A route nationale, or simply nationale, is a class of trunk road in France. They are important roads of national significance which cross broad portions of the French territory, in contrast to departmental or communal roads which serve more limited local areas.

Point zéro (kilometre zero) on the parvis of Notre-Dame de Paris

Their use is free, except when crossing certain structures subject to a toll. They are open to all vehicles, except on certain sections having motorway (autoroute) or express road (voie express) status, both of these categories being reserved for motorized vehicles only.

France at one time had some 30,500 km of routes nationales and publicly owned motorways, but this figure has decreased with the transfer of the responsibility for many routes to the départements so that by 2010 the total length of motorways and other national roads was around 21,100 km. By way of comparison, routes départementales in the same year covered a total distance of 378,000 km.[1]

The layout of the main trunk road network reflects France's centralizing tradition: the majority of them radiate from Paris. The most important trunk roads begin on the parvis of Notre Dame de Paris at a point known as point zéro (kilometre zero). In order to cover the country effectively, there are many other roads that do not serve Paris directly.

History

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The system dates back to 16 December 1811, when Napoleon designated a number of routes impériales (imperial highways). First-class routes were numbered from 1 to 14; all began at Paris, radiating out in a clockwise manner. Route 1 ran from Paris north to Calais, and is still the general path of route nationale 1. Second-class routes, from 15 to 27, did the same, while third-class routes from 28 to 229 provided less major connections. During the Bourbon Restoration, in 1824, these routes were renamed routes royales (royal highways) and modified. Route 3, Paris to Hamburg via Soissons, Reims and Liège, was renumbered to 31 and 51, and the subsequent routes were shifted down by one. Routes 19 and 20 were completely outside the post-Napoleon France, and so 21 to 27 became 18 to 24. In 1830 the highways were renamed routes nationales.[2]

In the 21st century, the French Government has downgraded many of the former routes nationales, such as the N7 from Paris to the Côte d'Azur, transferring responsibility for them to the départements.[3]

List of routes nationales

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Routes nationales 1 to 25

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Number Runs through:
N1 Paris - Beauvais - Amiens - Abbeville - Boulogne-sur-Mer - Calais - Dunkirk - Belgium (N39)
N2 Paris - Soissons - Laon - Maubeuge - Belgium (N6)
N3 Paris - Meaux - Château-Thierry - Épernay - Châlons-en-Champagne - Verdun - Metz - Germany (B41)
N4 Paris - Vitry-le-François - Saint-Dizier - Toul - Blâmont - Sarrebourg - Strasbourg - Germany (B28)
N4A Vincennes (N34) - Joinville-le-Pont (N186)
N5 Dijon - Dole - Switzerland (Geneva) - Thonon-les-Bains - Saint-Gingolph - Switzerland (21)
N6 Paris - Melun - Fontainebleau - Sens - Auxerre - Chalon-sur-Saône - Mâcon - Lyon - Chambéry - Modane - Italy (SS25)
N7 Paris - Fontainebleau - Montargis - Cosne-Cours-sur-Loire - Nevers - Moulins - Roanne - Lyon - Vienne - Valence - Montélimar - Orange - Avignon - Aix-en-Provence - Fréjus - Saint-Raphaël - Cannes - Antibes - Nice - Menton - Italy (SS1)
N8 Aix-en-Provence - Marseille - Aubagne - Toulon
N9 Moulins - Clermont-Ferrand - Issoire - Saint-Chély-d'Apcher - Marvejols - Banassac - Millau - Clermont-l'Hérault - Béziers - Narbonne - Perpignan - Spain (N-II)
N10 Saint-Cyr-l'École - Rambouillet - Chartres - Tours - Châtellerault - Poitiers - Angoulême - Bordeaux - Biarritz - Spain (N-I)
N11 Poitiers (N10) - Niort - La Rochelle
N12 Saint-Cyr-l'École - Dreux - Alençon - Fougères - Liffré - Rennes - Saint-Brieuc - Brest
N13 Paris - Saint-Germain-en-Laye - Orgeval - Mantes-la-Jolie - Évreux - Lisieux - Caen - Cherbourg
N14 Paris - Enghien - Pontoise - Rouen
N15 Bonnières-sur-Seine (A13) - Rouen - Yvetot - Le Havre
N16 Pierrefitte (N1) - Creil - Clermont
N17 Le Bourget (N2) - Senlis - Arras - Lille - Hallum Belgium (N32)
N18 Étain - Longuyon - Longwy - Belgium (N830)
N19 Paris - Provins - Troyes - Chaumont - Langres - Vesoul - Belfort - Switzerland
N20 Paris - Étampes - Orléans - Vierzon - Châteauroux - Limoges - Brive - Cahors - Montauban - Toulouse - Foix - Bourg-Madame - Spain (N-152)
N21 Limoges - Périgueux - Bergerac - Agen - Auch - Tarbes - Argelès-Gazost
N22 N20 between Foix and Bourg-Madame - Andorra
N23 Chartres - Le Mans - Angers - Nantes
N24 Rennes - Lorient
N25 Amiens - Arras

