Short answer: yes. A bit longer answer: I haven’t been to all circuits in the world but seeing Spa, I can fairly certainly say that it must be among the most beautiful ones for sure. The nature that surrounds it makes it very special (especially if you are a fan of pinetrees and fog), as well as it’s well-known turns. I have visited it last week, and all tracks I visited are close to my heart, but what I saw there, really captured my heart.
Here are my recommendations if you decide to visit the Spa-Francorchamps circuit:
1. CircuitSP’Adventure + Centenary walk:
The main thing is most of the time you can freely walk into the circuit and just discover on your own. Obviously not during a Formula 1 weekend, but even if there are smaller events you would be allowed to freely enter. Because that was what happened when I was there. I just told the guard that I want to walk around and he said that I have access, so I entered.
On their website you can get the map of these 2 walking trips, but they are not hard to find but to get there I literally had to walk through the paddock, which I could also do.
The SP’Adventure is basically a walk in the woods with street work-out equipment and playgrounds, while the Centenary walk is a celebration of the track’s 100 year old history form 1921 to 2021 that are signifies with huge helmets and some memorial boards.
If I’m honest I wasn’t blown away from the Centenary walk (I think it could have been carried out a lot better), so I decided to primarily walk the other one and only see the helmets on the way back. The Adventure trail is 100% flat, so suitable for any fitness levels, but the same cannot be said about the Centenary. I hiked up to the Bruxelles corner and I thought I’m going to spit out my lungs, but I would say that it was worth it, because the view to the track was amazing.
2. Guided tour (15 €):
You can check the website, when they are offering them, but usually there are 2 one day, and all of them are either in French and in English. I obviously took the English one and out guide has been AMAZING! He was hilarious and offered everyone to take pictures of them at all the sights. After Monza it was a breath of fresh air, even though was saw similar things.
Parts of the tour were:
– memorials to Senna, Anthoine Hubert (F2 racer who died on the track in 2019) and Freddy Charlier (a famous Belgian racer who also died on the track back in 1929)
– grandstand with the perfect view to Eau Rouge (I love all the tracks I visited, but Eau Rouge is something that might be a bit closer to my heart than any other parts of any tracks)
– endurance pitlane, where we stood 0 meters from the track behind the fence, it was one of those experiences, where my eyes went a little bit wet with tears
– F1 pitlane (also very close to the track, but there is a 1-2 meters of grass after the fence
– paddock (which was still swarming with different oldtimer cars from the event the day before)
– podium
– media center
– press conference room
– race control (only from outsite this time)
– Pit Bar-resto restaurant
I highly recommend to do this tour because some of these rooms you cannot access by yourself, besides I learnt a lot during. Also, with the ticket you get 5% off at the store (which I used, because their gift shop has such a cool selection, unlike other tracks I have seen).
3. Spa-Francorchamps Racetrack Museum in Stavelot (11€):
This one is not at the racetrack, you have to take a bus to Stavelot (and make sure to check them in advance or you take a car, because the buses only go in every 2 hours).
For me this place was a disappointment, unfortunately. The language usage of the signs is very random, mostly in Dutch and French, with the occasional English and/or German. There is an audioguide in English, but as it is in the basement and there is no reception that, I couldn’t access it.
There are some nice cars (and motorbikes) down there, but…! There was a constant background of engines revving, which is okay, when you are at a track, but there in the museum, where I was trying to learn about the cars (in some language), it was just really annoying. Besides this, I think they stopped updating the information around 2000, because the “greatest of F1” stops at Schumacher, and even his Ferrari championship wins are added on an extra sticker. (Also, why did they leave our Niki Lauda?! I feel personally offended!!)
There is also a board explaning how a pitstop works – and it talks about refuelling, cleaning the driver’s visor and also doing this under 10 seconds. If I knew nothing of F1, I would completely believe this outdated information. What was also a bit disturbing is some weird Senna memorabilia and also a very random picture of Lance Stroll on the wall (I guess, this is how they updated, here is one pic of Stoll, see, we are up-to-date!!).
I was really disappointed at the state of this museum, especially after seeing other museums, like the one in Silverstone, or in Monaco. Such a historic track, would be so many stories to tell, so many interesting developments to show, but it is just wasted, and it makes me sad.
Anyways, these are the things I did in Spa, let me know if you have questions or you would add something to my list! 🙂
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