Spa Story

The Ardennes


In a 1862 Napoleon III–style building 300m west of Spa's casino, the small but engaging Spa Story museum charts the town's history while looking at the evolution over time of jolités (the lacquered souvenir boxes of water-cure accoutrements once sold to spa-goers). Summaries are in English.

At weekends you can also visit the stables section containing a series of horsey exhibits and an old forge. The building itself is interesting: while Belgium’s King Léopold II was playing colonial domination in Congo, his feisty Hungarian-born queen stayed here in what was then an exclusive hotel, avoiding the boredom of Brussels by riding her horses across the Ardennes.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby The Ardennes attractions

1. Musée de la Lessive

0.11 MILES

This lovably off-beat little museum fills the banal classrooms of a 1960s former primary school with a hotchpotch of old flat irons, linens, washing…

2. Spa Monopole

0.19 MILES

Selling the waters of Spa remains big buiness, with millions of bottles filled annually at this industrial-scale plant. A self-guided visit to the…

3. Parc de Sept Heures

0.21 MILES

With a picturesque Léopold II–era pavilion and a wrought-iron marketplace hosting Sunday morning flea markets, this charming park also features minigolf,…

4. Casino

0.36 MILES

Spa had the 'world’s first’ casino in 1763, and the 19th-century incarnation here now forms part of a grand central trio of neoclassical buildings, along…

5. Pouhon Pierre-le-Grand

0.43 MILES

The restored, octagonal-fronted stone building hosting the tourist office was the site of Spa’s original springs. It was renamed for Russian tsar Peter…

6. La Chocolaterie Darcis

6.84 MILES

Playing a 21st-century Willy Wonka, one of Belgium’s foremost chocolatiers has turned his modern factory into a superb interactive museum experience. Walk…

7. Place du Marché

7 MILES

Vervier's most attractive square is dominated by a stately town hall, with cobbled Mont du Moulin descending photogenically past ivy-draped and half…

  • placement: superzone
  • path: Destinations/POIs/superzone
  • possible size: [970, 250], [970, 90], [728, 90], [1, 1],
  • targeting:
    {
      "url": "belgium/spa/attractions/spa-story/a/poi-sig/1262315/1325194",
      "destination": "The-Ardennes",
      "continent": "Europe",
      "country": "Belgium",
      "region": "The-Ardennes",
      "position": "superzone"
    }