Routes nationales 26 to 50

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Number Runs through:
N26 Verneuil-sur-Avre (N12) - Argentan
N27 Rouen - Dieppe
N28 Rouen - Abbeville - Dunkirk
N29 Yvetot - Amiens - Saint-Quentin - La Capelle
N30 Bapaume - Cambrai - Valenciennes - Quiévrain
N31 Rouen - Beauvais - Compiègne - Soissons - Reims
N32 Compiègne - La Fère
N33 Saint-Avold - Creutzwald
N34 Vincennes - Coulommiers - Esternay
N35 Saint-Dizier - Bar-le-Duc - Verdun
N36 Meaux - Melun
N37 A6 - RN7
N38
N39 Arras - Hesdin - Le Touquet-Paris-Plage
N40
N41 Béthune - Lille
N42 Boulogne-sur-Mer - Saint-Omer - Bailleul
N43 Metz - Sedan - La Capelle - Charleville-Mézières - Cambrai - Douai - Lens - Béthune - Saint-Omer - Calais
N44 Cambrai - Saint-Quentin - Laon - Reims - Châlons-en-Champagne - Vitry-le-François
N45 Douai - Valenciennes
N46
N47 Lens - La Bassée
N48
N49 Valenciennes - Maubeuge - Jeumont - Belgium (N54)
N50 Arras - Douai

Routes nationales 51 to 75

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Number Runs through:
N51 Épernay - Reims - Charleville-Mézières - Givet
N52 Metz - Thionville - Longwy
N53 Thionville - Évrange
N54
N55
N56 Saint-Avold - Sarralbe
N57 Metz - Nancy - Épinal - Vesoul - Besançon - Pontarlier - Ballaigues
N58 Sedan - Bouillon
N59 Nancy - Saint-Dié-des-Vosges - Sélestat
N60 Orléans - Montargis - Sens - Troyes
N61 Phalsbourg - Saarbrücken
N62 Sarreguemines - Haguenau
N63 Strasbourg - Haguenau - A35
N64
N65 Auxerre - A6
N66 Remiremont - Mulhouse - Basel (Switzerland)
N67 Saint-Dizier - Chaumont
N68
N69
N70 Paray-le-Monial - Montchanin
N71 Troyes - Dijon
N72 Access to A6 at Mâcon-Nord.
N73 Besançon - Dole - Chalon-sur-Saône
N74 Sarreguemines - Château-Salins - Nancy - Toul - Chaumont - Langres - Dijon - Beaune - Corpeau (Route des Grands Crus from Dijon to Santenay)
N75 Bourg-en-Bresse - Grenoble - Sisteron

