Where to Stay

Published
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Michael
on November 17, 2008
in Uncategorized
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I recently wrote a piece on where to stay during the festival so Ill add it here.

Where to stay

During the festival you have two choices, to Camp or to use accommodation.  Both have their plusses and it depends what type of experience you want.  The hectic, non-stop party of the camp sites with minimal sleep as the Sun bursts through at 6.  Trying to recover in 35 degrees of pure heat after getting in at 8, with an ice-cold shower with thousands of the opposite sex.   It´s quite an experience and a test of endurance and exhaustion.

Or you can choose an apartment, get rest bite sleeping in air-conditioned accommodation, chill on the beach until festival start and then get taken to the doors on time and back to your bed whenever you feel to recharge and reload for your next night’s frolics.

The choice is up to you, this guide is not to say which is better (you yourself know whether camping or accommodation suites you) but to give you the best of each.

Camping

There are two main camp sites in Benicassim to stay in.  Those are CampFiB and BeniCamp.

Benicamp opens on Monday (the festival usually Thursday so by the Wednesday bare in mind it will be packed). It is the closer to the town and beach of Benicassim but far from the festival.  Expect to walk 50 minutes to the festival acts from here.  There are coaches running from the CampSite to the festival but they are a tad unreliable.

CampFiB is closer to the festival and definitely the one of choice.  If your Camping, go here.  Plenty of showers and toilets, 24 Hour bar and juice stools.  Both of these Camp sites come included in the 4 day festival tickets from FiberFib.

If you buy less than the 4 day festival ticket Camping isn´t included, and using the private Camping sites is not recommended because it costs more than an apartment for the week. 

Apartments

Apartment wise the best choice is to stay in Marina D´or Resort which is next door to the festival 10km away and on the beach front.  The Marina D´or resort caters 5000 as new air-conditioned apartments and is actually cheaper than private camping sites.  The apartments generally come with 2 bedrooms and either one or two bathrooms depending on the being on the first or second line of the beach. 

For getting to the festival from Marina D´or is the very reliable bus shuttle service leaving every 30 minutes and taking 20 minutes to reach the festival gates.  You can expect to pay €170 per person for a group of 6 staying in a Second Line, 2 Bedroom, 1 Bathroom apartment including the bus shuttle.

These apartments and bus shuttle service are offered from DanespFib and you can find more information at http://www.danespfib.com

Hotels

The Costa Azahar has some of the nicest hotels in the area and here is the pick of the bunch. 

The best hotel in the area is Voramar, literally on the Benicassim Beach.  This hotel sells out very quick so if you’re looking to treat yourself to the best positioned hotel in the area book up quick.  A double bed room equipped for 4 persons facing the beach would cost only €200 a night.  The only drawback is that it is a long walk from the festival gates.

For more information you can check the Voramar website at http://www.voramar.net

The second best hotel which is right near the La Concha beach is called the Hotel Neptuno in Oropesa Del Mar.  The La Concha beach has been famed as the best beach in the Costa Azahar and the Hotel Neptuno is overlooking it. 

The rooms here can hold up to 4 persons.

The hotel uses the reliable Bus Shuttle service offered from DanespFiB leaving every 30 minutes and also runs special English Breakfasts included- especially for the festival.  For more information you can check the hotel on the DanespFiB website at http://www.danespfib.com.

Flying to Oropesa and Benicassim: Use Valencia!

Published
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Michael
on November 10, 2008
in Flying to Spain and Travel Guide
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Book your flights ASAP and get tickets to Valencia airport.  The other surrounding airports are too much hassle.  You may think your getting a good deal (Ryanair to Reus, which they advertise as Barcelona.  This is a problem because its about 60km away from Barcelona and lacks transport networks) but whatever you will save in the fight youll make up in getting to Oropesa or Benicassim- and then lose time.

Simply, there is NO better option for the 2009 Festival.  For 2010 the Castellon airport will be open however, and that is only 10km from Oropesa Del Mar, Marina Dor and 20km from Benicassim- bet lets take things one step at a time ;)

Getting to Benicassim / Oropesa, an Insiders tip

Published
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Michael
on November 1, 2008
in Insider Info and Travel Guide
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We strongly recommend that you organise your mode of transport to Benicassim, Oropesa Del Mar and Marina Dor from the airport as early as possible.

The reason for this is that the trains will fully book up from Valencia and Reus (you will need to get on one of these lines even if your staying further away e.g. Alicante) around 2 to 3 months before the festival.  After this point it is impossible to get one. 

Once this happens the Taxi´s go on “festival alert” and if you manage to get one expect to pay over the odds.  For Valencia to Benicassim / Oropesa the normal rate is 100 euro more or less year round for a party of 4 (and dont forget luggage problems with space).  From Reus you can multiply that value by 4.  During the festival expect to add 50% to those original prices.

Your Return Journey

For your return journey its even worse.  For the 2007 festival people have been waiting at the trainstation of Benicassim for the train to Valencia.  However because of the train being full before this point it will not stop and go direct. 

And when you have a train ticket pre-booked from Castellon to Valencia or Barcelona, do not rely on taxis to gurantee you arriving on time.  There are not enough taxis in the area to cope for the demand.  Last year we dropped people off at the taxi point with a taxi firm saying they would arrive in 30 minutes.  They didnt and the only way to not miss the flight was one of our team driving them to the Castellon station.  In even more extreme circumstances we had a group of girls needing to get to the Castellon train station for their train set to leave in 30 minutes!  It takes around 30 minutes to arrive there following the speed limit and luckily we got them there on time.  Were not exagerrating either.

We strongly recommend car hire.  All the accommodation in Marina Dor comes with parking spaces to leave during the festival days and make use of the excellent shuttle service.  It also allows you to make your return journeys to the airport at a time of your convenience, not worry about trains not stopping in Benicassim station and taxis being unavailable.

Now were not saying that if you come to the Benicassim Festival the transport is a disaster, that would be a lie.  Its just amazing how many people will book up and then travel “on a wing” unplanned.  So when you come for 2009 make sure you plan your travel from the airport to where your staying extensively and pre-book as early as possible.

Oasis to headline Benicassim 2009?

Published
by
Michael
on October 29, 2008
in Uncategorized
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I had a friend, die hard Oasis fly back to England from Spain for the Oasis gig with the promise of a ticket.  Maybe had is the wrong terminology as hes still with us and arrived in England safely in England, unlike the person who promised him the ticket who had instead given it to someone else and felt the full brunt of the dissapointment.

Luckily for him and in huge news, according to Virtualfestivals.com, Oasis are set to headline the 2009 Benicassim festival and a host of other Summer Festivals.  If or when this is officially confirmed, it will certainly be a statement for the strength of the 2009 festival in Benicassim.

The DanespFiB blog

Published
by
Michael
on February 25, 2008
in Uncategorized
. 0 Comments

Welcome to the DanespFiB blog.

Here you can find out all of the latest goings on for the Benicassim Festival of 2009, our festival accommodation offers and information on the pick of what to do outside festival hours.