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Roskilde Festival takes place between the 3rd and 6th July 2008. It ranks up with Glastonbury as one of Europe's biggest festivals. Generally seen to be a rock event, the only thing you're guaranteed to find is unpredictability. Acts announced so far include Radiohead, Kings of Leon and M.I.A.. This may also be the only festival in Europe where you can dance in the shadow of a giant wind turbine. Excellent.

If you haven't already got a ticket, the coach package is a very cost effective (and low carbon) option.

• View coach details

The ferry from Harwich to Esbjerg is comfortable and relatively cheap, with a straightforward train connection onwards to Roskilde once you've docked in Denmark

• View ferry details

The train via Brussels and Cologne is the quickest of the three, and a rail-pass gives you lots of flexibility.

• View train details

You can buy an all inclusive package for getting to Roskilde, including the festival ticket for £419 from our friends at Argon Events. The trip goes something like this:

Note that there are two options with this package - you can either camp (like real festival-goers) or take the more expensive (and rather lame) option of staying in a Copenhagen hotel for the duration.

Both options include one night in a hotel in Hamburg on the way

Buying tickets:

The camping package is £419. This includes:

• The coach there and back (with an extra supplement depending on where you're picked up
• The ferry from Dover to Calais (and back again)
• One night in a Hamburg hotel
• A festival ticket including five nights camping

If you go for the lame but inevitably more comfortable option of staying in a hotel, it'll cost you £635. The extra money pays for five nights in a Copenhagen hotel (including breakfast). There's an extra supplement if you want a single room.

You can book either of the above packages through Argon Events:



Take the ferry/train combo

You can get an overnight ferry from Harwich in Essex to Esbjerg in Denmark. DFDS ferries are pretty damn sophisticated compared to the ones you're used to crossing the English channel (no offence P&O). From Esbjerg the train to Roskilde takes about three hours, and you go past a ridiculous number of wind farms


• Step 1: Depart Harwich 30th June at 6pm
• Step 2: Arrive Esbjerg 1st July at 1pm
• Step 3: Take the train from Esbjerg to Roskilde
• Step 4: Enjoy the festival until the 6th July before taking the train back to Esbjerg
• Step 5: Leave Esbjerg at 18.45 on the 7th
• Step 6: Arrive back in Essex (where else would you want to be?) on at 12pm on 8th July

Note that the ferries don't run every day. To get there for the start of the festival, you'll need to get the ferry that leaves on 30th June. The official festival warm-up starts from the 29th June and we recommend getting there in time for the naked race that takes place before it starts!

Roskilde is close to Copenhagen which is a quality city, so you could delay your departure a few days and stick around before getting the return ferry.

Buying tickets

The cost of the ferry depends on how many people travelling. The cheapest way is to share a four person cabin, and this costs roughly £100 per person return. Check the full details and book at DFDS Seaways

The train costs about DK300 for a return, which is approximately £30. Check the details at Danish Railway site

Take the train

Taking the train all the way is a viable option with a five-in-day Inter-rail pass. The most logical route is via Brussels and Cologne.


• Step 1: Tuesday 1st July. Depart London St. Pancras at 14.34, arriving Brussels at 17.33
• Step 2: Catch the 19.25 to Cologne, arrving at 21.45
• Step 3: Jump on the 22.28 night-train to Ringsted
• Step 4: Arrive at Ringsted at 09.16. From there it's a simple 20 minute onward journey to Roskilde



On the way back you can basically do the same journey in reverse. With a five-in-ten-day Inter-rail pass you've got a lot of flexibility because the journey is pretty short.

Buying tickets:

• If you want to change your itinerary from the one listed above, check alternative options using the Deutshce Bahn European rail timetable.
• Buy a 5-in-10 day Global rail-pass (you need a global one to get through France) using the button below. It's £125 if you're under 26. Specify 1st July as the start date. This lets you travel for any five days within ten until the 24th.
Book your inter-rail pass
• Once you've bought your rail-pass, contact Rail Europeto make night-train reservations (these are compulsory and cost around £30 per night train).
• Buy Eurostar tickets. Your Inter-rail pass gets you a discount on Eurostar tickets, and on tickets from any UK station to London St. Pancras.

Things to note

The main factor affecting the overall price of the journey is the Eurostar ticket. It doesn't matter where you buy your ticket, it will be the same price everywhere, but each train has a certain number of cheap tickets and once they're gone, that's it. The cheapest you'll get a return to Paris for is £60 minus the discount that you're eligible for with an Inter-rail pass.

If you start your journey without purchasing night-train reservations, you should be able to get them on the way in Paris (or in Madrid on the way back), but there is a small chance that the trains in question will be full. If you choose to spend nights in the cities and take trains in the day instead, then there will be fewer, if any, compulsory reservation fees (though obviously you'll have to pay for accomodation in the cities).

Note that for night-train journeys that begin after 7pm, you only use up one day of your inter-rail pass (as long as you haven't already made a journey using the pass on that day.

Depending on your age, when you book and which specific trains you want to go on, it may be cheaper to buy a point-to-point return ticket instead of the rail-pass. Of course, getting a return ticket means you won't be able to be flexible and return via a different route to the one you went out on. To explore this option, search for trains using the Deutshce Bahn European rail timetable., and then check prices at Rail Europe