Skip to content
riveryas
EN

River

Serchio

111 km from source to mouth · Italy.

ItalyItalyFlows into Ligurian Sea

Follow the riverMonth by month

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

In numbers

Length

111km

Average flow

31m³/s

Basin

1,404km²

Drop

446m

from 442 m to -4 m

Country

1

The journey

From source to mouth

111 km of river and 20 stops on the way: 18 towns and cities on its banks, dams, bridges and the tributaries that feed it.

442 m-4 m
Sourceat 442 m0 km
Castelnuovo di Garfagnana4,983 people16 km
Gallicano2,556 people29 km
Fornaci di Barga2,357 people32 km
Borgo a Mozzano6,666 people47 km
Limatributary48 km
Lucca88,798 people70 km
Pontasserchio6,132 people89 km
Vecchiano-Nodica6,324 people94 km
Ligurian Seaat -4 m111 km
0255075111 km
  1. 0 kmSourceat 442 m
  2. 0 kmPiazza al Serchio-San Michele1,071 people
  3. 5 kmSan Romano in Garfagnana1,432 people
  4. 14 kmPieve Fosciana1,785 people
  5. 16 kmCastelnuovo di Garfagnana4,983 people
  6. 29 kmGallicano2,556 people
  7. 32 kmFornaci di Barga2,357 people
  8. 37 kmPiano di Coreglia-Ghivizzano3,447 people
  9. 43 kmBagni di Lucca3,090 people
  10. 46 kmPonte della Maddalena
  11. 47 kmBorgo a Mozzano6,666 people
  12. 48 kmLimatributary
  13. 55 kmValdottavo1,248 people
  14. 70 kmLucca88,798 people
  15. 84 kmFilettole1,382 people
  16. 88 kmAvane1,157 people
  17. 89 kmPontasserchio6,132 people
  18. 89 kmOrzignano1,020 people
  19. 94 kmVecchiano-Nodica6,324 people
  20. 94 kmMetato1,911 people
  21. 99 kmMigliarino2,807 people
  22. 111 kmLigurian Seaat -4 m

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

River in Italy

At the mouth it carries 31 m³/s on average: an Olympic pool every 80 seconds. It drops from 442 m to -4 m, 4.0 m per kilometre on average. Its basin covers 1,404 km². 194,000 people live in it. Highest water: from November to December; lowest: from June to August. No large dam holds it back: it is one of the world's free-flowing rivers.

Read more on Wikipedia

Where to start

  • LuccaLargest city on its banks · 88,798 people
  • Pisa International Airport (PSA)Nearest airport with scheduled flights, 21 km from the cityCar hire at PSA airport (Pisa)Discover Cars · Affiliate link
  • On the water1 ferry piers, marinas, boat rentals and boat ramps along the river (OpenStreetMap)
  • From May to SeptemberThe best months to visit

Serchio, month by month

Highest water: from November to December

Lowest water: from June to August. Best months to visit: from May to September.

49
6°79 mmJan
41
7°73 mmFeb
36
10°73 mmMar
34
12°79 mmApr
25
16°63 mmMay
16
20°49 mmJun
7.3
23°28 mmJul
8.8
23°51 mmAug
20
20°79 mmSep
43
15°115 mmOct
60
10°117 mmNov
58
7°93 mmDec
Water (estimated flow)Air (average) Rain (mm)Best months

From about 7.3 m³/s in the lowest month to 60 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

Serchio: the basin in numbers

1,508 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.
  • 194,000people live in the basin
  • 130/km²people per km²
  • 655maverage altitude of the basin
  • 900mmof rain a year (basin average)
  • 10.8°Caverage air temperature
  • 13%protected areas
  • 0.7%covered by lakes

What covers the basin

  • 82% Forest
  • 4% Cropland
  • 32% Pasture
  • 9% 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

Serchio: what you find on the way

  • 6DamsDiga di Turritecava and 5 more
  • 12Weirs
  • 2Locks
  • 1Waterfalls
  • 1MarinasPontili Bocca di Serchio
  • 1River beachesSpiaggia degli indiani

From OpenStreetMap, within 1.3 km of the river. Not mapped is not the same as not there.

Cross-checked with our atlases

Serchio 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.

  • 7beaches at the mouth and on the banksCoastya
  • 28mountains at the sourcePeakyas
  • 1island off the mouthIslandyas

Beaches (7)

At the mouth (25 km) and on the banks, by Coastya

  1. Spiaggia libera per cani22 km away25.2°C
  2. Spiaggia Forte dei Marmi21 km away25.2°C
  3. Spiaggia Marina di Pietrasanta17 km away25.2°C
  4. Spiaggia Lido di Camaiore13 km away25.2°C
  5. Spiaggia Viareggio10 km away25.2°C
  6. La Lecciona6.6 km away25.2°C
  7. Spiaggia Verruca22 km away25.2°C

Open Coastya ↗

Mountains at the source (28)

Within 15 km of the source, by Peakyas

  1. Monte Prado6.6 km away · prominence 288 m2,054m
  2. Monte Cusna5.3 km away · prominence 731 m2,121m
  3. Alpe di Succiso13 km away · prominence 770 m2,017m
  4. Monte La Nuda7.4 km away1,893m
  5. Monte La Piella6.1 km away2,008m
  6. Monte Vecchio7.7 km away1,982m
  7. Monte Cavalbianco4.0 km away1,855m
  8. Monte Cella8.4 km away1,942m

20 more on PeakyasOpen Peakyas ↗

Islands off the mouth (1)

Within 30 km of the mouth, by Islandyas

  1. Meloria26 km away

Islandyas is coming soonOpen Islandyas ↗

From space

The source and the mouth, seen from orbit

Serchio: satellite view of the source
The source14 km across
Serchio: 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

Serchio in pictures

Serchio-Flowing-Near-Lucca-2012
Bjørn Christian Tørrissen · CC BY-SA 3.0
Serchio Ponte a Serraglio
H005 · Public domain
Ponte della Maddalena
Niccolo Rigacci · CC BY 2.5
LuccaSerchioPonteSanPietroDirSud
LigaDue · CC BY 3.0

Tributaries

Where it flows, and what flows into it

Tributaries (2)

Also: Lima, Corfino River

Where these numbers come from

Name, length, placesWikidata (Q247494) · 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 atlasesCoastya, Peakyas, Islandyas — 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