Spa

Spa's iron-rich springs were known in the medieval period and the town became a fashionable resort from the sixteenth century onward, drawing European royalty and the wealthy for the waters, the walks and eventually the casino, which claims to be among the oldest in the world; the town's name passed into English and other languages as the common word for such places. The springs, called pouhons, still flow and can be drunk at several points, with the Pouhon Pierre-le-Grand housed in a nineteenth-century pavilion. A funicular runs up to the modern thermal baths on the hill, which are the main reason people come now. The forests and moors around are walking country, and the Spa-Francorchamps motor circuit is nearby.

What you actually see

• The pouhon springs - iron-rich water still flowing and drinkable.
• The Pouhon Pierre-le-Grand pavilion - the nineteenth-century spring house.
• The hillside thermal baths - reached by funicular from the town.
• Belle Epoque resort architecture - the buildings of the fashionable period.

When to go

April to October for the walks; the baths work year round. A day. The motor circuit's race weekends fill the whole region and accommodation becomes impossible. Autumn colour in the forests is good.

Honest expectations

The town has faded considerably and parts are shabby. The baths are a modern commercial facility rather than a historic one. Race weekends at Francorchamps make the area unusable for anything else. The mineral water is strongly ferrous and not to everyone's taste.

Nearby

Stavelot is south-east; the High Fens lie east.