I know part of this should be in the bragging thread! Another couple and my DH and I are going to Munich at Oktoberfest. We haven’t been to Germany in 100 years; they’ve never been. Today we are trying to understand the German translations for how / when/ why to get reservations at the tents. We can’t figure it out.
Anyone have advice for steering through the fair? Do we really NEED reservations? Some tents say groups larger than 8 only. How crowded is it? I am not a crowd happy person.
We got a great apartment some distance away, but still on the subway. So that isn’t a worry. We will be there a week, only part of which is going to be during the festival. So any other DO NOT miss things we should write down?
We went to one of the original Haufbraus, just for the experience. We also went to Rottenburg ob de tauber, but it’s some hours away by train. It’s a very old walled city. We weren’t able to spend more than 1/2 a day in Munich, but it was a fun city and we plan to return.
It’s been too long since I was in Munich to be sure, but at the time, our office made reservations for Oktoberfest tables because there were 15 of us. I think if you come for lunch on a weekday you’ll be fine. Can’t say I’m a big fan, lots of rides, lots of drunks.
I think I went to the Hofbrauhaus once the whole time we were in Germany The Augustiner Bräustuben OTOH had a very nice restaurant in the walking zone. Also be sure to have soup at the Suppenküche in the Viktuelenmarkt. And kuchen at any pastry shop. And chocolate truffles. I’m hungry.
Stick close to your husband while strolling about at festivals, so as to avoid “uber friendly” German men who think it is humorous to grab a woman’s behind while holding a stein in the other hand. Saw that happen on a travel show. Fellow with a truly creepy smile grabbed the American correspondent, whom was clearly shocked but kept moving along and never broke her stride as she talked about Oktoberfest.
Heh, I’ll stick near my friend, she is short and curvy looking. But she is also a 6th degree black belt something. We went to her graduation where she punched bare handed through a stack of 3 boards. And they’d better keep their hands off her H, too!
Do NOT tell me about chocolate truffles! I didn’t know. I did know about the kuchen, that memory stuck with me.
I went to Barnes and Noble and got a little pocket book of common phrases and it was very useful. I am not big on German food. (I think it may be the way they cure the meat) But, we had a great time and rented a car and drove to Halschtatt , Austria and Salzburg. We also went to Hitler’s Eagle nest which was interesting. All of this is not far from Munich. The train is a little hard to navigate but it is do-able. I really like Germany. The outdoor cafes are fun and the people were nice.
H and I were there last fall and had a blast. First off, it is crowded. Really crowded.
On the Trip Advisor Munich forums, there is a FAQ section for Oktoberfest. One of the links takes you to a site, Oktoberfest-insider.com - this has the best basic info.
Reservations: for full tables only, and they’re sold out well before now. If you are going on a weekday, go early in the afternoon and sit at a non-reserved table. By evening, that table will probably be reserved and you’ll have to move or leave. I understand that the tents will have a section that’s always unreserved, but we did afternoon so it wasn’t important.
There are menus on the tables. There is one style of beer, but each brewery has their own take. That’s all the beer they sell.
If the weather is good, you can sit outside.
The Residence was a great set of museums. H did one of the Deutsches Museums over near the 'fest while I visited the treasury.
We did Dachau one day. Sobering and well worth it.
The Eyewitness guide was our most-used book.
You might check Stubhub or Ticketmaster for reservations. When we went several years ago, we were able to obtain reservations for a Sunday morning seating in the Spaten tent from an individual that lived in the Munich area. The tents are all gaily decorated and seats thousands. Each tent features entertainment - mostly American songs! Everything is amazing well organized and ran smoothly in the typical German fashion. We saw very little rowdy drunkenness. The tickets included 2 enormous beers and a chicken dinner. As a non drinker, I enjoyed people watching! Gave my beer tickets to US servicemen. If you are not a beer drinker, there is a wine tent. There are lots of carnival rides and booths selling decorated cookies. Oktoberfest should be on everyone’s bucket list! The amazing thing is that after the festival, the grounds are cleaned, the tents go away, and the acreage is perfectly empty.