Spa is the town that named the world. Long before "spa" became a generic word for any wellness centre with a hot tub, it was this small Walloon town in the Ardennes hills that European royalty visited to drink the mineral-rich spring water and restore their constitutions. The word stuck, and it travelled everywhere — but there is only one original.
The town sits in a green valley about 35 kilometres southeast of Liège, surrounded by forested hills. It is compact and pleasantly worn, with a faded elegance that suits a place whose peak was the 18th century. Tsar Peter the Great came here. So did Victor Hugo. Today you are more likely to share the baths with Formula 1 engineers — the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, one of the great motor racing tracks in the world, lies just a few kilometres away.
The spring water is still the point. The Thermes de Spa, built into the hillside above the town centre, offer proper thermal treatments — pools, saunas, jets — with a view over the Ardennes that alone is worth the cable car ride up. The springs themselves, scattered across the surrounding area, can still be tasted free of charge; the Pouhon Pierre le Grand in the town centre is the best-known. The Casino de Spa, claiming to be the oldest in the world, faces the same square.
Spa is a good base for walking and cycling in the Hautes Fagnes, the high plateau nature reserve to the east. The landscape up there is bleak and beautiful — open moorland, peat bogs, wooden boardwalks through the mist. For something more dramatic, the ruined Château de Franchimont is 7 kilometres away, with views over the Ardennes valleys and a remarkable story of medieval resistance. The Lac de Warfaaz, a quiet lake a short walk from the centre, is a good escape when the town fills up. In July, the Francofolies de Spa brings major French-language music acts to town for several days.