So where is it then?
On the east coast of Spain, specifically the “Costa Del Azahar”. In basic terms, it’s in between Barcelona and Valencia, but much closer to the latter. Barcelona is well over 100 miles away, with Valencia only about 50. Closer than both of these is the nearest city, Castellon de la Plana, which is less than 10 miles away. In short, it’s not as simple as flying into an airport and walking into the festival gate.

How do I get there?
First of all you have to get to Spain. The good news here is that, particularly if you book early, flights are CHEAP! In the interests of saving money, you’ll probably want to fly to Barcelona – www.easyjet.com, www.monarch-airlines.com, and www.bmibaby.com are just a few of the cheap airlines which fly to Barca. Many of these also fly to Valencia, which is closer to Benicassim, but less popular as a destination and thus proportionally more expensive. It’s best to scout around the interweb and look for the best offers. Closer to the time we might run a few price comparisons to save you a bit of effort. Planes go from pretty much every part of the UK where you’d expect big planes to take off.

For the very brave, we can also point you in the direction of www.nationalexpress.com. Yes, that’s right, you can get there by coach. Past experience (2003) tells us this is entirely possible, but also somewhat insane. For a start, if you book flights early enough they should be as cheap if not cheaper than this rather silly option. If, however, you are a bit of a masochist and enjoy sitting on a fairly cramped coach for around 30 hours, then it could be worth a shot. Buses leave from London Victoria and maybe some other places. They aren’t very regular (2-3 times a week). Things to look out for are annoying people who push their seats back, infinite rubbish French service stations, and psycho Spanish coach drivers who guard the key to the loos. It’s a bit of an adventure, though, so who knows? Perhaps the sole benefit in real terms is that the big bad bus from hell drops you off in Castellon, just down the road from Benicassim. To be honest though, after that endurance test you’ll probably think you deserve to be dropped off at the door of your ready-assembled tent.

You could also drive, of course. If you’re doing this, there is comprehensive information on the official site.

How do I get from Barcelona airport to Benicassim?
Here comes the first crucial point of this website: book a train in advance on the interweb at www.renfe.es. We cannot stress highly enough how absolutely necessary this is. This must be done at least a few weeks in advance of the festival, otherwise you will find trains fully booked. The adventurous among you will no doubt at this point be smugly nodding and thinking there’s always a way round these things. This is entirely true, but these ways round invariably involve (a) unnecessary expense and/or (b) unnecessary stress, and can in the worst cases lead to dire situations such as missing planes home. You must be aware that this is a very, very important part of the Benicassim process which really is not stressed anywhere near enough elsewhere. The Renfe site can be a little complicated but it’s worth taking your time and making the effort. The first page’s list of destinations won’t include Benicassim, so you’ll have to explore further into the site. It has (fairly ropey, but usable) English instructions, so you shouldn’t go too wrong. Make up an ID number wherever it asks for some random Spanish ID you don’t have, it doesn’t matter. There is, apparently, an option to get the tickets sent to you, but it’s perfectly OK just to print out the confirmation page and collect it from Barcelona (Sants) train station when you arrive. Whatever you do though, make sure you book a train ticket! Hopefully we can get some real horror stories on here to pursuade you further!

The train journey time is around 2 ½ hours on a very decent air-conditioned train, equipped with all the usual niceties (toilets, pretty decent buffet coach, etc.). From Barcelona airport you need to find your way to the Estacion-Sants, that is, the main train station in Barcelona. There are two ways to do this: a bus runs every half hour or so and costs €3.50 (£2ish) – pay the driver. More impressively, trains run about every 15 mins for a more reasonable €1.50 (£1). Follow the signs which look like a train after collecting your baggage, across a big long bridge with those snazzy walkway things. You’ll arrive at the station, which has only two platforms (follow everyone else with rucksacks), both of which seem to go the same place. You’ll have to pay at a ticket machine before getting on the platform. The train station is about the third stop along, which you can identify by the name Sants, or by the fact that everyone with a rucksack gets off.

Once your at Sants Station, wander around a bit, go to one of the big counters (follow the big queues, probably) and wave your confirmation printout thing at a disgruntled looking man. You will also need the credit card you used to book the tickets, and possibly your passport. After this it should be plain sailing.

There are other options. Your train ticket will have cost you around £18 in each direction; a coach ticket brings it down to around £15 each way. The journey is longer, however (4 hours+), only takes you as far as Castellon, and you still need to book in advance to be totally safe. The booking process is considerably harder. Our advice is to book a train from www.renfe.es and save yourself unnecessary hassle.

How do I get from Valencia to Benicassim?
I strongly suspect that the advice here is identical: get that train booked from www.renfe.es. I would really appreciate any info whatsoever on this topic from those of you who’ve flown in to Valencia in the past.

UPDATE 07/05:If you're flying to Valencia, you win! The festival has decided, for the first time in 2005, to lay on a very cheap and very regular bus service from Valencia Manises airport straight to the campsite! You lucky sods. Anyway, go to the official site linked on the right, or to our Forums, for more info, because I'm too busy sulking about the fact that Barcelona-flyers don't get the same chauffeur service!

How do I get from Castellon to Benicassim?
Ah, you got a coach did you? And survived? Damn impressive, I tell you. Luckily, you’ve been dropped off right next to Castellon’s huge empty train station. Buy a ticket and wait around, there are trains every hour or so, which arrive in Benicassim is a little over 15 minutes. If by some foolish misadventure you’ve arrived in Castellon at a funny time of day and the trains have stopped running (ie. After 11pm), or you simply can’t be bothered to wait for one, there are taxis on the opposite side of the station to where the coach dropped you off, which come to a maximum of about €15 (£10), which if you split it between four of you isn’t bad value at all. This has the added bonus of taking you directly to the campsite rather than the annoyingly-placed station...

How do I get from Benicassim station to the campsite?
Ah-ha, don’t think you’re done yet, my friend. The simple answer is to follow the signs. It’s a fair distance though, and if it’s hot, it can be a bit of a pain. You should make it in around half an hour though. Apparently there are buses going from the station to the sites, which would have been a handy discovery last year. More on this later.

For those of you who’ve been to the festival before, but missed 2004, note that the train station has moved. Sadly, it’s no longer in the middle of town but is in fact out towards the mountains just across from the main festival arena (though the route there is slightly different). On the plus side you no longer have to cross a trainline every time you want to get from the campsite to the beach. The new station is also nice and modern looking, though it lacks a shop or cafe, or indeed anything selling anything except train tickets. Nevermind eh?