Three buddies and I are planning on going to Oktoberfest in 2007. We are looking at 9-19 through 9-30. We are planning to fly into AMS and out of ???. We are looking for nightlife so my questions basically are:

I assume Oktoberfest is crazy everyday. Is it important for us to be there on a weekend or would we be better off on a weekday (spending our weekends elsewhere)?

Aside from AMS and MUC, what would be a good city to visit midweek?

We are open to flying or taking the train between cities.

Thanks!

zac, Oktoberfest is crazy any day of the week and I'd advise you to go SUN-WED as all other days are too packed. My favourite day is SUN as there are less tourists, you can get into the tents and people are friendlier. But "after-Wiesn" is pretty bad on these days. So if I were you I'd probably try to fly /train in on Sat, walk around Oktoberfest at about 10 pm, enjoy the carneval and then go out to clubs. Take Sunday easy and go to Oktoberfest at around 3-5 and stay till the tents close at 10:30. Repeat sunday till you're tired of beer/Oktoberfest closes. And also make sure to drop me a PM if you want to meet up. ;)

Three buddies and I are planning on going to Oktoberfest in 2007. We are looking at 9-19 through 9-30. We are planning to fly into AMS and out of ???. We are looking for nightlife so my questions basically are:

I assume Oktoberfest is crazy everyday. Is it important for us to be there on a weekend or would we be better off on a weekday (spending our weekends elsewhere)?

Aside from AMS and MUC, what would be a good city to visit midweek?

We are open to flying or taking the train between cities.http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/newreply.php?do=newreply&p=6726450#
Big Grin

Thanks!

What are you looking forward to do? Besides the Oktoverfest? Do you want to concentrate on partys? On drinking? Or some other "culture" :D ?

Berlin is always good for parties and clubbing...

Europe has so much to do and see so it really depends on what you are looking for...

Tell us what you want and we tell you where you find it... :-)

By the way which carrier do you use to fly in? AMS will be your first station and which airport to you use to get back?

Thanks for the replies!

We have decided to skip AMS. At this point the only for sure part of our trip will be in MUC.

We will probably take Thomas_B's suggestion and go to Oktoberfest Sunday thru whenever and arrive in MUC Saturday to partake in the Saturday night parties.

At this point we are throwing around Vienna or Zurich (trying to minimize train time). I hadn't thought of Berlin but that sounds like something to look into. We are flying on Wednesday arriving Thursday. Would flying into Berlin for Thursday and Friday then training to MUC on Saturday be a descent option? The total length of our trip will be 11 days as we will leave on the following Sunday.

We are pretty much open as to where we are going to fly into. I for one will be taking UA or at least *-alliance as I am going to attempt to fly business or 1st. Since it looks like most airports are the same $$$-wise we probably will fly to wherever is convenient.

The group I am with is most interested in partying at night. Of course we would also like to check out some of the local cultural attractions (I’ve been to Schloss Neuschwanstein but that’s it).

To give you an idea of the travelers, my brother and I have both been to Europe (mainly Italy, Denmark, and Switzerland) multiple times. The other two/three guys still haven’t left the US. We are all late 20s early 30s.

Are we pretty much out of luck during the week for any nightlife? This may not be too bad if it is the case because recovery time is always appreciated :D.

OK... Thanks for all the details...

Keep up with Thomas_B's plan about the Octoberfest in MUC... During the day you have plenty of time to see MUC itself and in the afternoon/evening you'll spend time in the beer tents... :D (I really need to go in 2007, too since I have been there nearly every year until 2001 but never since then - moved away from MUC :td: )

As you want to use A* ^ which means for travel between Germany and the U.S. mainly UA, US, LH and LX/OS maybe SK I would suggest to stick to UA and LH... LH has a daily flight SFO - MUC... Try to avoid FRA because of two main reasons...

