Someone asked us to recommend a three-festival summer route for metalheads with approximate total cost. This is our answer. Two routes, real prices for every leg, exactly what to book first — and what happens when you miss a ticket.
The classic three-festival European metal summer starts in the UK, crosses to Belgium, and ends in Germany. Download (June 12–14) → Graspop Metal Meeting (June 18–21) → Wacken Open Air (July 30–August 1). Three countries, three festivals, eight weeks. Camping included in every ticket. Total ticket cost: €685.
Why this route? Because the geography works, the timing works, and the personality contrast between the three festivals is genuinely interesting. Download is the familiar start — UK metal royalty at Donington. Graspop is the European levelling-up — 160,000 people, better production, an international crowd. Wacken is the pilgrimage — the end point, the legend, the thing you've been building towards.
The four-day gap between Download (ends Sunday 14 June) and Graspop (starts Thursday 18 June) is enough for a single travel day and two recovery/exploration days in Brussels or Antwerp. The five-week gap between Graspop and Wacken means you go home in between. This is not a road trip — it's three separate events in one intentional summer.
If you can't get Download or Wacken tickets (both sell fast), Route B at the bottom of this page gives you an alternative with similar total cost and no ticket scarcity problem. Read on.
UK · Belgium · Germany · June 12 – August 1 · Tickets €685 · All-in ~£1,100–1,400
The natural UK starting point. Castle Donington is the spiritual home of British heavy music — 111,000 capacity, Iron Maiden and Metallica territory, three days of the strongest UK rock and metal lineup of the year. Start here. It sets the tone for everything that follows on the continent, and getting home from Download before flying to Belgium is straightforward.
Official site →The levelling-up. Four days in Dessel, Antwerp Province — 160,000 people, eight stages, consistently one of the best-produced metal events in Europe. Headliners overlap significantly with Download, which means you'll see different sets from the same bands. Brussels Airport is 45 minutes away with direct festival shuttles. The Belgian crowd is experienced, international and focused.
Official site →The pilgrimage. Since 1990, a farming village in northern Germany has hosted the most famous metal festival on earth — 85,000 people who all know exactly why they're there. Wacken is the natural end point of any serious European metal summer. The mythology is real: the mud, the camaraderie, the sense of arriving somewhere that only exists for one week a year. Hamburg Airport is 90 minutes north by train.
Official site →Recommended: Drive or train from Donington to East Midlands Airport (EMA, 30 minutes). Budget flight EMA–Brussels (BRU), roughly 55 minutes, typically £30–50 one-way booked in advance. From Brussels Airport, take the official Graspop shuttle bus directly to the festival site — around €15, runs frequently in the days before the festival opens. Door-to-door: approximately 4 hours.
Download ends Sunday 14 June. Graspop starts Thursday 18 June. You have four days — enough for one travel day and two or three nights in Brussels or Antwerp before the gates open. Both cities are worth a night; Antwerp is 35 minutes from Dessel by taxi if you want to stay close to the site.
Estimated travel cost: £45–80Graspop ends Sunday 21 June. Wacken starts Thursday 30 July — five and a half weeks later. Our recommendation: go home after Graspop, recover, then fly to Hamburg for Wacken separately. Brussels to any UK airport: £40–70. Then London or any UK airport to Hamburg (HAM): £50–80 return.
If you want to stay on the continent between the two festivals, train Brussels to Hamburg takes around 5 hours (around €50–80) and Hamburg is an exceptional city — worth two or three nights before heading to Wacken. From Hamburg Hauptbahnhof, train to Itzehoe (~90 minutes), then shuttle or taxi to the festival site.
Estimated travel cost (via home): £90–150 · Via Hamburg direct: £60–100Germany · France · Germany · June 5 – August 1 · Tickets €695 · All-in ~£1,000–1,300
The world's most famous motorsport circuit hosts Germany's biggest rock and metal festival over three days in early June. 90,000 people, camping on-site, and a dramatic venue that no other festival can replicate. The timing works: Rock am Ring ends June 7, Hellfest starts June 18 — 11 days to move from Germany to France, which is leisurely by any standard.
Official site →Europe's biggest metal festival and the most theatrical event on this route. 180,000 people, nine stages, every subgenre of heavy music. Clisson transforms completely for four days. Nantes Airport (NTE) is the gateway, 40 minutes north by train. Hellfest sells out within hours of release — book the moment tickets go on sale.
