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River

Thur

135 km from source to mouth · Switzerland.

SwitzerlandSwitzerlandFlows into Rhine4th longest in Switzerland

Follow the riverMonth by month

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

In numbers

Length

135km

Average flow

47m³/s

Basin

1,696km²

Drop

408m

from 756 m to 348 m

Country

1

The journey

From source to mouth

135 km of river and 68 stops on the way: 46 towns and cities on its banks, dams, bridges and the tributaries that feed it.

756 m348 m
Sourceat 756 m0 km
Ebnat-Kappel5,031 people13 km
Kirchberg9,072 people35 km
Wil23,955 people43 km
Sittertributary63 km
Weinfelden11,534 people79 km
Bussnang2,343 people82 km
Frauenfeld27,099 people101 km
Untersee522 km²104 km
Andelfingen2,201 people125 km
Rhineat 348 m135 km
050100135 km
  1. 0 kmSourceat 756 m
  2. 0 kmWildhaus-Alt St. Johann2,625 people
  3. 0 kmThurbrücke-Bürgerheim
  4. 0 kmBratzenmoos-Brücke
  5. 0 kmThurbrücke-Breitenau
  6. 0 kmDorf-Brücke
  7. 0 kmMühlewies-Steg
  8. 2 kmGiessenfall 3
  9. 2 kmNesslau3,575 people
  10. 5 kmRisibach Falls
  11. 8 kmKrummenau1,453 people
  12. 13 kmEbnat-Kappel5,031 people
  13. 19 kmWattwil8,736 people
  14. 22 kmLichtensteig1,870 people
  15. 26 kmBütschwil-Ganterschwil4,875 people
  16. 27 kmOberhelfenschwil1,261 people
  17. 28 kmBütschwil3,393 people
  18. 30 kmLochermoosbrücke
  19. 31 kmGanterschwil1,145 people
  20. 32 kmOld Thur Bridge
  21. 33 kmLütisburg1,576 people
  22. 35 kmKirchberg9,072 people
  23. 37 kmJonschwil3,773 people
  24. 41 kmRickenbach bei Wil2,714 people
  25. 43 kmWil23,955 people
  26. 46 kmZuzwil4,785 people
  27. 48 kmFelsegg Bridge
  28. 50 kmUzwil12,885 people
  29. 53 kmOberbüren4,447 people
  30. 53 kmSt. Gallenberg Monastery
  31. 57 kmNiederhelfenschwil2,668 people
  32. 57 kmNiederbüren1,514 people
  33. 62 kmAlte Thurbrücke
  34. 63 kmSittertributary
  35. 63 kmBischofszell6,016 people
  36. 64 kmHohentannen586 people
  37. 69 kmSulgen3,869 people
  38. 70 kmKradolf-Schönenberg3,590 people
  39. 74 kmBürglen3,841 people
  40. 79 kmWeinfelden11,534 people
  41. 81 kmGanggelisteg
  42. 82 kmBussnang2,343 people
  43. 84 kmMärstetten2,898 people
  44. 84 kmMärstetten-Dorf2,600 people
  45. 86 kmAmlikon-Bissegg1,346 people
  46. 88 kmWigoltingen2,457 people
  47. 89 kmZollbrücke-Eschikofen
  48. 92 kmMüllheim2,991 people
  49. 93 kmHüttlingen850 people
  50. 96 kmPfyn2,016 people
  51. 98 kmFelben-Wellhausen2,839 people
  52. 101 kmOchsenfurtsteg
  53. 101 kmFrauenfeld27,099 people
  54. 104 kmUntersee522 km²
  55. 104 kmWarth-Weiningen1,346 people
  56. 108 kmSt. Peter and Paul Parish Church
  57. 109 kmUesslingen-Buch1,088 people
  58. 112 kmAltikon674 people
  59. 113 kmNeunforn1,039 people
  60. 116 kmFahrhof residential building
  61. 117 kmThalheim an der Thur922 people
  62. 120 kmThurbrücke Ossingen
  63. 121 kmOssingen1,566 people
  64. 123 kmThurbrücke Andelfingen
  65. 124 kmAdlikon bei Andelfingen707 people
  66. 124 kmKleinandelfingen2,077 people
  67. 125 kmAndelfingen2,201 people
  68. 133 kmFlaach1,375 people
  69. 135 kmEllikon am Rhein
  70. 135 kmRhineat 348 m

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

River in Switzerland

At the mouth it carries 47 m³/s on average: an Olympic pool every 53 seconds. It drops from 756 m to 348 m, 3.0 m per kilometre on average. Its basin covers 1,696 km², about the size of GP. 393,000 people live in it. Highest water: from June to August and December. No large dam holds it back: it is one of the world's free-flowing rivers.

