Mitchell, Max, Ger, Raj & Lyndsey share their experiences attending this year’s Belgian Grand Prix at the iconic Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps.
Belgium F1 Tickets / F1 Experiences / Spa F1 Accommodation / Belgium F1 Facebook group
The 2026 Belgian Grand Prix takes place from July 17-19
Main Image: Mitchell Woolnough
This post contains affiliate links. We may receive a commission if you make a purchase after clicking on one of these links
Mitchell from Australia
I’m back from an epic F1 double header across Europe, the 2025 Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps and the Hungarian Grand Prix the following weekend. I flew into Brussels on the Monday before first practice and gave myself three full days in the capital before heading trackside.
I booked an Airbnb apartment in the Saint-Géry quarter, an 8-minute walk to the gilded Grand Place, 12 minutes to Manneken Pis, and just 25 minutes on foot to the shopping of Rue Neuve. Brussels is super walkable, but I also zipped around on Lime e-bikes when I wanted to cover more ground.
My three-day highlights started with soaking up golden-hour at the Grand Place. I geeked out at Autoworld in Cinquantenaire Park, where vintage racers and automotive history made the perfect F1 warm-up. I also took a guided day trip to Bruges via a comfy coach, canal boat cruise, Belfry climb, fairy-tale streets, chocolate overload, and waffles by the water. Belgium’s “Venice of the North” in one afternoon.
After Brussels, I caught a direct train from Brussels-Midi to Namur, a one-hour ride. I checked into my second Airbnb near the station, and immediately hiked up to the Namur Citadel. The steep climb was worth every step for the panoramic views over the river.
Booking very late scuttled my plan of staying in Liege, everything was sold out or above my budget. I chose Namur as it was one of the locations with the City Shuttle bus to the circuit. The 6 a.m. pickup at Namur station had a double-decker packed with fans who’d had the same idea. The 90-minute ride dropped us at the Ster entrance, perfect for my Fanzone grandstand ticket. Return shuttles departed 5:30–6 p.m., getting us back to Namur by 7:30 p.m.
Entry was effortless: quick bag check, phone e-ticket scan, done. My Fanzone Grandstand seats gave front-row drama at Eau Rouge, where cars blasting uphill never got old. Big screens kept the full lap in view, and by pure luck I was surrounded by fellow Aussies. We formed an instant unofficial Oscar Piastri fan club.
The scenic loop at Spa Francorchamps is made for walking. I climbed the steep path from Eau Rouge to Kemmel Straight and saw GA hills packed with die-hards who’d camped from dawn with foldable chairs.
Spa’s weather is notoriously fickle. Race day delivered a full Ardennes monsoon—torrential rain, zero visibility, standing water. 2021 flashbacks hit hard; I was worried the race would be called off. After a tense hour-long delay under ponchos, the clouds thinned just enough. The start was electric—spray, daring moves, and Oscar Piastri storming to P1 in the wet.
Wear good walking shoes. Pack for rain: poncho, waterproof jacket, spare socks are essentials. Prepare for delays (or cancellation)—bring snacks, a power bank, and patience. Heavy rain can cause long delays.
The Belgian GP, paired with Brussels’ culture, Bruges’ medieval charm, Autoworld’s automotive vibes, a sunset Citadel climb in Namur, was the perfect blend of speed, soul, and Spa’s wild weather roulette. F1 fans, put Spa-Francorchamps on your list. You won’t regret it.
Read Mitchell’s 2025 Chinese Grand Prix report here.
Max from Norway
I went to my first in person Spa race together with my family. We traveled from Norway for the race and had 3-day tickets for the Gold 7 Ter grandstand. Overall, it was an amazing experience, despite some negatives, including the wet weather on Sunday.
Friday is the least attended day of the race weekend, and it was a good opportunity to walk around and experience everything, especially the driver interviews on the stage in the fanzone. The weather was hot on both Friday and Saturday, but no complaints here.
In terms of racing, the action was good across the day and the weekend outside of some rain delays. Experiencing the sound of the F3 cars in person was deafening and fantastic. It was much busier trackside on Saturday, with the F1 Sprint race and qualifying taking place. The lines were longer everywhere, especially when leaving the track.
We arrived early on race day to watch the F3 cars do some laps before a red flag halted the race. I was standing in the area where Tasanapool crashed. It continued to rain for most of the day but the F2, Porsche Supercup and F1 races went ahead with some decent action. Despite the rain, the circuit was full to the brim with spectators on race day with lines everywhere.
There was a lot of pushing and shoving before they opened the gates for the track invasion (hope everyone was ok), but it was worth it to step on to the track and to watch the podium ceremony. I also collected some rubber marbles from the tires on the track. The line to get out on Sunday wasn’t too bad. It was a good idea to stick around, do the track invitation and not be in a hurry to leave.
