Restaurants in Spa

If you walk the 10km (6-mile) Route des Fontaines that connects the mineral springs in the countryside around Spa, you'll find rustic little restaurants conveniently located about 10 steps from each spring -- you'd almost think it had been planned that way. The first spring on the route, the Fontaine de Barisart, has the least interesting eatery, a blocky, cafeteria-style place with all the charm of a missile silo. After that, things pick up. La Géronstère, route de la Géronstère 119 (tel. 087/77-03-72; www.lageronstere.com), is a stone farmhouse-style building that stocks good snacks, beside the Fontaine de la Géronstère; farmhouse-style Le Relais de la Sauvenière, rue de la Sauvenière 116 (tel. 087/77-42-04; www.lerelaisdelasauveniere.be), is at the Fontaine de la Sauvenière and the adjacent Fontaine de Groesbeeck; and Italian La Fontaine du Tonnelet, rue du Tonnelet 82 (tel. 087/77-26-03), in a red-and-white pavilion, its interior decorated in the style of a Tuscan villa, is beside the Fontaine du Tonnelet.

Back in Spa, La Tonnellerie, Parc des Sept Heures 1 (tel. 087/77-22-84; www.latonnellerie.be), in the park just behind the tourist office, is a good place to dine in the open air when the weather is fine.