Munich’s Oktoberfest is one of the world’s largest food and drink festivals in the world, attracting around seven million visitors a year.
Here’s our guide on how to make the most of your time and money at Wies’n (the locals’ name for the festival), which kicks off on September 21 and lasts until October 6.
1. Accommodation is sparse during the festival: most rooms have been booked up months in advance. However, the experts at deals website Travelzoo suggest looking into private renting: many people in Munich rent out their spare rooms during Oktoberfest.
If you would prefer to stay in a hotel or b&b, we’ve tracked down some places that still have rooms available:
Pullman Munich, 4*, doubles from £140
Leonardo Hotel Munchen City West, 4*, doubles from £159
Leonardo Royal Hotel Munich 4*, doubles from £159
Best Western Hotel Crystal, 4*, doubles from £167
All of the above can be booked through www.laterooms.com
If you want to book a package, try:
- The easyJet Holidays website offers three nights on a b&b basis at the Drei Lowen hotel, departing on October 1 from London Gatwick for £701 per person. ( easyJet.com/holidays ; 0843 104 1000)
- Lowcostholidays.com has three nights from September 30 on a room-only basis at the four-star Regent Hotel for £619 pp, with easyJet flights from Gatwick ( www.lowcostholidays.com )
2. Travelzoo also recommends setting your alarm early to score a table in the beer tents around Theresienwiese, where Oktoberfest is cent red. Think 8am at the weekends, slightly later on weekdays.
Festival-goers sit at a table with rare free seats - turn up early to get a table
3. According to the festival’s official website, over 4000 items go missing during Oktoberfest. There is a Lost & Found office in the Service Centre, behind the Schottenhamel tent (opening hours 1-11pm).
4. The dearest Oktoberfest beer is 35 pc more expensive this year than in 2012 at € 9.85 per Maß– one liter glass. You’ll find this tipple in the Armbrustschützen, Schottenhammel and Löwenbrau tents. The cheapest drinks can be found in the Ammer, Vinzenz Murr Metzgerstubn and Museumszelt tents, at €9.40.
5. Mug up on Oktoberfest language: aufmandeln (v.) means to self-aggrandize, particularly on failing to find any free seats in the beer tents. Aufstöin (v.) indicates donating a beer, and Bazi (n.) is a crook, a rascal or a cheater. The word for “cheers”? “Prost!”
6. With room for 6000 people inside and 2500 outside, the Augustiner-Festhalle is large – and is also said to be the friendliest of all Oktoberfest’s tents. Its website, www.festhalle-augustiner.com, has lots of useful information, including excerpts from the tent’s food menu.
7. Looking for something cosier? Oktoberfest’s smallest tent, Glöckle Wirt, has room for just 98 people, and its walls are lined with traditional instruments, cooking utensils and paintings. Despite not being the trendiest of tents, it is said to attract the odd celebrity.
It's not all about the beer - funfair rides keep visitors young and old amused
8. Both Tuesdays are family days at Oktoberfest: prices on tickets, games and rides are lowered, so children who can’t sample the beer can still take part in the fun. Hostelbookers.com advises that the best time to bring children to the festival is on weekdays before 5pm.
9. It’s not all about the beer – copious quantities of Bavarian food are also on offer. Hostelbookers’ guide says Schützen-Festzelt is one of the best tents for food – think tender suckling pig with malt beer sauce and potato salad. Also look out for strudel and mid-morning coffee at multiple outlets.
The official stein for Oktoberfest 2013
10. Don’t take your stein(s) out of the tents – this is considered theft, warns Travelzoo. If you want to take home a souvenir, you’ll either have to cough up for the official gift range, including beer mugs, mats and, more strangely, snow globes, or buy a Maß more cheaply in Munich’s shopping malls.
11. Munich’s website features an Oktoberfest barometer, allowing visitors to see when the festival is at its most crowded. It’s in German, but is not difficult to interpret: red means ‘full’, green ‘calm’, etc. It's one way, at least, of attempting to make your Oktoberfest trip brim with steins of beer and pretzel stops - rather than queues and rowdy, sozzled tourists.
Oktoberfest takes place from September 21 to October 6 2013. For more information, see the official Oktoberfest site or the German Tourist Board's website here
SEE ALSO: Munich Is Already Preparing For Millions Of Oktoberfest Revelers