Its source is in Austria, some kilometres east of Bruck an der Mur below Heubodenhöhe Hill.

It flows through the Austrian states of Styria and Burgenland, and the Hungarian counties of Vas and Győr-Moson-Sopron.

[1] It flows into a tributary of the Danube (Mosoni-Duna) in northwestern Hungary, in the city of Győr.

[4] Towns along the Rába include Gleisdorf, Feldbach (both in Austria), and Szentgotthárd and Körmend (in Hungary).

The various modern names of the river are derived from the Romance reflex Rābo.