The N3 road in

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

is a national road connecting the capital city

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

Aachen Aachen ( ; ; Aachen dialect: ''Oche'' ; French and traditional English: Aix-la-Chapelle; or ''Aquisgranum''; nl, Aken ; Polish: Akwizgran) is, with around 249,000 inhabitants, the 13th-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia, and the 28th- ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

via

Leuven Leuven (, ) or Louvain (, , ; german: link=no, Löwen ) is the capital and largest city of the province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located about east of Brussels. The municipality itself comprises the historic ...

Tienen Tienen (; french: Tirlemont ) is a city and municipality in the province of Flemish Brabant, in Flanders, Belgium. The municipality comprises Tienen itself and the towns of Bost, Goetsenhoven, Hakendover, Kumtich, Oorbeek, Oplinter, Sint-Marg ...

Sint-Truiden Sint-Truiden (; french: link=no, Saint-Trond ; li, Sintruin ) is a city and municipality located in the province of Limburg, Flemish Region, Belgium, and has over 41,500 inhabitants, which makes it one of the largest cities in Limburg. The muni ...

and

Liège Liège ( , , ; wa, Lîdje ; nl, Luik ; german: Lüttich ) is a major city and municipality of Wallonia and the capital of the Belgian province of Liège. The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east of Belgium, not far from b ...

. Its course is quite similar to that of

European route E40 European route E40 is the longest European route, more than long, connecting Calais in France via Belgium, Germany, Poland, Ukraine, Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and Kyrgyzstan, with Ridder in Kazakhstan near the border with R ...

between Brussels and Aachen, which it intersects 3 times. The road runs through the 3 Belgian regions (Brussels,

Flanders Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, ...

and

Wallonia Wallonia (; french: Wallonie ), or ; nl, Wallonië ; wa, Waloneye or officially the Walloon Region (french: link=no, Région wallonne),; nl, link=no, Waals gewest; wa, link=no, Redjon walone is one of the three regions of Belgium—alo ...

) and the 3 communities (Dutch-speaking, French-speaking and German-speaking). Starting at the small Brussels ring road crossroad Arts-Loi in the

City of Brussels The City of Brussels (french: Ville de Bruxelles or alternatively ''Bruxelles-Ville'' ; nl, Stad Brussel or ''Brussel-Stad'') is the largest municipality and historical City centre, centre of the Brussels, Brussels-Capital Region, as well a ...

, the road is first named

Rue de la Loi The () or (Dutch), meaning "Law Street", is a major street running through central and eastern Brussels, Belgium, which is famous due to the presence of several notable Belgian and European Union (EU) governmental buildings. The road runs fro ...

(direction Brussels centrum) or Rue Belliard (direction Aachen), then enters the Belliard tunnel under the

Cinquantenaire The Parc du Cinquantenaire (French language, French for "Park of the Fiftieth Anniversary", pronounced ) or Jubelpark (Flemish language, Dutch for "Jubilee Park", pronounced ) is a large public, urban park of in the easternmost part of the Br ...

park before it becomes the Avenue de Tervueren/Tervurenlaan past the Tervuren gate in

Etterbeek Etterbeek ( French: ; Dutch: ) is one of the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the eastern part of the region, it is bordered by the municipalities of Auderghem, the City of Brussels, Ixelles, Schaerbeek, Wolu ...

. The Avenue de Tervueren then crosses the municipality of

Woluwe-Saint-Pierre Woluwe-Saint-Pierre () or Sint-Pieters-Woluwe () is one of the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the eastern part of the region, it is bordered by Etterbeek, Auderghem and Woluwe-Saint-Lambert, as well as th ...

from the Montgomery Place, passes along the

Woluwe The Woluwe (; ) is a stream that goes through several municipalities in the southeast and east of Brussels and is a right tributary of the Senne/Zenne (in Vilvoorde). The Kleine Maalbeek is a tributary of the Woluwe (in Kraainem). Many ponds form ...

and

Parmentier park Parmentier can refer to: People * André Parmentier (landscape architect) (1780–1830), American landscape architect * André Parmentier (sport shooter) (1876-1969), French Olympic sport shooter *Antoine-Augustin Parmentier (1737–1813), French ...

s before it joins the Chaussée de Tervueren/Tervuursesteenweg in

Auderghem Auderghem (former Dutch spelling, now used in French; pronounced ) or Oudergem () is one of the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region (Belgium). Located to the southeast of the region, along the Woluwe valley and at the entrance to t ...

