Route nationale 10 (RN 10) is a French trunk road (route nationale) that runs in a north‑east to south‑west direction across the western part of metropolitan France. The road connects the outskirts of Paris with the Spanish border near the town of Béhobie.
Length
The RN 10 has an official length of approximately 762 km.
Termini
- North‑east terminus: Quatre‑Pavés‑du‑Roi, in the commune of Montigny‑le‑Brettonneux (Yvelines), a junction on the continuation of the A12 autoroute.
- South‑west terminus: The frontier crossing at Béhobie on the French‑Spanish border.
Route description
From its north‑east origin, the RN 10 proceeds south‑west, initially following the historic Paris‑Bordeaux axis. The first segment, from the Porte de Saint‑Cloud in Paris to the Pont de Sèvres, has been downgraded and is now departmental road RD 910 in the Hauts‑de‑Seine and RD 10 in the Yvelines.
Beyond the Paris metropolitan area, the road passes through the following principal towns and cities (selected):
- Rennes‑Val‑de‑Loire area: Sèvres, Saint‑Cloud, and the suburb of Boulogne‑Billancourt.
- Centre‑Val de Loire: Versailles, Rambouillet, and Chartres.
- Nouvelle‑Aquitaine: Poitiers, Angoulême, and the Bordeaux metropolitan area. In the Bordeaux region the RN 10 adopts several boulevard names (e.g., Boulevard des Frères Moga, Boulevard Jean‑Jacques Bosc) and crosses the Garonne River via the Pont Saint‑Jean.
- Aquitaine‑Pyrénées‑Atlantiques: Dax, Bayonne, and the coastal town of Biarritz.
- South‑west terminus: The route follows the Atlantic coast through the Landes and Pyrénées‑Atlantiques departments before reaching the Spanish frontier at Béhobie.
Infrastructure and upgrades
- Between Poitiers and Saint‑André‑de‑Cubzac, the RN 10 has been upgraded to a dual‑carriageway (2 × 2 lanes) since 2019.
- Several sections have been re‑classified as departmental roads (e.g., RD 910, RD 10, RD 1010, RD 810) as part of national decentralisation policies.
- Certain stretches, particularly between Bordeaux and the Spanish border, have been incorporated into the “Route des Estuaires” network, a series of coastal routes.
Historical notes
The RN 10 follows a historic north‑south corridor that originally linked Paris to the Atlantic coast and onward to Spain. Over the decades, portions of the road have been bypassed or transferred to departmental authorities, reflecting France’s broader road‑network rationalisation that began in the 1970s and accelerated after the 2005‑2006 decentralisation reforms.
Major junctions
Key interchanges include connections with the A12 (near its north‑east origin), A10 (near Bordeaux), A63 (near Bayonne), and A64 (near Pau), as well as numerous regional routes that provide access to the towns along its alignment.
Significance
As a primary national route, RN 10 remains an important arterial road for inter‑regional traffic, tourism, and commercial transport, linking the Paris basin with the Atlantic coast and facilitating cross‑border movement into Spain.
Sources: French Wikipedia article “Route nationale 10 (France métropolitaine)”, academic reference listing length as 762 km, and additional route‑specific information extracted from French-language road databases.
