🎵 Roskilde Festival: a plan for a car-free week — how to fit in a day in Roskilde

Roskilde Festival is that week at the end of June – beginning of July when there is a constant ‘shuttle’ of backpacks, tents and rubber boots between Copenhagen and Roskilde. 🎧 Trains are packed with fans, volunteers stand on the platform at Roskilde Station, and some trains go directly to the festival entrance. However, if you plan your week wisely, you can stay in Copenhagen, go to the festival for one day, see the city of Roskilde itself and visit the castles of Zealand — all without renting a car.

🎤 What is Roskilde: format, dates, tickets

📀 Scale and concept of the festival

Roskilde Festival is one of the largest music festivals in Northern Europe: several main stages, dozens of smaller venues, a huge camping town and its own mini-infrastructure. It's not just concerts, but an entire ecosystem at the Dyrskuepladsen site near Roskilde.

The festival is non-profit: profits are traditionally donated to charitable projects, which adds not only a rock and electro vibe to the atmosphere, but also a tangible ‘community effect’. 🎶

📅 Timing by year

• The festival usually takes place in late June – early July.
• The first few days are a ‘warm-up’ (camping, small stages, local events).
• This is followed by the main days (roughly Wednesday to Saturday), when the headliners take to the main stages and one-day tickets are available.

🎫 One-day tickets

If you are not staying at the campsite and are not ready to ‘move’ to the festival, the best option is a day ticket for one of the main days:

• you arrive in the morning/afternoon from Copenhagen by train,
• spend the whole day and part of the night at the venue,
• and return to your hotel.

It is important to check in advance:

• which days day tickets are available,
• whether there are any restrictions on re-entry (whether you can leave and return on the same day),
• which day your key artists will be performing.

🚆 Logistics without a car: trains, special station, temporary buffers

🛤️ Copenhagen → Roskilde

Basic route:

• Departure from København H (main station).
• The journey to Roskilde Station takes approximately 20-30 minutes, depending on the type of train.
• You travel on the standard railway network, and tickets can be purchased either at a single fare or as part of a zone pass.

Practical tip: during festival week, it is better to plan your departure with plenty of time to spare rather than choosing a train that leaves just before your favourite set is due to start.

🚉 Roskilde Station → Roskilde Festivalplads

During the festival, there are usually special trains/lines to a separate station closer to the venue:

• Roskilde Festivalplads St. — the ‘festival’ station near the entrance and campsites.
• It takes only a few minutes to get there from Roskilde Station, but you need to allow time for queuing for the train and boarding.
• A separate ticket is usually required for this section, and Rejsekort and standard passes may not cover the trip — always check before travelling.

👍 Practical approach:

• buy a ‘basic’ ticket from Copenhagen to Roskilde Station in advance,
• once there, take your time to figure out the additional ticket to the festival station (there are plenty of maps and signs),
• avoid the last train in both directions.

⏱️ Time buffer

On headliner days, queues and bottlenecks on the platforms are the norm, so:

• allow an extra 30-60 minutes to your estimated time of arrival at the venue;
• when returning to Copenhagen, plan to leave one or two trains earlier than the last so you don't have to worry about overcrowding and delays.

🧳 Car-free week-long format: two working frameworks

🗺️ General approach

Basic scenario: you live in Copenhagen, use trains and passes (Copenhagen Card / travel cards), divide the week into:

• city (districts, canals, museums),
• festival (one day),
• Roskilde as a city (cathedral + Viking museum),
• castles of Zealand (Frederiksborg, Kronborg, etc.),
• reserve for weather and recovery.

📆 Format A: 7 days, base in CPH, 1 day for the festival

Day 1–2 — Copenhagen, ‘warm-up’

• Centre, canals, Nyhavn, viewing platforms.
• One ‘museum’ block per day (e.g. Glyptotek / Nationalmuseet).
• In the evening — get to know the gastro scene and neighbourhoods (Vesterbro, Nørrebro).

Day 3 — Roskilde Festival (day ticket)

• Morning/midday — departure by train from København H.
• Afternoon — arrival at the venue, exploring the area, getting up to speed with the stage schedule.
• In the evening/at night — headliners, club formats, return not on the last train. 🎵

Day 4 — ‘Recovery Day’ in CPH

• Late breakfast, parks (Frederiksberg Have, Østre Anlæg).
• Short walks along the embankments, maximum one light museum or just coffee/pastries.
• No strict timings — the body needs a reset.

Day 5 — Roskilde as a city

• Morning: train to Roskilde.
• Roskilde Cathedral (UNESCO) — tour of the interior and royal tombs (taking into account scheduled services).
• Day: Viking Ship Museum on the fjord, walk along the waterfront.
• Evening: café by the water, return to CPH.

