The river Aar

Welcome to our pictures of the river Aar (German : Aare). The Aar is the main tributary of the river Rhine in Switzerland. Below we show you the map of the river Aar, some of its tributaries and a part of the river Rhine.

The source of the Aar is situated in the Grimsel massif at the Aar Glaciers above Lake Oberaar (German : Oberaarsee). From there the Aar begins its long periplus down to the Rhine. Shortly after the lake Oberaar, the river flows through the lake Grimsel (German : Grimselsee), then through the lake Raeterichsboden (German : Räterichsbodensee).

Between Innertkirchen and Meiringen, the Aar finds its way through the well known and absolutely stunning Gorge of the Aar (German : Aareschlucht). After passing Meiringen, the Aar flows through the Lake of Brienz (German : Brienzersee), passes Interlaken and flows through the Lake of Thun (German : Thunersee).

Later the Aar passes Bern, the Capital city, then Aarberg. At Aarberg the Aare-Hagneck Kanal diverts the river into the the Lake of Bienne (German : Bielersee). At the north of the lake the river exits through the Canal of Nidau, passes Büren-an-der-Aare, Solothurn, Wangen-an-der-Aare, Olten, Aarau, Brugg and finally encounters the river Rhine near Coblenz Switzerland (German : Koblenz, Latin : Confluentia), not to be confounded with Coblence Germany (German : Koblenz) which is 500 km away from here.

The length of the river Aar is 295 km. It is the longest river both rising and ending in Switzerland.

River Aar pages on this site

The Grimsel pass in the Swiss Alps
The source of the river Aar in the Grimsel massif
The Gorge of the Aar in the Bernese Oberland
The river Aar at Berne
The river Aar at Solothurn
Hydrology of the river Aar, September 2012

Tributaries of the River Aar

The river Sarine , Hydrology of the river Sarine, September 2012
The river Reuss , Hydrology of the river Reuss, September 2012

Tributaries of the River Sarine

The river Sense , Hydrology of the river Sense

Tributaries of the River Sense

The river Schwarzwasser