The real Oktoberfest! It was such a major bucket list item that I was so excited to finally get to experience in person. I wasn't sure how much time should be allocated for the event... at first I was thinking that two days was not going to be enough time, then I read that two days is plenty. Now that I've done it, I can say that two days is enough, but I would have gladly gone back for more.
Really, you don't need to plan much in advance for the event. Except accommodation. I was lucky enough to have a friend, Frank, who lives in Munich. We met in Wellington back when I was first living in the Base hostel there. He had a spare couch in the living room and didn't mind letting me, Lewis, and my other German friend Eileen all crash there which was a lifesaver because accommodation over the Oktoberfest period is extremely expensive. A hostel that would normally cost you under 20 euro a night goes up to over 80. And that's for a dorm bed.
I also recommend that you buy an outfit! Almost everybody there is dressed up in dirndls or lederhosen, and you'll probably feel ridiculous and out of place if you don't. Plus it's just more fun to feel the part. Eileen found us some relatively inexpensive clothes on Amazon in advance. A good dirndl or pair of lederhosen will often cost you a few hundred euro in a shop, and the ones I ended up with were just 50 each. I opted for a red and black dirndl and a pair of short women's lederhosen so I could switch it up.
Day 1
Eileen wasn't arriving in Munich until the evening, so Lewis and I had some time to kill during the day waiting. We had gotten into Munich late the night before, dropped off our rental car, and rode with Frank to his apartment.
I was surprised by Munich, actually. I'm not sure why, but I had been picturing it more as a large Bavarian village than an actual city. I was wrong. It's very urban. We didn't see much of it, unfortunately, because Oktoberfest was our main priority, but we took the train in to walk around the huge English Gardens while we waited for Eileen, and it was a pretty park.
This is actually the university area outside the park.
Once she arrived, we went to get ready and then took the train in (minus Frank who does not drink and is not a fan of the shitshow Oktoberfest). I believe we got off at the Hackerbrucke station which was a very short walk from the festival. I was so excited to walk in! I'm not sure what I was expecting, but Oktoberfest is basically just a huge carnival. There are rides, stalls selling food and souvenirs, and of course, dozens of beer tents and gardens.
We hit up some food stands first and I had potato pancakes, more excellent mushrooms, and sugared almonds. I was happy to be traveling with a German now who could translate and order for us.
We didn't do a lot of walking to decide on a tent. There's a long line of them straight down the path from the entrance, and we just hopped into the one on the left, the Oxen Tent (Ochsenbraterei) serving Spaten. It's easy to find because of the mechanical pig on a spit out front (or I suppose it might be an ox).
I've been to smaller versions of German beer halls, but it was nothing like what was inside here! The tent was massive and absolutely packed full of people. Finding a spot at a table is no easy task, and unfortunately, to get a beer, you need to be at a table.
I had wondered before attending whether you were meant to reserve a spot in advance, but really, it's not necessary. To reserve a table, you actually have to pay for the ENTIRE table, like hundreds of dollars. If you have 8-10 people to fill the table, I suppose it might be worth it, but otherwise, just get there early and hope for the best. It's also worth mentioning that there's no entry fee to get into Oktoberfest either, you just need money for beer/food/rides.
Again, we luckily had Eileen with us. She has no inhibitions about approaching strangers and is very straight to the point. She asked a group of people at a table if she could sit for a minute just to order us beers, so at least we had steins to drink while we walked around looking for a spot. I'd say a stein is about 10-12 euro each, which isn't terrible in my opinion considering you're at a major event and getting a significant amount of beer.
One thing to note is that you don't get a choice as far as what you drink. Each tent serves only one type of beer- whatever brand is sponsoring the tent. Hofbrau Tent serves Hofbrau. Ochsenbraterei serves Spaten. You tell the barmaid who comes by the table how many beers you want, and she brings them back. You pay cash. I believe there are some smaller tents that may serve other options... there is a wine tent somewhere, and I read about one that offers spirits as well. But generally, you're getting basic beer.