Day 6 — Castles of Zealand

• Option 1: Frederiksborg (Hillerød) — palace, gardens, lake.
• Option 2: Kronborg (Helsingør) + Elsinore waterfront, view of Sweden.
• All of this is accessible by electric and regional trains, without renting a car.

Day 7 — Reserve day

• Adjustments depending on the weather, an additional trip, shopping or just another ‘lazy’ day in Copenhagen.

🎟️ Format B: 7 days, 2 ‘trips’ to Roskilde

Here you strictly separate the festival day and the museum day:

• Day 3 — Roskilde Festival (as in format A).
• Day 5 — a quiet museum trip: cathedral, Vikings, fjord, café.

This option is especially convenient if you realise that after a day at the festival, you won't be able to concentrate on history and exhibitions.

🕒 How to fit in ‘festival day + Roskilde museum day’

🎼 Festival day: timing and details

Morning–afternoon:

• Breakfast in Copenhagen, check the forecast and festival announcements.
• Leave in the first half of the day so you can get through all the transfers and queues without stress.

Afternoon–evening:

• Enter the venue, orient yourself with the map, choose your favourite stages.
• Plan your food and water breaks in advance, rather than ‘as you go’ — queues at food courts also grow in the evening.
• Think separately about what time you want to be at the main stage for the headliner.

Night and return:

• Assess when you are really ready to leave and choose a train 1–2 slots before the last one.
• Keep a backup plan in mind — for example, leave a little before the final set so you don't have to stand in critical queues.

🏛️ Roskilde Day — Museums: Compact itinerary

Sample timeline:

• 09:00–10:00 — Departure from Copenhagen.
• 10:30–12:30 — Roskilde Domkirke: tour, possible climb up the tower (if accessible), exploration of the royal tombs.
• 12:30–13:30 — lunch in the centre or on the way to the fjord.
• 13:30–16:30 — Viking Ship Museum + walk along the waterfront.
• 17:00–18:00 — coffee/dessert with a view of the water and return train to CPH.

💡 Both attractions are often included in tour cards such as the Copenhagen Card, which makes such a ‘museum trip’ more financially predictable: one day — several admissions + transport.

💰 Budget and accommodation: how not to overpay if you are travelling to a festival

🏨 Accommodation

• During the Roskilde Festival, demand increases both in Roskilde itself and in Copenhagen.
• From the point of view of flexibility and logistics, it makes sense to base yourself in CPH and book in advance, especially if you are interested in central areas and a normal noise level.
• Choosing an area for the festival:
  • if you are ready for action — Vesterbro / central districts;
  • if you want it quieter — Østerbro, Frederiksberg, hotels near parks.

🎟️ Tickets and transport

Festival day from CPH (approximate set):

• return train Copenhagen ↔ Roskilde;
• separate ticket for the special train/section to Festivalplads (if required);
• festival day ticket + food/drink expenses.

Roskilde Museums Day:

• standard train ticket CPH ↔ Roskilde;
• entrance to the cathedral and Viking Museum (or use of a card if you already have one);
• lunch + coffee/dessert.

‘Castles of Zealand’ day:

• trains CPH ↔ Hillerød / Helsingør;
• tickets to castles and museums or coverage by your travel card;
• meals along the way.

The idea here is not about exact amounts, but about logic: a well-chosen card + trains is often more profitable than one-time transport + separate tickets, especially with 2-3 busy trips per week.

⚠️ Mistakes and checklist before booking

🚫 Typical mistakes

• Planning to return from the festival on the last train and hoping that ‘we'll make it somehow’.
• Not taking into account that a separate ticket may be required for the section to the festival station and not figuring this out in advance.
• Trying to squeeze in a day at the museum in Roskilde on the same day as the festival: in reality, this turns into a race and ends in exhaustion.
• Ignoring time and weather buffers, building a schedule ‘by the book’ without any leeway.

✅ Checklist before buying tickets

Before fixing the dates and paying, go through this short list:

1. 📅 Checked the dates of the Roskilde Festival for the right year and decided which day you need a day ticket for.
2. 🎫 Figured out the type of ticket: day ticket vs full pass, re-entry conditions, time restrictions.
3. 🚂 Checked the train schedule Copenhagen ↔ Roskilde and special trains to Festivalplads, set buffers for queues.
4. 🏨 We booked accommodation in Copenhagen, taking into account noise levels and convenience to the train station.
5. 🗺️ We planned several ‘day frameworks’: festival day, a separate day for Roskilde museums, a day for castles, and one ‘slow’ day for recovery.

If you can honestly say ‘yes, taken care of’ for all of these points, then the week-long format of CPH + Roskilde Festival + Zealand without a car will not be chaotic, but rather a manageable and eventful holiday, where one festival day fits organically into a larger, well-planned trip. 🎧🌊🏰