Overall, attending the 2025 Belgian Grand Prix was an epic experience, as well as an expensive one! The downsides mainly related to the weather, which was blisteringly hot on Friday and Saturday (and I had the sunburn to prove it) and then really wet on Sunday. Spa is such a huge circuit and with so many great vantage points, I’d argue that the Gold grandstand tickets weren’t completely necessary. I think GA (Bronze) here would provide a similar experience at a much cheaper price.
Ger, Declan & Derek from Ireland
What a trip, a real buzz. Spent a year planning, and everything went well. We had seats in the Gold 8 (Source – Start) grandstand. If anyone is thinking about getting seats in this grandstand, I recommend section B. This is the middle section and you get the best view of the start/ finish straight, pit lane and pit exit. The best seats are in rows 5-10. You don’t want to sit lower. It rained so bad on Sunday that people in those seats were getting soaked. The rain was falling on to them from the canopy of the grandstand.
I recommend taking binoculars to be able to read the times on the big screen and see the cars up close in the pit lane. Take along a small FM radio for listening to the trackside commentary. The ones they sell at the track with ear muffs for €100 are a waste of money.
There was no token system this year (like I was expecting). You could pay with card in all of the trackside food and merchandise outlets. Don’t forget to take a poncho and umbrella! The rain can fall at any moment in Spa. And then it’s sunny again! We used cooler bags to bring in some sandwiches for lunch and avoid eating too much of the unhealthy fast food at the track. Taking a good pair of walking shoes and a waterproof jacket is also recommended. You’ll be doing lots of walking, and not much of the terrain at Spa is flat.
Head on to the track after the race for pictures at Eau Rouge, it’s a great experience with amazing views. And it’s such an iconic motorsport corner. The crowds were building for the track invasion with fifteen laps to run, but luckily we didn’t have far to walk. There was an entrance point right near the Gold 8 grandstand.
We stayed at Camping35. It was a great location around 20 minutes’ walk from the Source entrance. This is really close to the Gold 8 grandstand, which cut down on excessive walking for us. We highly recommend this campsite and will definitely stay there again if we return to the Belgian Grand Prix. Friendly staff, great facilities and clean. Food and drinks were available, but you needed to pay in cash. Always worth having some with you.
Raj from the USA
I hope this post can help some future travelers! This was the second race I’ve attended and my first one solo. It was also my first time in Europe and here are the key takeaways from my experience!
Bronze on this track arguably beats some grandstands! Nearly every section of this track is iconic and extremely scenic with plenty of room if you get there in a timely manner. On Friday, I sat on the hill at Double-Gauche (Pouhon) and on Saturday and Sunday I was near the final chicane, close to Blanchimont. Most bronze sections are found on pretty steep slopes, so it’s very important to dress for the outdoors, not for Instagram. On race day, a spectator fell down the hill at Blanchimont and broke his leg. Wear pants and hiking shoes and bring a small field chair of some sort. The sooner you get to your desired destination the better off you are of finding a tree stump to support you.
Book the F1 shuttles!!! Attending my first GP at COTA, I did not book shuttles and was forced to endure a three hour shit show of crowds and struggles due to poor planning. The City Shuttles for Spa 2025 stopped sales on April 1st, so you need to plan a few months in advance. I stayed in an Airbnb in the city of Liège which is very walking friendly. I walked about 30 mins there and back from the bus stop daily without an issue.
The shuttles depart early in the morning and leave the track soon after the race. It was effective for me to show up early and always be on the first or second bus there and back every day. The peace of mind is well worth the price. Public transport in Belgium is really efficient. Use apps like Omni to book train tickets from the airport to where you are staying. It’s also cheaper than taking Uber or taxis.
Spa Francorchamps is the longest circuit on the calendar and the grounds are massive, so it helped me a lot to have an idea of what I wanted to do everyday and to split the track experience up. On Friday, I hung out at the fanzone to see the driver interviews, but this compromised my ability to get optimal seating opportunities in GA (Bronze). I explored sectors 1 & 2 on Friday and sector 3 on Saturday.
I found that the Blanchimont area in the forest was the most comfortable in terms of personal space while still providing an excellent view of the cars on track. Splitting up the things I wanted to do gave me the full experience of achieving the things I wanted to do without spending all my time in lines for activities in the fan zone.
As a solo traveler, I found things much much easier than my previous experience of traveling in a group since I’m more of a purist fan and I’m there for the racing. I could move quickly through the crowds. I also brought my own food and water to the circuit, which eliminated queuing up for food (and allowed me to keep my spot) and also saved me money.
Here’s what I recommend you bring along each day. As mentioned earlier, a field or camping chair is essential. It will keep you off the ground and if you get there early, you can find a spot that gives you a level seating position on the side of the hill. You’ll also need headphones or an FM radio to listen to live commentary. Binoculars were a nice addition as well to get closer views of whatever’s in your line of sight.
