That was my thought behind posting it here. Plus I'm right around the border, so just as open to places within Germany like the suggested Augsburg and Nuremberg. I appreciate what people have posted so far and since I have another few months before I have to commit to bookings (the flights and the hotel for Oktoberfest were booked months ago but I'm not in a rush for the rest) I encourage others to post any insights. I assume I'm not the only one who is looking at this kind of trip either, so hopefully this thread can be helpful to others.