleasa3,439 people
- 464 kmPesceana Rivertributary
- 482 kmCurtişoara4,583 people
- 487 kmBeica Rivertributary
- 492 kmLotru Bridge
- 493 kmSlatina Bridge
- 493 kmSlatina63,487 people
- 522 kmOlteț Rivertributary
- 524 kmMărunţei4,397 people
- 528 kmComani3,528 people
- 541 kmGostavăţu3,373 people
- 554 kmScărişoara3,221 people
- 561 kmRusăneşti4,819 people
- 566 kmCilieni3,556 people
- 570 kmTia Mare4,853 people
- 576 kmIzbiceni5,089 people
- 596 kmIslaz6,029 people
- 615 kmDanubeat 22 m
Water level along the river (RiverATLAS; the height is exaggerated). Towns: GeoNames and Wikidata; bridges, dams and tributaries: Wikidata.
River in Romania
At the mouth it carries 174 m³/s on average: an Olympic pool every 14 seconds. It drops from 766 m to 22 m, 1.2 m per kilometre on average. Its basin covers 24,050 km², about the size of DJ. 1.9 million people live in it. Highest water: from April to May; lowest: from December to February. Dams and reservoirs hold back a large share of its water (26% of a year's flow).
Where to start
- Râmnicu VâlceaLargest city on its banks · 93,151 people
- Sibiu International Airport (SBZ)Nearest airport with scheduled flights, 79 km from the cityCar hire at SBZ airport (Sibiu)Discover Cars · Affiliate link↗
- On the water8 ferry piers, marinas, boat rentals and boat ramps along the river (OpenStreetMap)
- From May to SeptemberThe best months to visit
Olt River, month by month
Highest water: from April to May
Lowest water: from December to February. Best months to visit: from May to September.
From about 68 m³/s in the lowest month to 360 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
Olt River: the basin in numbers
24,130 km² of land send their water to this river. This is what lives on it.
- 1.9millionpeople live in the basin
- 80/km²people per km²
- 624maverage altitude of the basin
- 666mmof rain a year (basin average)
- 8.0°Caverage air temperature
- 3%protected areas
- 0.7%covered by lakes
- 1.4km³held in reservoirs
What covers the basin
- 49% Forest
- 31% Cropland
- 27% 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
Olt River: what you find on the way
- 29Weirs
- 1LocksEcluza Izbiceni
- 6WaterfallsCascada Lotrisor and 5 more
- 1Boat ramps
- 4Ferry piersponton bac, Mirajul Oltului, Parc Jiblea and 1 more
- 1River beachesPlaja Olt
From OpenStreetMap, within 2.0 km of the river. Not mapped is not the same as not there.
Cross-checked with our atlases
Olt 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.
2mountains at the sourcePeakyas
Mountains at the source (2)
Within 15 km of the source, by Peakyas
- Hășmaș Mountains4.6 km away1,792m
- Răchitiș14 km away948m
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
Olt River in pictures
Tributaries
Where it flows, and what flows into it
It flows into
DanubeRomania2,850 km5,400 m³/sTributaries (105)
Also: Cibin River, Bârsa River, Olteț River, Lotru River, Râul Negru, Topolog River, Arpaș River, Bistrița River, Baraolt River, Cormoș River, Fitod River, Beta River, Ticuș River, Drăguș River, Chepeț River, Călinești River, Avrig River, Bogata River, Breaza River, Cincu River, Comana River, Corlat River, Crizbav River, Cungrea River
Serbia
Croatia
Germany
Moldova
Austria
HungaryNearby
Rivers nearby
Bulgaria314 km13 m³/s4 km awayIskarBulgaria368 km54 m³/s30 km awayVitBulgaria189 km14 m³/s6 km awayYantraBulgaria286 km37 m³/s62 km awayJiu RiverRomania331 km94 m³/s80 km awayVedea RiverRomania224 km8.4 m³/s62 km awayArgeș RiverRomania350 km73 m³/s150 km awayDâmbovița RiverRomania286 km19 m³/s148 km awayWhere these numbers come from
| Name, length, places | Wikidata (Q126822) · 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 | 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 lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Coming soonVisit mountains
Every summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit 
waterfalls
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 
rivers
Every river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.You are here
canyons
Every canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Coming soonVisit