Routes nationales 76 to 100

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Number Runs through:
N76 Tours - Vierzon - Bourges - Saint-Pierre-le-Moûtier
N77 Auxerre - Troyes - Châlons-en-Champagne
N78 Chalon-sur-Saône - Louhans - Lons-le-Saunier - Saint-Laurent-en-Grandvaux
N79 Montmarault - Mâcon - Bourg-en-Bresse
N80 Autun - Le Creusot - Chalon-sur-Saône
N81 Nevers - Autun - Pouilly-en-Auxois
N82 Roanne - Saint-Étienne - Chanas
N83 Lyon - Bourg-en-Bresse - Lons-le-Saunier - Besançon - Belfort - Colmar - Strasbourg
N84 Lyon - Nantua - Bellegarde-sur-Valserine
N85 Bourgoin-Jallieu - Grenoble - Gap - Digne-les-Bains - Grasse - Cannes
N86 Lyon - Nîmes
N87 Grenoble
N88 Lyon - Saint-Étienne - Le Puy-en-Velay - Mende - Rodez - Albi - Toulouse
N89 Lyon - Thiers - Clermont-Ferrand - Tulle - Périgueux - Libourne - Bordeaux
N90 Grenoble - Albertville - Bourg-Saint-Maurice - Col du Petit Saint-Bernard
N91 Grenoble - Briançon
N92 Romans-sur-Isère - Moirans
N93 Viviers - Pierrelatte
N94 Gap - Montgenèvre
N95 Tain-l'Hermitage - A7 (exit 13)
N96 Aubagne - Aix-en-Provence - Manosque - Château-Arnoux-Saint-Auban
N97 Toulon - Le Luc
N98 Toulon - Fréjus - Saint-Raphaël - Cannes - Nice - Menton
N99
N100 Remoulins - Avignon - Apt - Forcalquier

Routes nationales 101 to 125

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Number Runs through:
N101 Eastern bypass of Remoulins - Link N86-N100
N102 Vergongheon - Brioude - Le Puy-en-Velay and Pradelles - Aubenas - Montélimar
N103 Conflans-en-Jarnisy - Briey
N104 Lognes - Évry - Les Ulis (Francilienne)
N105 Melun - Montereau-Fault-Yonne
N106 Nîmes - Alès - Florac - Mende - Saint-Chély-d'Apcher
N107 Vedène - Le Pontet - Montfavet
N108 Marvejols - Barjac
N109 Clermont-l'Hérault - Montpellier
N110 Montpellier - Alès
N111 Biriatou - A63
N112 Montpellier - Béziers - Castres - Albi
N113 Bordeaux - Agen - Toulouse - Carcassonne - Narbonne - Pézenas - Montpellier - Nîmes - Arles - Salon-de-Provence - Marseille
N114 Perpignan - Cerbère
N115 Le Boulou - Col d'Ares
N116 Perpignan - Bourg-Madame
N117 Toulouse - Tarbes - Pau - Bayonne
N118 Sèvres - Les Ulis
N119
N120 Uzerche - Tulle - Aurillac - Espalion - Rodez
N121 Saint-Flour - Espalion
N122 Clermont-Ferrand ou Massiac - Aurillac - Villefranche-de-Rouergue - Toulouse
N123 Chartres
N124 Toulouse - Auch - Mont-de-Marsan - Dax - Saint-Geours-de-Maremne
N125 Montréjeau - Fos

Routes nationales 126 to 150

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Number Runs through:
N126 Toulouse - Castres
N127
N128
N129
N130
N131
N132 Cherbourg
N133
N134 Saugnacq-et-Muret - Mont-de-Marsan - Pau - col du Somport
N135 Bar-le-Duc - Ligny-en-Barrois
N136 Rennes
N137 Saint-Malo - Rennes - Nantes - La Rochelle - Saintes - Bordeaux
N138 Rouen - Alençon - Le Mans - Tours
N139
N140 Cressensac - Figeac - Rodez
N141 Saintes - Angoulême - Limoges - Aubusson - Clermont-Ferrand
N142 Bourges
N143 Tours - Châteauroux
N144 Bourges - Montluçon - Riom
N145 Bellac - Guéret - Montluçon
N146 Avallon - A6
N147 Angers - Poitiers - Limoges
N148 Sainte-Hermine - Niort
N149 Nantes - Poitiers
N150 Niort - Royan