Official site →Same endpoint as Route A. Hellfest ends Sunday 21 June; Wacken starts Thursday 30 July — five and a half weeks, same as Route A. Return home after Hellfest and fly Hamburg in late July, or make a continental circuit of it via Paris and onwards. Either way, Wacken ends the summer where it should: with 85,000 people in a German field being unreasonably happy about heavy metal.
Official site →Rock am Ring ends June 7. Hellfest starts June 18 — 11 days. Options: fly Cologne or Frankfurt to Nantes (1.5–2 hours), or travel by train via Paris (3–4 hours Cologne to Paris TGV, then 2 hours Paris to Nantes). The train option via Paris lets you spend a day or two in the capital en route — worth doing. Alternatively, go home between the two and fly direct to Nantes for Hellfest.
Estimated travel cost: £50–100 depending on route| Download ticket | €235 (~£200) |
| Graspop ticket | €225 (~£190) |
| Wacken ticket | €225 (~£190) |
| Total tickets | €685 (~£580) |
| Getting to Download (train/fuel) | £20–40 |
| EMA → Brussels flight | £30–60 |
| Graspop shuttle (BRU → site) | £13 |
| Brussels → home after Graspop | £40–70 |
| Home → Hamburg (Wacken) | £50–80 |
| Hamburg → home after Wacken | included in return |
| Total travel | ~£150–263 |
| Food & drink on-site (12 festival days) | £240–300 |
| Incidentals (cash, gear, transfers) | £50–80 |
| All-in total | £1,100–1,400 |
Camping included in all three tickets. Flights based on advance booking 3–4 months ahead from London-area airports. Food on-site estimated at £20–25/day.
| Rock am Ring ticket | €225 (~£190) |
| Hellfest ticket | €245 (~£207) |
| Wacken ticket | €225 (~£190) |
| Total tickets | €695 (~£587) |
| London → Cologne (Rock am Ring) | £50–80 |
| Cologne → Nantes or Paris (Hellfest) | £40–80 |
| Nantes → home after Hellfest | £50–80 |
| Home → Hamburg (Wacken) | £50–80 |
| Total travel | ~£190–320 |
| Food & drink on-site (11 festival days) | £220–280 |
| Incidentals | £50–80 |
| All-in total | £1,000–1,300 |
Route B is slightly cheaper on food (11 festival days vs 12) and has more flexible travel options. The Hellfest ticket is €10 more than Graspop but the total comes out similar.
Book in this order, without exception:
Camping is included in all three tickets. You will need your own tent and gear. For three consecutive summer festivals, pack once and pack well — you are moving this kit between countries.
Luggage strategy: A large rucksack (70–80L) for camping kit plus a smaller 30L bag for day use. This keeps you in carry-on territory for budget flights between Belgium and Germany.
Our recommendation: Download (UK, June 12–14) → Graspop Metal Meeting (Belgium, June 18–21) → Wacken Open Air (Germany, July 30–August 1). Three countries, three distinct experiences, camping included at every festival. Total ticket cost €685; all-in from the UK including flights and food: approximately £1,100–1,400. The four-day gap between Download and Graspop gives you time to travel and explore Brussels or Antwerp before the next festival opens.
Route A (Download → Graspop → Wacken): tickets €685, travel approximately £150–260, food on-site approximately £240–300. Total: £1,100–1,400 all-in from the UK. Route B (Rock am Ring → Hellfest → Wacken): tickets €695, similar travel and food costs. Total: £1,000–1,300. The difference is marginal; Route B saves slightly on food (one fewer festival day) and has more flexible travel legs.
The simplest leg on the route. Download ends Sunday 14 June at Donington Park. East Midlands Airport (EMA) is 30 minutes from the festival site. Budget flight EMA to Brussels (BRU) — typically £30–50 one-way, booked in advance. From Brussels Airport, the official Graspop shuttle bus runs directly to the festival site for around €15. Total journey: about 4 hours. You have until Thursday 18 June when Graspop opens — plenty of time for two nights in Brussels or Antwerp first.
Join the Wacken waiting list immediately — people do drop out and releases happen. In the meantime, build the route around Graspop as the endpoint instead: Download (June 12–14) → Rock am Ring (June 5–7, do this first) → Graspop (June 18–21). Or substitute Wacken with Sweden Rock Festival in Sölvesborg — same hard rock/metal focus, camping included, and tickets are more available. Ask the concierge below to help redesign the route around your specific situation.
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