It is approximately 124 kilometres (77 mi) long, running from its source near the village of Gießelrade in Ostholstein to Travemünde, where it flows into the Baltic Sea.

The modern Wakenitz joins the Canal Trave from the east, and the three channels recombine at the north end of the Old Town island.

The Trave widens into the Traveförde estuary between Herreninsel and the mouth in the Bay of Lübeck, including the Pötenitzer Wiek and the Dassower See (fed by the Stepenitz).

[4][5] In the early Middle Ages, the upper reaches of the Trave (together with the Schwentine) formed part of the Limes Saxoniae and the western boundary of Wagria.

The course of the lower Trave arose in the last ice age (the Weichselian glaciation), when glacier flows carved deep fjords into what is now the Baltic Sea coast.

The river runs through or beside a series of nature preserves and undeveloped lands, and its basin is home to a variety of rare and endangered animal species.