Benicassim - a few questions

[misternite]

Hi there guys, new to the forum and would appreciate your help; A group of friends and I are going to Benicassim this year for the first time and we're planning it at the moment and just have a few questions:

1. Is it worth going there for the 9 days? - I've heard that the campsite fills up quickly and unless you get there early (5 days before the music actually starts) then you're unlikely to get into CampFIB or even get a decent spot anywhere. Is that true? If it is, I think we'll go for the whole 9 days; also, what goes on for the first 5 days there without music?

2. Money - On average per day, how much would should we expect to spend there daily? That's another concern about going there for 9 days, we don't want to spend a ridiculous amount (more than £20 a day) on food, alcohol (I personally don't drink though, it's more for friends!) and whatever else we might want. Food and alcohol is important in particular, we're thinking of bringing a lot of our own food but we're all just taking hiking rucksacks so we won't be able to fit in that much. I know at Reading for instance, you had to spend the best part of a tenner just to fill yourself up if buying from the stalls or else go to town which was a bit of a treck!

3. Trains from Barcelona - How much do they cost and how frequent are they? We're getting plane tickets to and from Barcelona as we're going to spend 6 days after Beni in Barca. Just need an estimate of how much it'll cost and if there's anything else we should know!

Any other tips for newcomers are welcome as well - I do appreciate you taking the time to write a reply; it'll go a long way to ensuring we have a great trip for what it's worth!

[pattard]

Go for the whole 9 days. The camping is one of the best bits. You get all hyped up for the comping days, you meet lots of great people and you just relax and enjoy yourself.

Everything in Spain is really cheap. Bottle of Voday (1 litre Smirnoff) or Whiskey is 11 Euros. Food is just as cheap and you can just buy a packet of salami, cheese, some spread (like liver pate or olive) and sliced bread with your friends everyday and live off that. So don't worry too much about it.

barca is mroe expensive than Valencia so if i were you i would try find a plane to Valencia, it is easier to get down to Beni from there and cheaper.

Hope this helped. Need anything just PM

[gooner1990]

I went with a mate in 2007 and had a fantastic time.

We flew out from London on the Saturday before the festival and spent two nights in Valencia before heading up to Benicassim. Pitched up and met some great people (7 of them who had come as come as a group and spent the festival with them) had good time mon - thurs going round bars at night, beach during the day and up to the water fun park.

We camped in Bonet which was the furthest away from the arena (30 min walk) but was the closest to the town, shops and beach. This was full of mainly British people.

You can fed yourself fairly cheaply if you go to the supermarket, the restaurants are all fairly priced although if your vegetarian like me you might struggle a little (i ate pizza and pasta pretty much every night for 9 days!)

I can't recall how much i exactly spent, but me and my mate took £500 each and we are pretty heavy drinkers (well on holiday at least ) i also smoke as well so take that into account we also had 3 days in hotels (2 nights before the festival and 1 night in valenica on the way home as we had an early flight back) and trains in spain and england.

Not sure about trains from Barcelona but Valencia period return was about 20 euros.

[alicats]

1. Defintely worth going for the whole time, you'll be shattered by the end but you'll have so much fun. Last year the campsites were full within about 2 1/2 days I seem to remember? We got there on the Monday night and it was CampFIB for us as the other site was full. First 5 days is meeting many people, drinking, going to the beach, wandering around town, the waterpark, there's a fair amount to do.

2. Food is cheap, although I suppose how much you spend depends on your appetite! I lived on large amounts of bread and cheese, I seem to remember that baguettes from the supermarkets were ridiculously cheap. I often found it too hot to eat much. The campsite/festival sold pizzas for 10 euros which we tended to share between 2 every couple of days. There was other food available from the festival arena (paella, I can't remember what else) but it obviously tends to be more expensive.

Alcohol-wise, we tended to buy bottles of spirits between us and there were a few days of making our own sangria from cartons of cheap red wine at about 70cents a time. To be honest, I probably spent more money on cold water than anything else. Although you could get 2 litre bottles of water from the supermarket for cheap, they do of course warm up pretty quickly so I only really bought water when I wanted it which often meant paying inflated campsite prices. Of course, things will proably seem more expensive this summer due to the state of the euro/pound exchange.

3. Can't help you there too much I'm afraid as we flew to Madrid last year (biggest mistake ever). I'll be going to Barcelona this year as well though. Make you sure you book train tickets in advance, they sell out. We found this out last year where me and a friend booked ours but the rest of our party didn't, resulted in them all getting a later train from Madrid - Valencia because there were no seats left on ours and then having to buy first class tickets for the return journey.

