Originally Posted by
highlanderfil
Spa: the Formula 1 race is on the 7th; after that I will hopefully return to Aachen for the night. Also in the plans are a visit to Michael Schumacher's hometown (Kerpen) and a romp around his go-kart track that same night.
Don't underestimate the amount of traffic for this event, it's staggering.
Even driving back to a local Spa hotel after the qualifying sessions can be long and arduous. In comparison to that, getting on a train and getting back to Charleroi for a flight back to the UK after the race was a breeze.
Spa Francorchamps is an amazing circuit (certainly my favourite for F1 races) and I'd definitely encourage you not to miss it, but do realise that the traffic in this area will be incredibly dense, especially in the hours after the race/qualifying sessions, getting back to nearby Aachen may take some time.
I'd encourage you to contact your friend to see if s/he has any advice about travelling between their home and the circuit - you may actually be better of taking the train for this route (seriously, once you see the F1 related traffic jams this will all become horribly clear)