The A1 Autoroute, also known as l'autoroute du Nord, is the busiest of France's autoroutes. With a length of 211 km (131 mi), it connects Paris with the northern city of Lille. It is managed by the Société des Autoroutes du Nord et de l'Est de la France (SANEF). The autoroute serves the northern suburbs of Paris, including the Stade de France, Le Bourget, Paris' Roissy Charles de Gaulle Airport, and Parc Astérix. From there it crosses Hauts-de-France, without directly passing through any of the major cities of the région. Throughout Hauts-de-France, the A1 runs parallel to the LGV Nord.

The autoroute system in France consists largely of toll roads. It is a network of 11,882 km (7,383 mi) of motorways as of 2014. On road signs, autoroute destinations are shown in blue, while destinations reached through a combination of autoroutes are shown with an added autoroute logo. Toll autoroutes are signalled with the word péage.