1) FRA is a big mess and takes a long time
2) flights between MUC and FRA are expensive, LH has kind of a monopoly

If you fly into MUC you can use several airlines to get to Berlin where parties are on during the whole week but of course the weekend is always better (more folks around)

Munich to Berlin with a Star Alliance Partner? There is just LH... If you book early enough you will get a 99 Euro fare...
If you don't really need A*, go with a LCC like Germanwings (www.germanwings.com) (LH daughter but no miles), Air Berlin (http://www.airberlin.com/site/index.php?page=start.php&LANG=eng&all=1) or Deutsche BA (http://www.airberlin.com/site/index.php?page=start.php&LANG=eng&all=1)

As you have been to Switzerland before, skip it as well. I mean the country is beautiful but expensive and I would try to concentrate on places you mabe haven't been before.

Within Germany I would suggest Cologne, Hamburg, Berlin as mentioned and for the former east part of Germany, Dresden and Leipzig.

Within Europe, there are so many cities...

The only one I would probably take the train ti is VIE. For the other ones, take a plane. Trains are not that much cheaper, they are always late and come on, how often are you or especially your friends in Europe? The plane is much faster and nearly all airports are very good connected by public transport to their cities.

Ask your friends what cities they want to see? As you have already been in some countries, go for example to France and see Paris or to Spain and see Barcelona... (BCN is also famous for its parties) London is always nice too, but very expensive and flying on the island is always a pain in the neck... They are very concerned about terrorism and that's why flying in and out of London is not really a pleasure...

I could go on forever, find out what you and your friends want to see and what you really don't want to see. The more input I have the more adivce I can give you

I'd start thinking about booking hotels pretty shortly, too. Octoberfest time comes around, they fill up quick. If you want to save money on the room, look at towns just outside Munich but within S train range.

I could go on forever, find out what you and your friends want to see and what you really don't want to see. The more input I have the more adivce I can give you

We seem to have decided on Berlin followed by MUC followed by ???

Fares into Berlin and out of MUC seem to be around $1100 which doesn't seem too bad. It looks like we can get from Berlin to MUC for ~$100 on DBA. Any experience with that carrier?

We are looking at http://www.citystay.de/ for Berlin. It seems like that should be a good location (I guess it's pretty much as central as you can get?). We need to save our hotel money for MUC.

We seem to have decided on Berlin followed by MUC followed by ???

Fares into Berlin and out of MUC seem to be around $1100 which doesn't seem too bad. It looks like we can get from Berlin to MUC for ~$100 on DBA. Any experience with that carrier?

We are looking at http://www.citystay.de/ for Berlin. It seems like that should be a good location (I guess it's pretty much as central as you can get?). We need to save our hotel money for MUC.

dBa is a good carrier. It is LCC, but for Germany that is still good. It will either be a 737 or an F100, and dBa service is fairly good. They will offer food and drinks on board for sale, but for less money than you would pay on a US flight. I think beers were 2 euro and sandwichs about the same price. Not that you need it on an hour long flight. They seemed to be on time the three times I've flown them. Are you departing from TXL or one of the other two airports in Berlin?

dBa is a good carrier. It is LCC, but for Germany that is still good. It will either be a 737 or an F100, and dBa service is fairly good. They will offer food and drinks on board for sale, but for less money than you would pay on a US flight. I think beers were 2 euro and sandwichs about the same price. Not that you need it on an hour long flight. They seemed to be on time the three times I've flown them. Are you departing from TXL or one of the other two airports in Berlin?

It appears that it would be TXL. I assume no problem with public transportation between TXL and central Berlin?

It appears that it would be TXL. I assume no problem with public transportation between TXL and central Berlin?

Nope, the bus from TXL will take you to the Zoobahnhof. From there, catch a U train or a bus anywhere you like. It is an easy walk to the KaDaWe along Kurfürstendamm. Additionally, the Zoobahnhof is a full service Deutsche Bahn station, so you can go anywhere that the rails can take you from there.

There are several good restaurants in the area, lots of shopping, and plenty of bars / clubs. I think there is a red light district right outside that station too, if that tickles your fancy.

A great town only about 2hrs on the fast train from Munich is Salzburg, Austria. While by no means is it an undiscovered town, it has good nightlife, plenty of beer, music history, musuems.. If it gets the 2014 Winter Olympics, i guess it wont be a secret for much longer.

We seem to have decided on Berlin followed by MUC followed by ???

