Spa is 13km from Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, a fact that surprises first-timers who assume the town and track are the same place. They share a name and nothing else. The circuit sits in a valley in Francorchamps village; the town of Spa is a 20-minute drive along the N62, a proper Belle Époque resort that made the word "spa" a common noun. Royalty came here. Peter the Great came here. The Casino de Spa, opened in 1763, claims to be the oldest continuously operating casino in the world. None of that has anything to do with the race, which is precisely the point. Thursday and Friday of race weekend, and race Sunday evening, are when Spa town makes the most sense.
The thermal baths — Les Thermes de Spa — sit on a hilltop above the town, accessible by funicular from the centre. The building is modern, opened in 2004, which means the facilities are what you would expect from a serious wellness centre rather than a restored Victorian curiosity. Eight hundred square metres of indoor and outdoor pools, saunas, hammam, infrared relaxation rooms. Entry for 3 hours is €35 on weekdays, €37 at weekends. The saunas open from 10:00. A full day pass is €48. Under-15s are not admitted, and booking is strongly advised — the baths get full on race weekend without warning. Phones and cameras are banned inside. That ban is, in practice, the main attraction.
The centre of town is walkable in an afternoon. Place Royale is the main square, surrounded by the Neoclassical architecture that went up when Spa was at the height of its European reputation. From there, Parc de Sept Heures is a 5-minute walk — an 18th-century promenade park laid out for guests who came to take the waters and wanted somewhere to walk at seven in the evening. The covered gallery along the park is 130 metres long and provides the only reliable shelter in Spa when the Ardennes decides to rain, which it does. Pouhon Pierre-le-Grand is a 5-minute walk from the park — an octagonal Neoclassical pavilion built in 1880 over the town's most famous mineral spring. Entry is €1. The spring still flows. You can drink the water; it tastes strongly of iron and will not appeal to everyone, but trying it once is the correct thing to do.
The Casino de Spa is the Redoute building on Place Royale. It opens at 11:00. Minimum age is 21. The games are roulette, Texas Hold'em, blackjack, and slots. On a Thursday evening during race week the casino draws F1 paddock and hospitality crowd, which makes it a specific kind of atmosphere — worth experiencing if you are curious, less so if you are there to gamble seriously.
Lac de Warfaaz is 2km northeast of the town centre, a 600-metre-long lake created in 1892. There is a paved path around it, cafes on the south shore, and pedalos available in summer. The walk from town and back takes about an hour at a relaxed pace. It is the best way to start a rest day morning before the baths.