One of the odd realities of watching a race live, especially without a large TV screen in sight, is that you feel slightly more disconnected to the full picture of the race since you’re restricted to what your eyes can see.
Pack for rain everyday, no matter the forecast. I purchased a poncho and an umbrella which fitted nicely in my backpack. These two items kept me fully dry during Sunday’s downpours.Last but not least, as expected, expect to walk a lot. Wear comfortable footwear. A lot of out of shape or underprepared folks struggled with the elevation.
Every single vendor on track accepted cards only and used tap to pay, so you don’t need to worry too much about having lots of cash on hand. The trackside food looked decent, but having my own food was better and more filling. Just buy a loaf of bread and some deli meat, and you can create multiple sandwiches without having to deal with the queues for food.
Lyndsey from the United Kingdom
Our trip started in Ghent on Thursday, where we attended the annual Ghent Festival of music and theatre, which we loved. Such a beautiful (and reasonably priced) part of the world. We traveled to Brussels on Friday and stayed near Brussels-North train station. It wasn’t the nicest part of the city, but was convenient for the Belgian Grand Prix Shuttle service that we had booked for race day through the promoter’s website.
We were picked up at Brussels-North station around 6am on Sunday, with lots of fans and lots of coaches! The outward journey was really well organised. We paid around £60pp for a return coach, which dropped off and picked up near the Ster entrance at the circuit.
We made our way to Kemmel and were in position with our camp chairs by 10am. The hillside was already packed! I wish we had booked grandstand tickets, as it was overcrowded and hard to move, even for a toilet break. It was our first experience of General Admission and I’m not sure I would do it again, especially not at Spa! We didn’t get the chance to experience any of the trackside activities, and only had access to limited food and drink options.
At the end of the race, the coach was where we had got off in the morning. It was a busy and steep walk back from Kemmel! No one checked our ticket as we got on the bus. Then the issues started. Without any form of ticket control, people were on our bus that shouldn’t have been, and other people were being turned away despite having valid tickets, including a mother with two children. It’s disappointing that the organizers didn’t have a proper system in place to control the tickets. The return departure of the bus was delayed (due to the track delays), but at least they sent out an email to confirm the delay. We left the circuit quickly and moved slowly for the first forty minutes as local police sent us on a different route to the one we had arrived on. We left the circuit around an hour after the race finished and arrived back at our hotel in Brussels around 11:30pm.
Despite the bus issues and the overcrowded GA areas, we had a great day out. Lots of walking and steep climbs, but it was worth it. I’m just getting a grandstand next time 🙂
In Brief
The following comments are from members of our Going to the Belgian Grand Prix group on Facebook who attended the event.
Sinéad: Fanzone grandstand here. We had a great time! The city shuttle from Maastricht was well organised (although no scanning of tickets on the way home didn’t affect us thankfully, we got a spot). Queue to get in went quickly. The fanzone was well organised, toilets could have been a bit cleaner but to be expected with thousands of people. We will definitely be back at some point
Stephen W: The good bits…easy to get to from UK. Much cheaper than Silverstone. Great track. We sat in Silver 1, brilliant views up to Eau Rouge and down to pits. Camping in yellow 68 was spot on, great site and facilities. Easy 10 minute walk to track. Racing was good too! The bad bits… food offering in track was poor, chips, burgers and pizza; much more varied at Silverstone. I only found Heineken beer, we were in Belgium…where was the local beer ? Crowd management around the track was terrible, it was too narrow between grandstands and then they put a food truck in, massive congestion. FIA need to understand cars can race in rain.
Rebecca: Just want to share our experience after an amazing weekend! We stayed in Awans in an airbnb and had tickets for parking in Malmedy – it did take an hour to drive to Malmedy and back but once there the parking and shuttle up to the track were so well organised, quick and easy! Also no traffic on route to or from Malmedy. Yes there is a bit of a walk up to the track and it’ll depend where you are sat – we were in Eau Rouge (it drops you at the Les Combes entrance) but would 100% do it this way again!
Parking Issues
Stephen D: Desperately need marshals directing/controlling traffic out of the carparks at the end of each day. We were in Green parking and it was a nightmare! Eventually got moving after a very kind young couple decided to do it themselves. We won’t be driving to Spa again
Dave: Really poor organisation around the circuit parking. It was terrible and nobody was bothered. They said there was nothing they could do and it was down to fans to get their cars out of the lots and to marshall the traffic. At times it was very heated. This was our fourth visit and we are not planning to return. We arrived two hours early but still missed the sprint. Unless you can organise the event properly there is no point going
Leandro: I don’t know if you suffered too, but this year the parking organization was pathetic. On Sunday, it took me three hours to get out of the parking lot. They decided to concentrate all the car flow from the Green Zone, which consisted of four streets, into one intersection. Until last year they were divided into several small parking lots and in 30 minutes I was already on the E42. The more people criticize the organization, the more likely that they will return to organizing parking in the same system as it was last year.