Fares into Berlin and out of MUC seem to be around $1100 which doesn't seem too bad. It looks like we can get from Berlin to MUC for ~$100 on DBA. Any experience with that carrier?

We are looking at http://www.citystay.de/ for Berlin. It seems like that should be a good location (I guess it's pretty much as central as you can get?). We need to save our hotel money for MUC.


This price for airfare seems high, even for Octoberfest. If I were you I'd play around with dates a little bit (if you have any flexiblity) to see if you can get something cheaper. I picked some random-ish dates for September (19th-30th) and came up with $885 all in on UA or $685 all in on AA.

If it gets the 2014 Winter Olympics, i guess it wont be a secret for much longer.

It just lost the 2010 winter games bid. Most countries/cities don't bid back-to-back. :confused:

I went a couple of years ago and was thoroughly underwhelmed by the event, the site and crowds of drunken, disorderly and dumb-acting. Perhaps it was the barfing on the subway or random fistfights that broke out - but thought it was a great time to skip Munich. Enjoy!

This price for airfare seems high, even for Octoberfest. If I were you I'd play around with dates a little bit (if you have any flexiblity) to see if you can get something cheaper. I picked some random-ish dates for September (19th-30th) and came up with $885 all in on UA or $685 all in on AA.

We found UA tix in and out of MUC for much cheaper and booked them. Now we just have to figure out what to do in between the 19th and the 30th!

I went a couple of years ago and was thoroughly underwhelmed by the event, the site and crowds of drunken, disorderly and dumb-acting. Perhaps it was the barfing on the subway or random fistfights that broke out - but thought it was a great time to skip Munich. Enjoy!

This wouldn't surprise me at all, but then again some of my buddies may be the ones on the train puking! :eek: Anyway, I don't expect to spend more than a couple days at Oktoberfest.

I went a couple of years ago and was thoroughly underwhelmed by the event, the site and crowds of drunken, disorderly and dumb-acting. Perhaps it was the barfing on the subway or random fistfights that broke out - but thought it was a great time to skip Munich. Enjoy!

Well.. no one on this thread has actually mentioned yet that Oktoberfest is pretty much over by the first week of October. So go in October if you want to go to a tourist festival.. go in mid-September if you want the experience to be a little bit more authentically Bavarian.

But everywhere in Germany will be celebrating it, so I doubt you'll miss out on too much action wherever you go - Berlin should be just as fun.^

Also check out www.hotel.de, they have some great deals across the board.

Any recommendations on where to stay? We a planning 4 nights in Munich. There are five of us. We are interested in anything from hostiles to apartment rentals. Hotels are expensive but the real issue is that it's hard to find rooms that have two doubles (or so it seems) so we would have to book two or three rooms.

It just lost the 2010 winter games bid. Most countries/cities don't bid back-to-back. :confused:

Probably off-topic to the point of Oktoberfest/Beer/Germany but the 3 finalists for the 2014 Winter Olympics are

Sochi, Russia
Salzburg, Austria
PyeongChang, South Korea..

given the political climate of things in Russia and South Korea these days, I would say Salzburg has a good chance..

Oktoberfest/Beer related, if you do goto Salzburg, make sure to visit the Augustiner Braustubl-Mulln. which is a cool beer garden used to be run by Monks back in the day, and while the monks are gone its still very old school with home made beer, and lots of food choices.

Probably off-topic to the point of Oktoberfest/Beer/Germany but the 3 finalists for the 2014 Winter Olympics are

Sochi, Russia
Salzburg, Austria
PyeongChang, South Korea..

given the political climate of things in Russia and South Korea these days, I would say Salzburg has a good chance..

Oktoberfest/Beer related, if you do goto Salzburg, make sure to visit the Augustiner Braustubl-Mulln. which is a cool beer garden used to be run by Monks back in the day, and while the monks are gone its still very old school with home made beer, and lots of food choices.

You are right but on the other hand, IIRC Austria and Switzerland will have the European Soccer Championship in 2008...

The FIFA or the Olympics Board tend to not give a country big events too close in a row...

