The Route nationale 31 is a motorway in northern

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

. It connects the town of Rouen to Reims, it is also the European Route 46.

Route

The road starts in the City of Rouen, the road starts heading east. The road heads through the ''Forêt de Lyons'' passing the ''Hêtre de la Bunodière''. The road then passes the town of

Gournay-en-Bray Gournay-en-Bray () is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region in north-western France. Geography A town of farming and light industry, it is situated in the Pays de Bray, some east of Rouen, at the junction of the N ...

. The road crosses the

Pays de Bray The Pays de Bray (, literally ''Land of Bray'') is a small (about 750 km²) natural region of France situated to the north-east of Rouen, straddling the French departments of the Seine-Maritime and the Oise (historically divided among the ...

then by-pass the town of Beauvais. The old N 31 (now D 931) skirts the Forêt du Parc Saint-Quentin before entering Beauvais. In the town it crosses the N 1 (now numbered the D 1001). To the east of the town is a junction (15) with 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 ju ...

. To the east of Beauvais the N 31 has been upgraded to a dual-carriageway. The original route is now numbered the D 931. At Clermont the road has a junction with the N 16 (now numbered the D 1016 and D 916). After Catenay, the N 31 is single carriageway again. After 15 km the road crosses the N 17 (now numbered the D 1017) and then has a junction (10) with the

A1 autoroute The A1 Autoroute, also known as l'autoroute du Nord (the Northern Motorway), is the busiest of France's autoroutes. With a length of , it connects Paris with the northern city of Lille. It is managed by the Société des Autoroutes du Nord et ...

. the road then enters the town of

Compiègne Compiègne (; pcd, Compiène) is a commune in the Oise department in northern France. It is located on the river Oise. Its inhabitants are called ''Compiégnois''. Administration Compiègne is the seat of two cantons: * Compiègne-1 (with 19 ...

. The road leaves the town to the north east through the '' Forêt de Compiègne'' along the banks of the river Aisne. At

Soissons Soissons () is a commune in the northern French department of Aisne, in the region of Hauts-de-France. Located on the river Aisne, about northeast of Paris, it is one of the most ancient towns of France, and is probably the ancient capital o ...

the road crosses the

N 2 N2 or N-2 may refer to: * Nitrogen#Allotropes, Dinitrogen (N₂) Arts and media * A model number of the Yamaha AvantGrand piano * "N2", a 2011 song by Japanese indie rock band Asian Kung-Fu Generation, on the album ''Landmark (Asian Kung-Fu Gene ...

. The road continues to follow the Aisne and then the river

Vesle The Vesle () is the river on which the city of Reims stands. It is a fourth order river of France and a left-bank tributary of the Aisne. It is long, and rises in the ''département'' of Marne through which it flows most of its course. Geogra ...

to the south east. It passes through the town of

Fismes Fismes () is a commune in the Marne department in the Grand Est region of north-eastern France. The inhabitants of the commune are known as ''Fismois'' or ''Fismoises'' The commune has been awarded three flowers in the '' Competition of cities ...

. The road enters the town of Reims at junction (22) of the

A4 autoroute The A4 Autoroute, also known as autoroute de l'Est (), is a French '' autoroute'' that travels between the cities of Paris and Strasbourg. It forms parts of European routes E25 and E50. It is France's second longest after the A10 autoroute. ...

. The road originally continued further east merged with the

N 44 N44 may refer to: * N44 (emission nebula), in the Large Magellanic Cloud * A44 motorway (Netherlands) * , a minelayer of the Royal Danish Navy * London Buses route N44 * Nebraska Highway 44, in the United States * Robert J. Miller Air Park, in O ...

(now D 944) and after 5 km splitting to the east. The road is now numbered the D 931. It passes through Suippes where it once met the N 77 (now D 977). Much of the surrounding countryside is reserved for military purposes. The road finally ends in Valmy, west of

Sainte-Menehould Sainte-Menehould (; german: Sankt Mathilde) is a commune in the Marne department in north-eastern France. The 18th-century French playwright Charles-Georges Fenouillot de Falbaire de Quingey (1727–1800) died in Sainte-Ménéhould. It was the ...

joining the N 3. 031 {{france-road-stub