. Past this intersection, the N3 road comes back to Woluwe-Saint-Pierre where it crosses the

Brussels Ring The Brussels Ring (Dutch: ''Grote ring rond Brussel'', French: ''Ring de Bruxelles'') numbered R0, is a ring road surrounding the city of Brussels as well as other smaller towns south of Brussels. It is about long, with 2 or 3 lanes in each dire ...

after which it leaves the region of Brussels for Flanders in

Tervuren Tervuren () is a municipality in the province of Flemish Brabant, in Flanders, Belgium. The municipality comprises the villages of Duisburg, Tervuren, Vossem and Moorsel. On January 1, 2006, Tervuren had a total population of 20,636. The total a ...

Flemish Brabant Flemish Brabant ( nl, Vlaams-Brabant ; french: Brabant flamand ) is a province of Flanders, one of the three regions of Belgium. It borders on (clockwise from the North) the Belgian provinces of Antwerp, Limburg, Liège, Walloon Brabant, Haina ...

. Before it arrives to Leuven where it joins the

N2 road This is a list of roads designated N2. Roads entries are sorted in alphabetical order by country. * N2 (Bangladesh), connects Dhaka and Tamabil via Sylhet * N2 road (Belgium), connects Brussels and Maastricht * National Road 2 (Democratic Repub ...

on the Leuven Ring, the road crosses highways E40 in

Bertem Bertem () is a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality located in the Belgium, Belgian province of Flemish Brabant. The municipality comprises the towns of Bertem proper, Korbeek-Dijle and Leefdaal. On January 1, 2006, Bertem had a total populatio ...

and E314 in

Heverlee Heverlee () is a town in Belgium. It is a borough of the city of Leuven. Heverlee is bordered by Herent, Bertem, Oud Heverlee and several other municipalities that are part of Leuven (including Leuven proper and Kessel-Lo). The town is the locati ...

, a borough of Leuven. Between Leuven and Tienen the N3 road runs parallel to the E40 and the railroad Leuven-Tienen. Arriving in Sint-Truiden, the road enters the province of Limburg and leaves it for the Walloon province of

Oreye Oreye (; nl, Oerle, ) is a municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Liège, Belgium. On January 1, 2018, Oreye had a total population of 3,912. The total area is 19.64 km² which gives a population density Population density ...

. It intersects the E40 highway again at Loncin and then runs through the city centre of

and crosses the river

Meuse The Meuse ( , , , ; wa, Moûze ) or Maas ( , ; li, Maos or ) is a major European river, rising in France and flowing through Belgium and the Netherlands before draining into the North Sea from the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta. It has a t ...

there. Going north-east the road intersects the E40 for the 3rd time in

Soumagne Soumagne (, wa, Soûmagne) is a municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Liège, Belgium. On September 1, 2008, Soumagne had a total population of 15,894. The total area is 27.14 km2 which gives a population density of 585 inha ...

. The N3 finally crosses 2 municipalities of the German-speaking community (

Lontzen Lontzen () is a municipality located in East Belgium. On January 1, 2018 Lontzen had a total population of 5,695. The total area is 28.73 km² which gives a population density of 198 inhabitants per km². The municipality consists of the foll ...

and

Kelmis Kelmis (; french: La Calamine, ) is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Liège, named for the historical deposits of calamine (zinc ore) nearby. , the population was 10,881; the area is and the population density is . The municipali ...

). From Kelmis the German city of Aachen can be joined via the German road B264.

See also