Any recommendations on where to stay? We a planning 4 nights in Munich. There are five of us. We are interested in anything from hostiles to apartment rentals. Hotels are expensive but the real issue is that it's hard to find rooms that have two doubles (or so it seems) so we would have to book two or three rooms.

I stayed at the new Courtyard Marriott in Munich - it had doubles in it. You may want to search some of the hotel program threads on Munich, for specific reviews.

The locals avoid the second weekend - aka "Italian weekend"- of the Oktoberfest because hordes of young guys of the above mentioned nationality come to Munich in their hundreds or thousands of RVs and get as drunk and loud as possible.
Police and ERs work almost exclusively for them (as seen in reports on German TV in the last 4 years).

The locals avoid the second weekend - aka "Italian weekend"- of the Oktoberfest because hordes of young guys of the above mentioned nationality come to Munich in their hundreds or thousands of RVs and get as drunk and loud as possible.
Police and ERs work almost exclusively for them (as seen in reports on German TV in the last 4 years).

^ Oh yeah and you want to make sure to keep your daughter away from those guys... There are just two things those guys are looking for... Beer and sex with german girls

I stayed at the new Courtyard Marriott in Munich - it had doubles in it. You may want to search some of the hotel program threads on Munich, for specific reviews.

I just booked two rooms at the Le Meridien. Only two people per room, but they allow a thrid with a rollaway for 55 euro a night. For the price (SPG points) I can't complain. ^

I've been to Oktoberfest for the past 5 or 6 years now, and was there on 11 separate occasions last year. Granted, 11 days of attendance might become boring if you don't speak German or have local friends.

Mid-week certainly is the best time to head to the "Wiesn" (as Oktoberfest is known to the locals).

Table reservations are a good idea too, as free seating for more than a couple people can be hard to come by even in the mid-week afternoons. Look at oktoberfest.de for more info regarding reservations.

It is possible to get into tents on the weekends, even near prime time. Just circle the tents and watch for the side entrances that have a few people near them. I've had quite a bit of success this way.

The middle weekend is most definitely known as Italian weekend, and you'll even hear announcements on the radio in Italian (my favorite being one that indicated "the woman who serves your beer is not included with the price of the beer"). You'll certainly see and hear lots of propositions in Italian accents, which are quite humorous to witness.

All in all, it's a great time :-)

Also check out the BMW factory tour, the tour of the concentration camp at Dachau, the Audi tour in Ingolstadt. Schloss Neuschwanstein is definitely cool, too.

There are a good number of Wiesn afterparties, my favorite being at Viktualienmarkt.

Also checkout some of the other clubs, like 4004, P1, or Pacha. (I've heard 4004 is closing, and Pacha may have closed -- but others spring up in their place).

Drop me a PM when you're there too, I'll most definitely be there again for the duration!

It just lost the 2010 winter games bid. Most countries/cities don't bid back-to-back. :confused:

I was in Salzburg in 2003, right around that the IOC annouced that Vancouver/Whistler would be the site of the 2010 games. My then girlfriend was from Vancouver and she gave me a "Vancouver 2010" shirt several months before our trip. When we walked around Salzburg, I wore the shirt. I got a lot gawks and looks because it was pretty audacious to rub it into the Salzburgers faces at that time. :D

- HF

You are right but on the other hand, IIRC Austria and Switzerland will have the European Soccer Championship in 2008...

The FIFA or the Olympics Board tend to not give a country big events too close in a row...

Six years is close?

Six years is close?

Kind of... There are much more countries in the world... :D Instead of giving a country two events within 6 years they could look for somebody else...

See you on the 20st in NYC, HobokenFlyer^

My friend has put me in charge of working out an itinerary for the Munich Oktoberfest. He wants to attend the fest for a couple, few days but also wants to see Switzerland. I would also like to see Vienna. :) Does anyone want to suggest a good itinerary for a couple weeks or link me to a page where someone has done a similar trip? We're not heavy drinkers even though we're from Louisiana. Once we've done the fest, I imagine that we'd like to do some walking or hiking. Maybe there are some tours or trails that can be suggested? I hope it's OK to piggyback on the other poster's thread. I've already learned some good information from it.