Routes nationales 151 to 175

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Number Runs through:
N151 Poitiers - Châteauroux - Bourges - La Charité-sur-Loire - Auxerre
N152 Fontainebleau - Orléans - Tours - Angers
N153 Thionville - Apach
N154 Louviers - Évreux - Dreux - Chartres - Artenay
N155
N156
N157 Orléans - Le Mans - Laval - Rennes
N158 Caen - Falaise - Sées
N159
N160 Angers - Cholet - La Roche-sur-Yon - Les Sables-d'Olonne
N161
N162 Mayenne - Laval - Angers
N163
N164 Montauban-de-Bretagne - Châteaulin
N165 Nantes - Vannes - Lorient - Quimper - Brest
N166 Ploërmel - Vannes
N167
N168
N169 Lorient - Roscoff
N170
N171 La Baule - Châteaubriant - Laval
N172
N173
N174 Carentan - Saint-Lô - Vire
N175 Rennes - Pontorson - Avranches - Caen - Rouen

Routes nationales 176 to 200

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Number Runs through:
N176 Pré-en-Pail - Domfront - Dinan - Interchange N12/E50
N177 Pont-l'Évêque - Trouville-sur-Mer
N178
N179
N180
N181
N182
N183
N184 Saint-Germain-en-Laye - l'Isle Adam
N185
N186
N187
N188 Massy / A10 - Les Ulis
N189
N190
N191 Mennecy - Étampes - Ablis
N192
N193

Bastia - Corte, Haute-Corse - Ajaccio

N194
N195
N196

Ajaccio - Bonifacio

N197

Ponte Leccia - Calvi

N198

Casamozza - Bonifacio

N199
N200

Routes nationales 201 and beyond

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Number Runs through:
N201 Perly-Certoux - Saint-Julien-en-Genevois - Annecy - Aix-les-Bains - Chambéry A-41S
N202 Nice - Puget-Théniers - Barrême
N204 Tende - Breil-sur-Roya
N205 Annemasse - Chamonix - Mont Blanc Tunnel
N206 Bellegarde-sur-Valserine - Saint-Julien-en-Genevois - Annemasse - Douvaine
N209 Varennes-sur-Allier - Vichy - Gannat
N212 Sallanches - Megève - Ugine - Albertville
N215 Bordeaux - pointe de Grave
N220
N248 Épannes - A10 Exit n°33
N249 Nantes - Cholet - Bressuire
N250 Bordeaux - Arcachon
N254 Allaines-Mervilliers - A10 Exit n°12
N274 Rocade de Dijon (Dijon bypass, 18.5 km)
N304 Aubenas - Loriol-sur-Drôme
N312 Agde - A9 Exit n°34
N313 Aimargues - A9 Exit n°26
N320 L'Hospitalet-près-l'Andorre - Col de Puymorens - Porté-Puymorens
N330 Creil - Senlis - Meaux
N346 Rocade Est de Lyon
N383 Boulevard périphérique de Lyon
N420 Molsheim - Saint-Dié-des-Vosges
N520 Contournement de Limoges (Limoges bypass, 16 km)
N544 Fos-sur-Mer - La Fossette
N545 Fos-sur-Mer - Esso Refinery
N546 Fos-sur-Mer - D.P.F.
N568 Raphèle-lès-Arles - Martigues - Marseille
N569 Orgon - Miramas - Istres - Fos-sur-Mer
N570 Avignon - Tarascon - Arles
N2013 Cherbourg
N572 Lunel - Aimargues - Vauvert - Saint-Gilles - Arles - Salon-de-Provence
N618 Saint-Jean-de-Luz - Col d'Aubisque - Col d'Aspin - Bagnères-de-Luchon - Saint-Girons - Argelès-sur-Mer
N814 Boulevard périphérique de Caen

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Figures from the Ministère de l’Écologie]
  2. ^ "Note Sommaire sur la Gestion des Routes".
  3. ^ "Take the slow road: Route Nationale 7, the French connection". Washington Post. 1 July 2010. Retrieved 3 October 2017.
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  NODES
Note 2