Three Days of Oktoberfest Fun in Munich ~ My Traveling Joys

You know you’ve had a fantastic time at Oktoberfest in Munich when you are literally running from the beer tent to the train station out to the airport while still wearing your traditional dirndl and lederhosen outfits.

During the first week in October, hubby and I met up with some fellow American and German friends in Munich to attend our first real Oktoberfest in Germany. (I say real because the Oktoberfest events that we’ve attended in the US and elsewhere in Europe don’t really count.) Planning for said event had been in the works for nearly a year, and we have already talked about meeting up for the 2019 Oktoberfest.

This year marked the 185^thOktoberfest in Munich.

Since there are so many blog posts out there providing tips on Oktoberfest, I’m only going to provide a few lessons we learned:

Get into the Bavarian spirit and buy a traditional outfit!

Our German friends highly recommended that we buy an outfit in advance. In fact, you’ll feel out of place in Munich if you aren’t wearing a Bavarian outfit during Oktoberfest. EVERYONE wears one! After a bit of online research, I found that the German website, dirndl.com, had some of the best offerings and shipped to London for a reasonable 20 euros. Expect to pay at least 100 euros each for a decent outfit, and be sure to take actual body measurements as European sizes differ slightly from American ones.

The typical Oktoberfest Dirndl consists of a tight-fitting bodice over a puffy, white, low-cut blouse and a full skirt as well as a coordinated apron. Picture a sexy milk-maid outfit complete with cute braids, but buy the midi dress (knee-length) and not the mini. As far as footwear, anything goes. I saw women wearing everything from ballet flats and heels to hiking boots and popular trainers such as Converse and Vans. I opted for warm, black leather boots and black tights because it was cold during the days we attended Oktoberfest.

Also, instead of bringing a purse, I wore a jacket with multiple pockets and just stuffed everything in there. The tents are crowded and you don’t want to worry about losing anything.

For men, the classic Bavarian outfit is Lederhosen – short or knee-length breeches made of leather that include suspenders worn over a checkered, collared shirt. You can complete your outfit with a feathered hat, which we bought upon arrival in the village of Füssen for 25 euros.

Even if you don’t buy your Bavarian outfit in advance, there are plenty of pop-up stores in Munich selling dirndls and lederhosen. You can buy cheap dirndls, often made from synthetic materials, for about 50 euros. But, as always, you get what you pay for.

Visit Oktoberfest on a Weekday

At Oktoberfest, you can choose from 14 main beer tents plus more than a dozen smaller tents. All beer served at the Oktoberfest tents must be from one of Munich's six breweries —Paulaner, Spaten, Hacker-Pschorr, Augustiner, Hofbräu and Löwenbräu. The beer must also follow the Reinheitsgebot, the purity law of 1516, issued by the Duke of Bavaria, Clement IV.

Even if you don’t have a table reservation, you’ll have a better chance of getting into one of the main beer tents, especially during the daytime on a weekday. We planned our Oktoberfest trip on a Monday to Wednesday and had reservations for only two of those days. On the Monday, we had a table reserved from noon-5 p.m. at the Marstall tent with a group of American, German, a lone Irish man and British friends. We only knew one of those Texan friends that day, but we all quickly became friends at the end of three days together.

Here’s a great Guide to Oktoberfest Beer Tents

After our reservation ended, we wandered through a few beer tents just to see what the atmosphere was like. Inside the most famous beer hall internationally, the Hofbräuhaus, we found a very crowded tent filled with locals and foreigners alike. The tent can seat nearly 7,000 people. We found a few inside seats available for a couple, but not enough for our group of six or seven at the time. Luckily, we found a free table underneath an outdoor heater in the surrounding beer garden. But trust me, you won’t always be that lucky unless you are prepared to go early. On the next night, the Hofbräu tent was secured off by police and no more people were being admitted.

On the second day, hubby and I didn’t have any group reservations and we found long queues or ticketed only entrances at nearly every single beer tent. We finally snuck into the side entrance at one of the smaller Heimer beer gardens and found a beer-barrel table for two near an outdoor heater. Twas a wee chilly that night.

On our last day, hubby and I hung out at the Löwenbräu tent – the one with a 15-foot lion sign that lets out a majestic roar of “Lööööwenbräu” every now and then. We had booked an extremely good deal via our Citibank Premier Mastercard for a table reservation that cost 35 euros per person, plus tax, for a reserved table plus two beers and a half-roasted chicken. We shared our table with a few different German families and other couples who were impressed with our Bavarian outfits during the three hours we stayed.

Drink and Be Merry

By the end of our three-day Oktoberfest visit, we happily sung along to the “Ein Prosit” – the popular German song the bands seemed to play every 10 minutes and required mandatory toasts with your table mates. Here are the lyrics:

Ein Prosit, Ein Prosit, der Gemütlichkeit

Eins, zwei, drei, g'suffa!

Follow with Prost, clink and drink!
However, I don’t think our version sounded quite like that.

Bizarrely, the German bands also played several English-speaking songs like the “Sweet Caroline,” popular hits by Abba, “You’re the one that I want,” “Country Roads” by John Denver and the Lion King theme song – aptly played while we were in the Löwenbräu tent. I had a blast singing along to most of these with a giant stein of radler in one hand.

Book Early

It probably goes without saying that you must book your accommodation and flights early to Munich. In fact, we booked our hotel stay at the Four Points Sheraton Hotel, located right by the Oktoberfest grounds, 11 months in advance and cashed in credit card points to do so. Upon arrival, we also got upgraded because of our SPG point status. So my advice is that if you have any credit card points, now would be a good time to use them.