Kind of... There are much more countries in the world... :D Instead of giving a country two events within 6 years they could look for somebody else...

See you on the 20st in NYC, HobokenFlyer^

My friend has put me in charge of working out an itinerary for the Munich Oktoberfest. He wants to attend the fest for a couple, few days but also wants to see Switzerland. I would also like to see Vienna. :) Does anyone want to suggest a good itinerary for a couple weeks or link me to a page where someone has done a similar trip? We're not heavy drinkers even though we're from Louisiana. Once we've done the fest, I imagine that we'd like to do some walking or hiking. Maybe there are some tours or trails that can be suggested? I hope it's OK to piggyback on the other poster's thread. I've already learned some good information from it.

So I need some information?

Where do you want to fly in? Which airline? How long do you want to stay in total? How is your budget? Do you want to fly/drive/take the train between Munich/Geneva/Vienna and "the mountains"?

Do you speak any german at all? How much time do you want at each place?

I can't work out a whole itinerary for you but I am pretty familiar with that area and I am always glad to help, even if it makes me envious because I want to go there as well:D

We will almost certainly be flying NW or KLM as we have status on NW. I hope to fly into MUC as this worked well on a previous trip. Or maybe it would be better to fly into someplace else. I guess the trip doesn't have to start with the Oktoberfest especially if it means crowded or expensive flights.

Time -- my friend suggested 2 weeks or so. Budget -- don't have numbers yet, but we're not looking for bargain basement. I think you can assume a pretty generous budget. We'd want hotels to be under $200 U.S. dollars a day though.

Transport -- In Munich we don't want to be bothered with a car, probably not in Vienna either. Also, we are not used to driving in the mountains, because it's flat here. So I was thinking we'd want to do the train. Or maybe there are buses that take some scenic tours. Hmmm.

Unfortunately my German goes no further than being able to order a beer. :)
It's too bad because I do have some German heritage on my mom's side. But I've been able to bumble along OK on my two previous visits.



So I need some information?

Where do you want to fly in? Which airline? How long do you want to stay in total? How is your budget? Do you want to fly/drive/take the train between Munich/Geneva/Vienna and "the mountains"?

Do you speak any german at all? How much time do you want at each place?

I can't work out a whole itinerary for you but I am pretty familiar with that area and I am always glad to help, even if it makes me envious because I want to go there as well:D

We will almost certainly be flying NW or KLM as we have status on NW. I hope to fly into MUC as this worked well on a previous trip. Or maybe it would be better to fly into someplace else. I guess the trip doesn't have to start with the Oktoberfest especially if it means crowded or expensive flights.

Time -- my friend suggested 2 weeks or so. Budget -- don't have numbers yet, but we're not looking for bargain basement. I think you can assume a pretty generous budget. We'd want hotels to be under $200 U.S. dollars a day though.

Transport -- In Munich we don't want to be bothered with a car, probably not in Vienna either. Also, we are not used to driving in the mountains, because it's flat here. So I was thinking we'd want to do the train. Or maybe there are buses that take some scenic tours. Hmmm.

Unfortunately my German goes no further than being able to order a beer. :)
It's too bad because I do have some German heritage on my mom's side. But I've been able to bumble along OK on my two previous visits.

Don't worry about your german, most people know at least a little bit of English to be able to give you directions or answer simple questions.

As NW is neither flying directly into MUC, ZRH or VIE, it doesn't really matter where you fly into/ out to. You will fly into AMS anyway and then take KL which serves all three airports anyway...

I agree on travelling by train between the cities. You and your buddies will see a lot of the beautifull Alps. You can check train schedule on German Railway (http://www.bahn.de/p/view/international/englisch/international_guests.shtml) and book tickets there as well.

Zürich will probably the most expensive part of your stay so I would suggest to just stay for that city in Switzerland and then just leave.

I would do the following: fly from AMS into ZRH. Stay there for 2-3 days, see the city. Take the train to Munich, stay there for 4-5 days. This gives you the opportunity for both, city sightseeing and Oktoberfest. Maybe you want to arrive or leave at the very beginning or very end of the Oktoberfest. Then take the train and go into the mountains. Nice towns are Garmisch Partenkirchen, Reit im Winkel, Berchtesgarden or some towns in Austria. Stay there for 2-3 days and then take the train to Vienna and stay there for the rest of your journey.

