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Fribourg has an elevation of 581 meters (1,906 ft) (in the Old City), and is situated 28 km (17.4 mi) southwest of Bern. It is located on the Swiss plateau, and extends on both sides of the Saane/Sarine River, which, in the vicinity of Fribourg, has cut deeply into the molasse. The Old City is located on a hill, only about 100 meters wide, which rises about 40 meters above the valley floor. Most quarters of the city are located on the High Plateau and the surrounding hills, which have an average elevation of 620 m (2,034 ft). The valley floor is only settled in the area immediately around the Old City.


The area of the municipality, which, at 9.3 square kilometers (3.6 sq mi), is relatively small for a city, covers an area of Molasse in the central part of Canton Fribourg. The area is cut through from south to north by the tightly wound Saane/Sarine River, which has eroded a valley, in some places, to a depth of 100 m below the surrounding Plateau. In general, the valley floor is between 200 m (656 ft) and 500 m (1,640 ft) wide. Pérolles-See, formed as a reservoir by the first Gravity Dam in Europe, in 1872, is located south of the city. The head of the Schiffenensee is located just 1 km north of the city. At both of these artificial lakes, the Saane/Sarine covers nearly the entire valley floor.

The flat valley floor is flanked on both sides by steep, largely wooded, slopes. To the east, the municipality reaches up the slopes of Mount Schönberg, which, with an elevation of 702 m (2,303 ft), is the highest point in Fribourg. The Galtera River, also deeply cut into the plateau, flows between the mountain and the river, emptying into the Saane/Sarine near the Old City.

The former village of Bourguillon lies within the municipality. Fribourg borders on Düdingen and Tafers to the east, Pierrafortscha to the southeast, Marly to the south, Villars-sur-Glâne and Givisiez to the west, and Granges-Paccot to the north.