16 DOs and DON’Ts for Your First Journey to Oktoberfest in Munich

So that you’re heading to Oktoberfest in Munich and are not certain what to anticipate… that was me not so way back earlier than my very own first journey to the Wiesn!

Oktoberfest – the annual 2-week-long beer pageant in Munich – is among the greatest festivals in the complete world, drawing hundreds of thousands of individuals yearly. And, regardless of what chances are you’ll assume about it, it is NOT solely about ingesting beer (although after all beer ingesting is an enormous a part of it).

You won’t know that Oktoberfest can be about amusement park-style rides, German meals, and reside music. Or that they tear down and rebuild the complete factor yearly. Or that you do not HAVE to drink beer in any respect in the event you’re like me and do not prefer it!

In the event you’re planning an Oktoberfest journey this 12 months or anytime sooner or later, maintain studying for all my suggestions and issues you might want to know!

16 DOs and DON’Ts for Oktoberfest in Munich

Listed here are all of the issues I feel you need to know earlier than going to Oktoberfest in Munich.

DO know the historical past of Oktoberfest

The custom of Oktoberfest dates again to the nineteenth century. The very first “official” Oktoberfest celebration came about in Munich on October 12, 1810, and it was really a marriage celebration for Crown Prince Ludwig and Princess Therese of Saxony-Hildburghausen. Which makes whole sense whenever you really get to Oktoberfest, as a result of being within the tents 100% seems like a extremely large wedding ceremony reception with a costume code and large beers!

Immediately, Oktoberfest occurs yearly in Munich for roughly two weeks, beginning in mid-September and ending the primary Sunday in October. (The precise dates change 12 months to 12 months, and the celebration can technically be wherever from 16-18 days lengthy, relying on the calendar.)

Realizing the historical past of the pageant positively helps you recognize what to anticipate. (I describe Oktoberfest as a large county truthful meets the most important wedding ceremony reception you may think about.)

DO put on snug footwear

Oktoberfest takes place on the similar place in Munich yearly: at a large pageant floor often called the Theresienwiese (named for Princess Therese!), which is usually simply shortened to “the Wiesn.” This pageant floor close to Munich’s essential prepare station is large, masking greater than 100 acres.

There are a number of massive tents, plus a Ferris wheel, carnival rides and video games, meals stands, and extra. Add to this that you’ll doubtless arrive on foot and may spend a little bit of time standing within the beer tents, and good footwear are just about important for a cushty Oktoberfest expertise!

Whereas some locals may put on conventional footwear to go together with their dirndls or lederhosen, I like to recommend choosing consolation over vogue in the event you’re simply visiting for just a few days. (I wore sneakers to Oktoberfest, and that is what my Oktoberfest-pro friend Ashley typically wears, too!)

DON’T put on a dressing up; DO put on Trachten

Talking of what to put on, sure, it is a pageant that a lot of native German folks attend yearly, and most come decked out of their finest dirndls (for ladies) and lederhosen (for males). These outfits are NOT costumes; they’re Tracht or Trachten, that are conventional Bavarian outfits with cultural which means.

And that is one case the place even non-locals are completely inspired to do because the locals do! When you do not HAVE to decorate up, you positively can put on a dirndl or lederhosen even in the event you’re only a vacationer. BUT, be sure it is near conventional and NOT a Halloween costume.

For girls, a standard Bavarian dirndl will consist of three items: a shirt (that is often white), a costume that is fitted within the bodice and often goes no less than to the knee, and an apron. For males, the standard outfit consists of leather-based knee-length shorts (generally with suspenders), a collared (typically checkered) shirt, knee-high socks, and a vest and hat in the event you actually need to full the look.

My good friend Ashley has this super detailed guide on what to put on at Oktoberfest and the place to search out it. However principally, in the event you’re gong to order your outfit on-line, simply make sure it is NOT a one-piece Halloween costume; everybody can inform and can completely choose you for it.

However keep in mind, you do not HAVE to decorate up in any respect. You completely can go to Oktoberfest in road garments; there is no precise costume code for this pageant, and no person actually cares whether or not you costume up or not. (However it IS heaps extra enjoyable if you’ll be able to go all-in on an outfit.)

DON’T purchase tickets

Entry to Munich’s Oktoberfest is FREE. It is free to get in to the grounds, and all of the tents are free to enter, too (although in the event that they’re at capability you won’t be allowed in). What you will pay for is beer, meals, rides, souvenirs, and so on. Do not get scammed into shopping for Oktoberfest entry tickets of any form.

The ONLY time you may pay to enter Oktoberfest is in the event you ebook some form of guided tour or expertise that features a desk reservation and meals/beer. For instance, this tour and this tour each supply one-day guided excursions of Oktoberfest with desk reservations plus beer and meals included, and can be a good way to expertise Oktoberfest in the event you’re by yourself. Thirsty Swagman additionally provides guided Oktoberfest excursions that embody the entire above for a number of days, plus resort lodging.