You are correct about the transfer to KLM. As soon as I read your post, I remembered that we had to change planes in AMS to get to MUC.

Thanks for the suggested itinerary. It looks very do-able for us!

Don't misunderstand me. Munich is a great airport and I love it and would always choose that one instead of going anywhere else in Europe (maybe because I always use "Terminal 2- airlines". (KLM leaves/arrives at Terminal 1 :td: )

My point is... Your flights into ZRH and out of VIE might be cheaper than MUC during the Oktoberfest...

I am happy to give you further advice for what to do in Munich or somewhere else...

I'm going to try to hammer it out for myself a little bit and then I might come back later and ask more questions.

Just bumpin this guy so it doesn't get lost. I'm just beginning to plan a trip to Munich to try and catch the fest for the first few days before heading somewhere else (not sure where). Hopefully spain or latvia.
Anyway, just out of curiosity, how many FTers are going this year? I've never been to been to oktoberfest so it would be cool to meet up with someone who has. I'm fairly certain all of my friends from home who said they'd go are going to back out.
Also, as for being there for the first few days, is that a reasonable idea? Anything to be aware of (Italians, etc:D )?

If I don't back out, I'll be there... But as somebody who lived in MUC for 18 years, it will not be the first time :D

I'm fairly certain all of my friends from home who said they'd go are going to back out.

Also, as for being there for the first few days, is that a reasonable idea? Anything to be aware of (Italians, etc:D )?

The first part about friends backing out is soooo true :rolleyes:.

I find all the stuff about the Italians (in this post and others) especially funny since some of my cousins from Italy should be joining me in MUC :D.

Should this thread be moved to the new Germany forum?

The first part about friends backing out is soooo true :rolleyes:.

I find all the stuff about the Italians (in this post and others) especially funny since some of my cousins from Italy should be joining me in MUC :D.

Should this thread be moved to the new Germany forum?

Yes it should be moved.

Are you actually going on the "Italien weekend" ?

Yes it should be moved.

Are you actually going on the "Italien weekend" ?

We will be in MUC from the 25th through the 30th. Since that is the 2nd weekend I would say yes. We are actually not planning on being at the festival on that Saturday though as it will be our last day. We are looking at doing like a Wed, Thu or a Wed, Fri.

We will be in MUC from the 25th through the 30th. Since that is the 2nd weekend I would say yes. We are actually not planning on being at the festival on that Saturday though as it will be our last day. We are looking at doing like a Wed, Thu or a Wed, Fri.

I can understand that. Saturdays are just too crowded, especially if the weather is good. If you are not in the tent by 11 a.m. and have a table, you won't find one, especially if you are with a group.

Again, if you're with a group, be sure & make table reservations. Otherwise you'll be standing... You usually have to pre-pay a half roast chicken & beer per person, but no biggie. I don't have a list of the Breweries/contact names/numbers at hand. Perhaps someone else does?

I'll be there this year. Likely Mon and Tues (24 and 25 Sept).

Maybe we post a thread in Community and make it a DO?

Flying in the moring of Thursday Oct 4 to attend that night, then flying out the next day. Made it the past 2 years. Will be at the Ochsenbraterei.

please follow this thread in the Germany forum

chrissxb
moderator
Europe Forum

I'll be there as well. I'll be living two hours away in Austria.

Who's up for organising a 'DO'??? :)

Does anyone have a good hotel suggestion for the Oktoberfest? I just found out a friend of mine will be there so I'm thinking about hopping over there to visit for a few days. Ideally I'd like to pay under 200Euro a night to stay within a 15-20 minute walk (is that even possible??) but given that I'd like to find a room soon and reserve it, I'd consider up to 300 Euro for somewhere that I know I'll be comfortable.

Thanks!

