The Route nationale 16, or RN16, is a trunk road ( nationale) in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

crossing

Picardy Picardy (; Picard and french: Picardie, , ) is a historical territory and a former administrative region of France. Since 1 January 2016, it has been part of the new region of Hauts-de-France. It is located in the northern part of France. Hi ...

north of

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

Reclassification

The majority of the road has now been re-classified as the RD 1016 and RD 916.

Route

Pierrefitte-sur-Seine to Clermont (0km - 66km)

The road starts in Pierrefitte-sur-Seine, north of Paris as a branch of the RN 1, as the Avenue de la Division Leclerc and bypasses the town of

Sarcelles Sarcelles () is a commune in the northern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris. Sarcelles is a sub-prefecture of the Val-d'Oise department and the seat of the arrondissement of Sarcelles. In the south of the commun ...

and heads into open countryside crossing the RN 104 ( La Francilienne). The road passes the castle and estate of

Épinay-Champlâtreux Épinay-Champlâtreux () is a commune in the Val-d'Oise department in Île-de-France in northern France. See also *Communes of the Val-d'Oise department The following is a list of the 184 communes of the Val-d'Oise department of France. Th ...

and the '' Parc naturel régional Oise-Pays de France''. The road bypasses Luzarches and plunges through the ''Forêt de Coye'' and then on to

Chantilly Chantilly may refer to: Places France * Chantilly, Oise, a city located in the Oise department ** US Chantilly, a football club * Château de Chantilly, a historic château located in the town of Chantilly United States *Chantilly, Miss ...

. At Chantilly the road crosses the river of Nonette and on through woodland to Creil in the Oise valley. The road crosses the valley up the Brèche valley to Clermont, The road has a junction here with the RN 31 from

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 populous ...

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 c ...

Clermont to Amiens (66km to 132km)

The road has now been downgraded to the RD 916 north of Clermont. The road initially follows the

Arné Arné (; oc, Arnèr) is a commune in the Hautes-Pyrénées department in southwestern France. Geography The river Gesse has its source in the southern part of the commune and forms most of its eastern border. Population See also *Communes of ...

valley north. At

Saint-Just-en-Chaussée Saint-Just-en-Chaussée ( pcd, Saint-Just-in-Cœuchie) is a commune in the Oise department in northern France. Saint-Just-en-Chaussée station has rail connections to Amiens, Creil and Paris. History Its name refers to Saint Justus of Beauvais, ...

it follows the course of an old

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

road. The road leaves the valley and heads through open country to the town of Breteuil where it meets the RN 1 (former RN 181). The RN 16 has been renamed RN 1 (now RD 1001) until the town of

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 ...

Amiens to Dunkerque (132km to 287km)

North of Amiens, the RN 16 has been renamed RN 25 until the town of

Doullens Doullens (; pcd, Dourlin; former nl, Dorland) is a commune in the Somme department, Hauts-de-France, France. Its inhabitants are called ''Doullennais'' and ''Doullennaises''. Geography Doullens is situated on the N25 road, in the northern ...

. The road continues north numbered as RD 916. The road passes the market town of

Frévent Frévent () is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region of France. Geography A farming town situated in the valley of the Canche river, west of Arras, at the junction of the D946, the D939 and the D941 roads. Hist ...

and the river Canche. The road crosses the former RN 39 (now RD 939) south of the town of

Saint-Pol-sur-Ternoise Saint-Pol-sur-Ternoise (, literally ''Saint-Pol on Ternoise''; vls, Sint-Pols-aan-de-Ternas) is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in northern France. It is the seat of the canton of Saint-Pol-sur-Ternoise. The population of the town is 4, ...

. The road has been renamed as RN 41 (that has since been downgraded as RD 941) before becoming the RD 916 once more. The road continues north to the town of Lillers and a junction with the

A26 autoroute The A26 is a long French motorway connecting Calais and Troyes. It is also known as the Autoroute des Anglais (''Motorway of the English'') as its length forms the first part of the main route from the Dover-Calais ferries and the Channel Tunnel ...

(Junction 5). The town had a junction with the N43 (now RD 943) from

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 ...

to Douai. The road crosses the River Lys and then ''Forêt de Nieppe''. The road then passes through the town of

Hazebrouck Hazebrouck (, nl, Hazebroek, , vls, Oazebroeke) is a commune in the Nord department, Hauts-de-France. It was a small market town in Flanders until it became an important railway junction in the 1860s. West Flemish was the usual language until 1 ...

where it meets the RN 42. 4 km to the north the road turns north west. The road passes the town of

Cassel Cassel may refer to: People * Cassel (surname) Places ;France * Cassel, Nord, a town and commune in northern France ** Battle of Cassel (1071) ** Battle of Cassel (1328) ** Battle of Cassel (1677) ;Germany * Cassel, Germany, a city in Hesse renam ...

and the ''Mont des Récollets'' (159m). The road passes Wormhout, crosses the

A25 autoroute The A25 is a long motorway in northern France. It is also part of European Route E42. Route The road connects (with the N225) the English Channel port of Dunkerque with the major city of Lille Lille ( , ; nl, Rijsel ; pcd, Lile; vls, Rysel ...

where the road meets with the RN 28 (now RD 928). It then enters the town of

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