Oktoberfest Rundown: Celebrating with Friends in Bavaria and Salzburg

My husband and I are lucky enough to have raised our kids in a neighborhood where we’ve made lifelong friends. Now that most of the kids in the group have “grown and flown,” our empty nester status has given us the opportunity to travel with our friends, several of whom have moved away from the neighborhood themselves. When one couple suggested a reunion in Munich to experience Oktoberfest together, we were all in! As a bonus, I was able to leverage my travel advisor expertise and connections to help organize the group and make the most of this special trip. Here’s a rundown of our adventure and some insider tips I’ve learned along the way.

Planning Ahead

With a group of 10, it was crucial for us to start the planning process well ahead of time. We had to find a time within the Oktoberfest dates that worked for everyone, and we had to agree on which of the available accommodations met everyone’s preferences and budget. We settled on opening weekend of Oktoberfest and chose a 4-star boutique hotel in the city center, which allowed us to do some sightseeing and independent exploration when we weren’t at the fairgrounds. We also developed an itinerary that extended the trip beyond Oktoberfest, going into the Bavarian Alps for an additional 4 days. Here’s the overview of our trip:

• 3 nights at a 4-star boutique hotel in Munich’s Altstadt.
• Visits to two Oktoberfest “beer tents,” which aren’t really tents but rather large halls within the Oktoberfest fairgrounds. We had so much fun dancing and partying with the other revelers!
• A food and history tour in Munich with our amazing local guide Gerhard.
• 4 nights in the Bavarian Alps, at Villa Sonnenhof — a family-run, chalet-style hotel near the small resort town of Bad Reichenhall, just over the Germany-Austria border from Salzburg.
• In the Bavarian Alps – private full-day tour with visits to Lake Konigsee, the Eagle’s Nest, and an incredible river gorge; a ride up the oldest cable car in the world, with hiking at the top of Predigstuhl mountain
• In Salzburg – a private “Sound of Music” tour and a Mozart concert in the Mirabell Palace, plus a stay at the Schloss Leopoldskron, the filming location for many of the scenes in “The Sound of Music”

Tip for planning for a group trip: Reserve well in advance, but build in some flexibility for individuals or couples to “do their own thing.”

Oktoberfest Tips & Tricks

Oktoberfest Tents: To Reserve or Not to Reserve? The Oktoberfest is HUGE, with more than 20 “tents” hosting thousands of revelers at any one time. Because of the event’s popularity, there definitely are some tents that are harder to get into than others. The tents are not allowed to sell tickets or charge for reservations. However, you can reserve a table if you pay in advance for drink and food vouchers. These table reservations are generally available for whole tables only, so 8-10 spots per reservation (approximately $45-65 per person). Since we were a group of 10, it made sense to reserve a full table at each of the tents we wanted to visit. If you are a smaller group or individual and don’t want to pay for a whole table, you can be more flexible and show up at tents and wait to be seated. There are websites that many people use to track the popularity of different tents and the availability of reservations or likelihood of finding a walk-in spot.

Oktoberfest Tents: How to Choose? The Oktoberfest fairgrounds (Theresienwiese, or Wiesn) has about 15 large beer tents such as the famous Hofbrau and Augustiner festzelts, as well as many smaller tents. There also is a smaller area within the fairgrounds called the Oide Wiesn, which requires an small entrance fee and has a few smaller beer tents. This area tends to be a bit less crowded, more traditional, and attracts more locals. You can use any of a number of websites such as Oktoberfest.de to help you decide which most matches your ideal Oktoberfest experience. Based on availability and the types of places we wanted to visit, we chose a large tent in the main fairgrounds for our first day – Marstall Festzelt – and a smaller, tradition-focused tent in the Oide Wiesn for our second day – Volkssängerzelt Schützenlisl. Each had its own vibe and its own charms, and we had a great time at both!

Enjoying the Fairgrounds: Give yourself time to explore the whole Theresienwiese! There’s a large statue at one end that you can climb up to get a terrific view over the Oktoberfest, a huge Ferris wheel, carnival rides, and lots of game, food, and souvenir booths. People-watching with a fresh Apfelstrudel or candied fruit skewer in hand is a great way to catch your breath from all the revelry in the tents!

Munich Beyond Oktoberfest: While the whole city is under the Oktoberfest spell for the 2 1/2 weeks of the festival, there is also lots to see and do that is not specifically tied to the celebrations. We went on a private food tour, ate in some lovely restaurants, watched the Glockenspiel chiming on the tower of the city hall, and spent some time in an Irish pub. John and I made a quick visit to the Residenz palace, but we didn’t have time to explore inside. If we had had more time, I would have liked to see the English Garden and some of the art museums in the city. Munich really is a beautiful destination in and of itself.

Beyond Oktoberfest – Into the Bavarian & Austrian Alps

Over the next few days, I’ll be adding some descriptions, photos, and tips from the rest of our trip. Come back for Part 2!