Does anyone have a good hotel suggestion for the Oktoberfest? I just found out a friend of mine will be there so I'm thinking about hopping over there to visit for a few days. Ideally I'd like to pay under 200Euro a night to stay within a 15-20 minute walk (is that even possible??) but given that I'd like to find a room soon and reserve it, I'd consider up to 300 Euro for somewhere that I know I'll be comfortable.

Thanks!

You should be able to find something under 300 Euro but 200 Euro is likely to be a bit too low for the 15-20 minute walk (I'm thinking this is 2-3 km). MUC has a great public transit system and I would rather save a chunk of money by using that than paying a lot to be close to the festivities. I believe a day pass is 5,50 Euro and good for the entire day. It leaves more room in the budget for drinking.

Peachfront:
I hope you remember that the exchange rate is bad right now and does not show signs of improving. 200 USD roughly translates right now to 150 EUR. Rooms are available for that but not near the festival. I hope that the EUR stabilizes but my personal expectation is for 1 EUR to be closer to 1.50 USD than 1.25 by September.

Bump.... any general advice about oktoberfest for a first timer? I don't know what I don't know, so any suggestions, comments, ideas to maximize my enjoyment of the festivities would be welcome. ^

Bump.... any general advice about oktoberfest for a first timer? I don't know what I don't know, so any suggestions, comments, ideas to maximize my enjoyment of the festivities would be welcome. ^


We'll be there 26 Sep through 4 Oct and plan on hitting the tents Sunday-Wednesday. Let me know if you would like to meet up. We could also use some good ole first time advice. I do however know how to say "Eine Mass (insert beer name here) bitter."

See you at Oktoberfest too!!! This will be my 3rd time!!!! I'll be there Oct 3 tru 8. I have reservations for most days and nights.

See you at Oktoberfest too!!! This will be my 3rd time!!!! I'll be there Oct 3 tru 8. I have reservations for most days and nights.

Wow......3 times. I'll be making my 2nd trip to Munich in 2 years in a few weeks. Both trips were made near Oktoberfest time, but never during.

I've given a lot of thought to going.........but I just can't pull the trigger. Something about hoardes of drunken people eating chicken and riding rollercoasters. Maybe if I was 10-15 years younger I would enjoy it much like I enjoyed Mardi Gras back in the day? But at this stage of my life I think I would enjoy quieter and less crowded biergartens and halls much more than anything else.

At any rate......nothing wrong with Oktoberfest if thats your thing. I just don't think I would fit in well there.

O'Zapft is!

I'll be in Munich from the 2nd - 8th for Oktoberfest. Will also be my first time, and I'm travelling alone from the 2nd - 4th, meeting up with friends on the 5th

Anyone planning a FT DO at Oktoberfest? :) I'll be there from the 4th-7th with a friend and we are completely winging it (no reservations, etc). Never been and can't wait!

In case anyone is looking at this thread and planning for next year, a couple of pieces of advice-for hotels, if you can book them on points, this is the time to do it! The sooner the better. We stayed at the ArabellaSheraton Westpark, which is a 10 minute walk from all the Oktoberfest action, and included free breakfast and free beer/snacks in the evening. As for the tents, we didn't make reservations and got in at 1pm on a Friday-but were lucky to be able to stay in the tent until 10pm-we met some nice people who let us drink with them at their reserved table. You may not be aas lucky as we were, so do the smart thing and reserve a table!

In case anyone is looking at this thread and planning for next year, a couple of pieces of advice-for hotels, if you can book them on points, this is the time to do it! The sooner the better. We stayed at the ArabellaSheraton Westpark, which is a 10 minute walk from all the Oktoberfest action, and included free breakfast and free beer/snacks in the evening. As for the tents, we didn't make reservations and got in at 1pm on a Friday-but were lucky to be able to stay in the tent until 10pm-we met some nice people who let us drink with them at their reserved table. You may not be aas lucky as we were, so do the smart thing and reserve a table!

Points are definitely the way to go. We stayed at the Four Points Munchen Central (about 2-3 blocks from the Hippodrome) this year, which has clean rooms, but no real amenities. I heard people paying around 300 Euros. If not for the location, the rooms are probably worth 50 Euros.

Reserved tables are always the way to go, if there's more than a couple of you.