Hello and Happy New Year to the Euros! We are planning a trip to Spa in September. Can anyone advise me of where one can find lodging for the race weekend? Thanks for your assistance. Rob Faber
Hi Rob, I am no moderator but please fill in your userprofile. In the eurosection we like to know who we are talking with. I am sure there are some euro gents who can advice you in lodging in the Spa Francorchamps area....
As you wish Dino and Wolfgang, I have filled in my profile. To save you the time of looking it up... I am a Dentist living in South Orange County, Southern California. I own a 1998 F355 GTS which I bought in Italy 5 years ago. I am a member of the FCA, and enjoy European Travel. May 2004 I took European delivery (tourist delivery) of an M3 SMG coupe in Munich and then drove throughout N. Italy, Munich and Bavaria. I have attended the USGP the last 4 years and enjoy the privilege of staying with relatives in Indianapolis since most of my family is from there. This year we (my wife, father-who is a retired physician and Ferrari owner, and FCA friends) are planning to fly into Milan just before the Italian GP and at least attend practice and qualifying there. Our intent is to spend the week between Monza and Spa travelling through more of N. Italy and then find our way up to Belgium. Particularly significant to our trip to Belgium is the fact that one of my Uncles was killed near Spa at the Battle of The Bulge. I have seen the Spa.be website, but hotels seem to already be booked. I am seeking information about other cities/places which might be more likely to have availability, but not too far from the circuit to travel each day of the race weekend.
Hi Robert, Pretty difficult question actually... As you've already noticed a lot of nice hotels in the neighbourhood are already fully booked months in advance... It's difficult to find a place to stay that weekend so I'm affraid you will have to start searching for hotels further away from the track. Unfortanetely I don't know adresses that aren't fully booked yet... but I hope someone on this site could give you some more info on places to stay... It could well be you'll end up in Luik/Liège or Verviers, there still must be rooms avaiable there! Good luck in your search and have a nice stay in Europe...
How far away is Brugge from Spa? There should be lots of places to stay, but I don't know what connections there are from there( do trains run frequently or directly?) or are there some better options that DO have direct train service. Is there a train station right near the track site at Spa? Is there another form of public transportation, such as coach, that connects from another nearby town with more hotel options? Thanks for the assistance, The retired Dad (328 GTS) who will be travelling with Rob.
We sympathize with you on finding places to stay. Try this site, it may offer you some assistance: http://grandprixcities.com/spafrancorchamps.html When attending the race at Spa we've stayed in the Netherlands (Valkenburg), in Luxembourg (Luxembourg City) and last year and this year in Belgium in Bastogne/Ardennes. Bastogne was a very easy 45 minute or so drive from Spa. Carol
Thanks, I will pursue that site. By the way, sorry, I now see that Spa is on the other side of the country from Brugge. The only place I had been in Belgium is Brugge, which I thougt was a great place to visit. Wishful thinking that it would be near the race site, I guess...
@F129b Hello Robert, thanks for your profile update; makes everything easier to understand and help you. You are verywelcome and I`m sure Ton from Belgium can & will help you soon. Ton is right now on vacation skiing and he will be back the next few days. I`ll drop him a note to see and reply here - please be patient. BTW, great place and surrounding you are living I have been several times in Costa Mesa doing some business. I realy love the Orange County area. There are such great places like Balboa Island and Newport Beach - paradise.... Best Wolfgang
Thank you JKnight, Alex and Wolfgang. We appreciate any more responses as well! Of course we would like to know the name of a particular hotel, but we don't expect that information. What we are looking for is general advice concerning what cities are close enough (by train?) to allow us easy commute to and from the track. We will look at Luik, Liege, Ardenne etc. as you have mentioned. Thank you again!
Hi, try www.bookings.be I found some hotels some 30km from Spa in the right time period. Goodluck with finding a place!! And have a great time in Europe!!
You are all very kind and helpful! Our search can truly begin if anyone has any advice to give about the trains... Is there train service to the Spa racetrack from a particular city of those mentioned? Wolfgang, I am glad that you enjoy Orange County as I do. Truly it is paradise in many ways. Costa Mesa probably isn't the best, so I'm glad that you have seen Newport. This area is certainly FERRARI paradise! I have many Ferrari friends here. We would be happy to show any of the Euros our Californian Riviera at 8,000 RPM's -if you care to drop us a note before you come!
Hi Robert, You might be disapointed in railroads in this part of Belgium... There isn't a railroad station directly at the racetrack, so you'll always need to take a bus or taxi to get there. The closest station is in the small town of Spa, about 9km (5,6miles) from Francorchamps. However the, connection from here to the closest major city (Luik/Liége 50km (31 miles) from Francorchamps) isn't very good, slow train only once an hour. You might be a lot faster if you travel to the railroad station of Verviers (about 20km (12 miles) from the racetrack) and take a bus or taxi from there... Verviers is a bigger city then Spa and the connection is a bit better. You can find some more traininfo, timetables aso here... http://www.b-rail.be/main/E/index.php http://www.b-rail.be/nat/N/practical/netcard/index.html Keep in mind that the busstation in Francorchamps is still a good walk away from the racecircuit entrance... Probably the best solution is getting there by rental-car or taxi... but you'll face busy traffic either way... Good luck! Sounds like the area you live in is really great! Unfortanetly I've never been there... Image Unavailable, Please Login
Like I mentioned in my previous post, no really frequent or direct trains to Francorchamps... More info there... And like Carol/Jknight said, Bastogne, Valkenburg and Luxemburg are also nice places to stay but you certainly need a rental car for those... Bad railroad connections. Some distances; Bastogne; 75km / 46miles Valkenburg; 75km /46miles Luxemburg-City; 122km / 75miles Brugge 245km / 152miles It's indeed on the other side of the country but as you know, Belgium is very small Enjoy your stay in Europe!
for Hotels: http://www.francorchamps.org/index.php?module=pnHotels for private rooms (bed & breakfast) - I never had any problems if you book in advance and most of them are close to the track. A cheap way to stay a few days with good contacts to local people....well Belgians are nice people anyway. http://www.francorchamps.org/index.php?module=pnBedandbreack for Camping: http://www.francorchamps.org/index.php?module=pnCampings
