The Route nationale 1 is a trunk road ( nationale) in France between Paris and

Calais Calais ( , , traditionally , ) is a port city in the Pas-de-Calais department, of which it is a subprefecture. Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the department's prefecture is its third-largest city of Arras. Th ...

. It is approximately long.

Reclassification

The majority of the original road has been superseded by the

A16 autoroute The A16 autoroute – also known as ''L'Européenne'' and forming between Abbeville and Dunkirk a part of the larger ''Autoroute des estuaires'' – is a motorway in northern France. The motorway, which has a total length of , starts at a j ...

. As a result, much of the road has now been reclassified the RD 1001, RD 901 and RD 940.

Route

Paris - Saint-Denis -

Beauvais Beauvais ( , ; pcd, Bieuvais) is a city and commune in northern France, and prefecture of the Oise département, in the Hauts-de-France region, north of Paris. The commune of Beauvais had a population of 56,020 , making it the most popul ...

Amiens Amiens (English: or ; ; pcd, Anmien, or ) is a city and commune in northern France, located north of Paris and south-west of Lille. It is the capital of the Somme department in the region of Hauts-de-France. In 2021, the population of ...

- Abbeville -

Boulogne-sur-Mer Boulogne-sur-Mer (; pcd, Boulonne-su-Mér; nl, Bonen; la, Gesoriacum or ''Bononia''), often called just Boulogne (, ), is a coastal city in Hauts-de-France, Northern France. It is a Subprefectures in France, sub-prefecture of the Department ...

Dunkerque Dunkirk (french: Dunkerque ; vls, label=French Flemish, Duunkerke; nl, Duinkerke(n) ; , ;) is a Communes of France, commune in the Departments of France, department of Nord (French department), Nord in northern France.

- ''Belgium'' Cartouche N1

Paris to Amiens (0 km to 130 km)

The road begins at the Porte de la Chapelle in Paris and runs below the A1 autoroute as the Boulevard de President Wilson north through the northern Paris suburbs to Saint-Denis. The road heads through Saint Denis as the Avenue Lenine before heading north east. The road then heads to the east of Saint Brice Sous Foret, with the ''Foret Dominiale de Montmorency''. The road heads into the ''Foret Dominiale de L'Isle-Adam'' where the

starts, and then crosses the River Oise. The autoroute heads to the west while the N 1 heads out over rolling countryside northwards after Chambly. The road heads through Noailles before the road crosses the autoroute and enters

. The road passes round the east of Beauvais passing the airport before turning north east. The road heads over the generally flat countryside to Breteuil. It runs parallel to the A 16 and enters the town of

from the South. The road crosses the River

Somme __NOTOC__ Somme or The Somme may refer to: Places *Somme (department), a department of France *Somme, Queensland, Australia *Canal de la Somme, a canal in France *Somme (river), a river in France Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Somme'' (book), a ...

in the town.

Amiens to Calais (130 km to 290 km)

In Amiens the road turns north west along the Somme valley past the memorial Samara. The road heads out of the steep valley sides before the town of Abbeville. To the west of the town is the

A28 autoroute Autoroute 28 is a French mainland motorway linking Abbeville in the Somme to Tours in Indre-et-Loire. The motorway starts at Abbeville, splitting from the A16 and, after merging with the A13 near Rouen, ends at Tours, merging with the A10. I ...

which heads south to Rouen. The N 1 heads north again passing south west of the ''Forêt de Crécy''. The road then crosses the marshy valley of the river Authie. The countryside becomes a series of

chalk Chalk is a soft, white, porous, sedimentary carbonate rock. It is a form of limestone composed of the mineral calcite and originally formed deep under the sea by the compression of microscopic plankton that had settled to the sea floor. C ...

downland and deep valleys. The road continues to the valley of the Canche and the historic walled town of Montreuil. The road rises again reaching 134 m above sea level north of the town which offers views over the ''Parc Naturel Regional caps et Marais D'Opale''. The road passes through the village of Samer before turning north west to the major port and historic town of

. After Boulogne the road has reached the

English Channel The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" ( Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), ( Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Ka ...

and the road heads along the coast past the ''Colonne de la Grande Armée'' and has now been re-numbered the RD 940. The road heads through Wimereux and close to the '' Cap Gris-Nez'' (50 m), Wissant and the ''Cap Blanc-Nez'' (134 m), here the road passes a Monument to Latham and past the ''Mont d'Hubert'' (151 m). The road then enters

from the west. The town is a major port with

ferry A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water ta ...

services to England. The A26 autoroute starts in the town heading south east to Paris,

Lille Lille ( , ; nl, Rijsel ; pcd, Lile; vls, Rysel) is a city in the northern part of France, in French Flanders. On the river Deûle, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France region, the prefecture of the No ...

and

Reims Reims ( , , ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French department of Marne, and the 12th most populous city in France. The city lies northeast of Paris on the Vesle river, a tributary of the Aisne. Founded b ...

Calais to Frontier of Belgium (290 km to 339 km)

In the year 1973 the RN 1 took over this part from the RN 40. 2006 this part was downgraded from RN to RD. The

passes round the town with the

Eurotunnel Getlink, formerly Groupe Eurotunnel, is a European public company based in Paris that manages and operates the infrastructure of the Channel Tunnel between England and France, operates the Eurotunnel Shuttle train service, and earns revenue ...

terminal and heading north to the Belgium frontier and takes the majority of through traffic. The old RN 1 is now numbered the RD 940 and passes north east parallel to the coast across flat drained farmland. The road reaches the river Aa and the town of Gravelines after 25 km. After the town the road is numbered the RN 1 and it passes a series of refineries and other industrial complexes in the ''Zone industrielle Portuaire''. The road then enters the port of

where the RN 225 (European Route E 42) heads south east to

. The RN 1 continues along the coast to the Frontier with Belgium where it continues as the N 39. {{DEFAULTSORT:Route Nationale 1 001