We ended up walking down a row between tables and asking the people at one if we could put down our jackets and just stand there. Luckily, a few people at that table got up and left about 10 minutes later, so we grabbed their spots. It was such a fun atmosphere! Everyone stands on the benches and sings along with the live band. It's a good time. I had kind of wanted to wander and check out a few tents, but Eileen told me I was crazy for thinking of giving up a spot at a table now that we'd found one, so this was the tent we stayed in all night.
We were there til close, and it was uneventful aside from Lewis wandering off at one point and getting lost around the fairgrounds for about a half hour during which I had to search the tent for him repeatedly. At one point, I was walking back to our table down the center row and this girl standing on the edge of her bench swung her arm down and cracked me right in the head with her massive stein glass. Fuck! I'm just lucky I'm short and it only got me on the forehead, but it was painful.
We stayed in the tent until close when they started kicking everyone out and putting the benches up. We passed a woman on a stretcher as we left. This was not the only casualty we saw over the two days... I saw more than one person passed out on the sidewalk in broad daylight the following day, and then we saw a young guy unconscious on a stretcher covered with a sheet and being blocked on all sides by police officers. I seriously questioned whether or not he was alive.
I actually never managed to get more drunk than just slightly tipsy at the fest, mostly because of the sheer amount of liquid you have to consume. But I suppose you can achieve anything if you set your mind to it.
We saw a haunted house ride as we were leaving the tent at the end of the night, but it was definitely not worth the money I paid for us to go on it. Eileen, queen of befriending strangers, picked up some randoms in line who we walked around with afterwards until the whole place was closing, then we got the train home and went to bed.
I do not know these people.
Day 2
We decided to head in earlier on the second day to make the most of our time. We grabbed food and coffee when we got there, then we decided on the Hofbrau tent as our first of the day. I loved the inside of this one! It reminded me of a greenhouse with its glass paned ceiling and hanging wreaths.
We didn't even try to find a table downstairs and instead headed to the upper deck which is not the least bit rowdy, but at least we had a seat. Besides, we were only on our first beer of the day. We had a good view up here of the madness, and we enjoyed the band and watching everyone below.
We got kicked out of our table when it was coming up to 5:00 because there were people with reservations. This turned out to be the case at almost all of the tents, although we wandered into a few to check out the different atmospheres.
Armbrustschützen tent serving Paulaner
My favorite tent I saw (although we didn't get a chance to drink there) was the circus-like Marstall tent. I loved both the look of the outside and the interior with its carousel. Pretty!
We killed some time by riding the freefall tower, then we hopped into the Lowenbrau tent since it was right across from us. This tent had the rudest staff from my experience. We found a table to stand next to like we had the first night and got some beers that way, but we soon saw an entire group of people vacating a table nearby and Eileen pushed me forward to grab a spot. Well, the barmaid saw me and basically grabbed my shoulder looking ridiculously affronted and told me other people had been waiting as if I should have known that. She then pushed me back and escorted some other group in. Whatever. We ended up getting a standing spot near the kitchen and still got to sing along with the band and drink our beer.
Eileen was wanting to leave the fest for an actual dinner this time, so after our steins, we headed down the road to find a restaurant. We ended up in this Bavarian looking wooden pub where I had one of the best meals of the whole trip- these mushrooms in thick creamy sauce with a huge pretzel dumpling in the center. Ugh it was so good.
Lewis and I had planned on heading back to Oktoberfest afterwards while Eileen was ready to head back, but after eating that huge meal and drinking all that beer, I was tired out. The thought of walking back and then having to walk to the train again later seemed like a hassle, so we all just went back to Frank's together.
We left Munich the next morning, but I seriously enjoyed my Oktoberfest experience! I would love to go back sometime and get a bit wilder (more dancing, maybe a daytime spot at a table), but it was a blast as it was.
We only had two days left in Germany now and covered a few different spots, so I'll finish up next time!
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