[TSM1973]

3. Can't help you there too much I'm afraid as we flew to Madrid last year (biggest mistake ever). I'll be going to Barcelona this year as well though. Make you sure you book train tickets in advance, they sell out. We found this out last year where me and a friend booked ours but the rest of our party didn't, resulted in them all getting a later train from Madrid - Valencia because there were no seats left on ours and then having to buy first class tickets for the return journey.

[pattard]

I would recomment investing in a cooler and ice when you get there, that way you just buy a bunch of beer and water from the supermarket and keep them cool. But you will find yourself spending a lot of money on the freshly squeezed orange juice at the top of the campsite.

[alicats]

Why a big mistake?

I live in Madrid and getting to Benicassim is a piece of piss...there is a coach that takes you door to door for about 40€ return, what more do you need?

Takes about 5 hours, but there is a 30 min stop at a 1/2 way point where you can buy food etc. They are nice modern coaches and always full of other festie goers..so good fun!!

Book here if anyone is interested http://www.avanzabus.com/web/?lang=en

[TSM1973]

But you will find yourself spending a lot of money on the freshly squeezed orange juice at the top of the campsite.

[gooner1990]

I would recomment investing in a cooler and ice when you get there, that way you just buy a bunch of beer and water from the supermarket and keep them cool. But you will find yourself spending a lot of money on the freshly squeezed orange juice at the top of the campsite.

[3puddings]

Hi, has anyone flown to Alicante before for Benicassim? There's cheaper flights from my local airport, just wondered how easy it'll be to get to and from Beni from Alicante - can anyone help please?

Thanks!

[Dellbhoy]

Hi, has anyone flown to Alicante before for Benicassim? There's cheaper flights from my local airport, just wondered how easy it'll be to get to and from Beni from Alicante - can anyone help please?

Thanks!

[stephanie88]

But you will find yourself spending a lot of money on the freshly squeezed orange juice at the top of the campsite.

[3puddings]

Thanks Dellbhoy! If there's enough of us then that's definitely a good option, that I didn't even think of!

[dang_errr]

Hey

I'm thinking of getting the euro star to paris, then hiring a car and driving down and camping on the way.

Anyone done anything similar or have any thoughts?

Also, when we get to the festival we will have the hire car. Anyone know what we can do with the car?

Edited January 19, 2009 by dang_errr

[TSM1973]

Also, when we get to the festival we will have the hire car. Anyone know what we can do with the car?

[dang_errr]

Ideal, wasn't sure if it would be a nightmare trying to sort out parking for 6 days or so.

How far apart are the town, the campsites, the beach and the festival?

Is it all pretty much on top of each other, or am I likely ti want the use of the car while I'm there?

[stubbs]

I would recomment investing in a cooler and ice when you get there, that way you just buy a bunch of beer and water from the supermarket and keep them cool. But you will find yourself spending a lot of money on the freshly squeezed orange juice at the top of the campsite.

[stubbs]

Ideal, wasn't sure if it would be a nightmare trying to sort out parking for 6 days or so.

How far apart are the town, the campsites, the beach and the festival?

Is it all pretty much on top of each other, or am I likely ti want the use of the car while I'm there?

[MILN3YBAWZ]

Hey folks, first time FIBer here. Got a wee question is there anywhere you can keep your passports n valuables you dont want to be carrying round when your waisted???

Just wondered if there was safety deposit boxes or anythin?

[sinstar]

There are safety deposit boxes at the campsites, you pay a certain amount of euros every day (around 3 I think). I kept my passports etc in them in 2006 and I think I either paid for a few days up front or paid when I picked them up for however many days I had left them there for.

When I was there the boxes were in a temporary hut thing at the very entrace to Bonet (Benicamp). I'm not sure if they have moved though. I dunno where they are in CampFIB but I know there are some.

Does anyone have any advice for when I should arrive if I definitely want to camp in CampFIB? I was thinking of arriving on Tuesday as I thought there would be more chance of it being open by then, but if it is likely to be open by Monday night I would rather arrive then!

[sinstar]

Also can anyone describe to me how to get to CampFIB? I have had a look at the map on the official site but I can't imagine where it it in relation to the train station. I can't understand why I haven't have seen it before, either from the train station or on the walk to the festival site (I was there in 2006 and 2007, has it moved since then?)

[Monkey for festivals]

There are safety deposit boxes at the campsites, you pay a certain amount of euros every day (around 3 I think). I kept my passports etc in them in 2006 and I think I either paid for a few days up front or paid when I picked them up for however many days I had left them there for.

When I was there the boxes were in a temporary hut thing at the very entrace to Bonet (Benicamp). I'm not sure if they have moved though. I dunno where they are in CampFIB but I know there are some.

Does anyone have any advice for when I should arrive if I definitely want to camp in CampFIB? I was thinking of arriving on Tuesday as I thought there would be more chance of it being open by then, but if it is likely to be open by Monday night I would rather arrive then!