Read more on Wikipedia

Where to start

  • FrauenfeldLargest city on its banks · 27,099 people
  • Zürich Airport (ZRH)Nearest airport with scheduled flights, 28 km from the cityCar hire at ZRH airport (Zurich)Discover Cars · Affiliate link
  • On the water3 ferry piers, marinas, boat rentals and boat ramps along the river (OpenStreetMap)
  • Kayak and canoe1 put-ins and rapids mapped (OpenStreetMap)
  • From May to SeptemberThe best months to visit

Thur, month by month

Highest water: from June to August and December

Best months to visit: from May to September.

57
0°54 mmJan
53
1°62 mmFeb
44
5°62 mmMar
51
9°77 mmApr
67
13°99 mmMay
89
16°120 mmJun
90
18°116 mmJul
92
18°116 mmAug
71
15°85 mmSep
52
10°67 mmOct
66
4°77 mmNov
76
1°74 mmDec
Water (estimated flow)Air (average) Rain (mm)Best months

From about 44 m³/s in the lowest month to 92 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 ZRH airport (Zurich)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

Thur: the basin in numbers

1,758 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.
  • 393,000people live in the basin
  • 223/km²people per km²
  • 768maverage altitude of the basin
  • 1,148mmof rain a year (basin average)
  • 7.7°Caverage air temperature
  • 3%protected areas

What covers the basin

  • 56% Forest
  • 36% Cropland
  • 32% Pasture
  • 14% 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

Thur: what you find on the way

  • 7Dams
  • 53WeirsSitterwehr, Wehr Müllheim and 51 more
  • 24WaterfallsGiessenfall I, Giessenfall II, Giessenfall III and 21 more
  • 1Rapids
  • 2Ferry piersFähre Ellikon am Rhein – Nack
  • 1Marinas
  • 2River beachesBaggerweiher, Eggrank

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

Cross-checked with our atlases

Thur 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.

  • 2waterfalls on the riverCascadyas
  • 1lake on its wayLakeyas
  • 120mountains at the sourcePeakyas

Waterfalls (2)

On the river, by Cascadyas

  1. Giessenfall 3km 2
  2. Risibach Fallskm 4

Cascadyas is coming soonOpen Cascadyas ↗

Lakes and reservoirs (1)

Lakes it flows through, by Lakeyas

  1. Unterseekm 86 · 40 m deep522km²

Lakeyas is coming soonOpen Lakeyas ↗

Mountains at the source (120)

Within 15 km of the source, by Peakyas

  1. Säntis11 km away · prominence 2,021 m2,501m
  2. Altmann12 km away · prominence 316 m2,435m
  3. Gamsberg14 km away · prominence 1,358 m2,385m
  4. Hinderrugg8.7 km away · prominence 470 m2,306m
  5. Brisi7.3 km away · prominence 325 m2,278m
  6. Chäserrugg9.1 km away2,260m
  7. Wildhuser Schafberg10 km away · prominence 133 m2,373m
  8. Frümsel6.9 km away · prominence 222 m2,267m

112 more on PeakyasOpen Peakyas ↗

From space

The source and the mouth, seen from orbit

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

Thur in pictures

Thur im Toggenburg
Adrian Michael · CC BY 2.5
Thurbo RABe 526 Thurbrücke Ossingen
Kabelleger / David Gubler · CC BY-SA 4.0
Alte Thurbrücke Lütisburg
1-Byte · CC BY-SA 4.0
SBB Brücke über die Thur, Schwarzenbach SG 20190726-jag9889
Jag9889 · CC BY-SA 4.0

Tributaries

Where it flows, and what flows into it

It flows into

RhineThe NetherlandsThe Netherlands1,233 km2,200 m³/s

Tributaries (9)

Also: Sitter, Murg, Necker, Glatt (Thur), Kemme, Wissthur, Luteren, Seebach, Uze

In the same basin

MoselleGermanyGermany544 km320 m³/sMainGermanyGermany524 km200 m³/sAareSwitzerlandSwitzerland295 km560 m³/sNeckarGermanyGermany362 km140 m³/sLahnGermanyGermany242 km54 m³/sRuhrGermanyGermany217 km79 m³/sSaarGermanyGermany246 km78 m³/sLippeGermanyGermany255 km240 m³/sReussSwitzerlandSwitzerland159 km130 m³/sIllFranceFrance217 km54 m³/s

Nearby

Rivers nearby

AareSwitzerlandSwitzerland295 km560 m³/s28 km awayReussSwitzerlandSwitzerland159 km130 m³/s29 km awayLimmatSwitzerlandSwitzerland140 km100 m³/s29 km awayBregGermanyGermany49 km9.7 m³/s39 km awayLinthSwitzerlandSwitzerland37 km55 m³/s49 km awayIllAustriaAustria72 km210 m³/s80 km awayIllerGermanyGermany147 km90 m³/s136 km awaySaane/SarineSwitzerlandSwitzerland126 km54 m³/s118 km away

Where these numbers come from

Name, length, placesWikidata (Q14339) · 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 atlasesCascadyas, Lakeyas, 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