(You’ll have to pay to enter the Oide Wiesn space, however I am going to cowl this later!)

DON’T deliver an enormous bag

Talking of getting into the Oktoberfest grounds… there’s a safety/bag checkpoint, and you are not allowed to usher in backpacks or any massive luggage in any respect. (The official bag measurement restrict is 3 liters, or luggage no greater than 20 cm x 15 cm x 10 cm (approx. 8 in x 6 in x 4 in)). So girls, small purses and bike shorts with pockets below your dirndl are your good friend!

DO go to a number of tents

The “tents” at the true Oktoberfest usually are not like no matter your city units up for its model of Oktoberfest. These tents in Munich are full-on wood buildings with often 2 ranges and towering ceilings. Each tent has a unique theme and vibe, and every is stuffed with rows of wood tables and benches that maintain 1000’s of individuals.

I positively suggest exploring as many tents as potential! (My favourite afternoon at Oktoberfest was spent tent-hopping!)

The principle (large) tents to learn about are:

• Armbrustschützenzelt – The crossbowmen’s tent; and sure, there is a crossbow capturing vary connected. This tent additionally has a extremely enjoyable band.
• Augustiner Festhalle – Recognized for its inexperienced ceiling and Augustiner beer poured straight from wood barrels.
• Fischer-Vroni – They serve the well-known fish on a stick right here.
• Hacker-Festzelt – One of many prettiest tents, with a ceiling that appears just like the sky.
• Hofbräu-Festzelt – THE get together tent at Oktoberfest.
• Käfer Wiesn-Schänke – This smaller tent extra intently resembles an alpine cabin than a tent, and is usually the place to go celebrity-spotting and swap beer for champagne. (I personally discovered this one a bit too claustrophobic to take pleasure in!)
• Kufflers Weinzelt – Sure, there is a wine tent! It additionally offers cozy vibes.
• Löwenbräu-Festzelt – The one with the enormous lion outdoors. It is a cheery yellow inside.
• Marstall Festzelt – One of many prettiest tents, with an Artwork Nouveau façade and a horse theme inside. The band is even up on a revolving stage formed like a carousel!
• Ochsenbraterei – Head right here to eat one thing a bit completely different: roast oxen!
• Paulaner Festzelt – Serving basic Paulaner Oktoberfest beer and Bavarian meals, this tent additionally has a preferred outside beer backyard.
• Pschorr-Festzelt Bräurosl – The latest tent, unveiled in 2022.
• Festhalle Schottenhamel – That is the oldest tent at Oktoberfest, and it is the place the primary beer barrel of the pageant is tapped every year.
• Schützen-Festzelt – This tent has each a fantastic balcony that appears out in direction of the Ferris Wheel, PLUS an indoor capturing vary. Arnold Schwarzenegger is usually noticed at this one.

And the massive tents contained in the Oide Wiesn (which I am going to speak extra about later) are:

• Boandlkramerei – New in 2024, this tent has room for dancing, and you may catch a musical cabaret efficiency twice a day.
• Festzelt Custom – This large tent has an enormous dance flooring and serves beer in stone mugs.
• Volkssängerzelt Schützenlisl – Most likely the prettiest tent within the Oide Wiesn, this tent celebrates conventional people singing.

After which there are much more small tents to discover across the Oktoberfest grounds, too! The massive tents can maintain 1000’s of individuals in indoor and outside areas, which is how this pageant can host hundreds of thousands of individuals every year.

Undoubtedly go to a number of tents to take in the completely different music and vibes, and to strive completely different meals and beer!

DO know what sort of expertise you need

Oktoberfest runs for greater than two weeks, with tents opening every day within the morning and serving beer till often 10:30 at evening. There are SO many various tents at Oktoberfest, and every one provides a barely completely different expertise in terms of the decor, music, meals, and common make-up of friends – and it will possibly change solely relying on what time of day you go!

So to make issues much less overwhelming, it is useful to determine what kind of Oktoberfest expertise you need to have earlier than you go.

If you wish to full-on get together and drink tons of beer, you then’ll need to go to the larger tents within the night – and particularly on weekend evenings. That is the loudest, rowdiest time at Oktoberfest. (And the Hofbrau tent can have essentially the most epic get together vibes.)

Conversely, in the event you’re in search of a quieter Oktoberfest expertise, you will need to go throughout the day on a weekday. You possibly can nonetheless get meals, drink beer, and take heed to music in all of the tents at lunchtime – simply with out the nighttime crowds. You can too head to the Oide Wiesn for much more chilled-out vibes.

DO discover outdoors of the tents

There’s extra to do than simply ingesting at Oktoberfest! I truthfully was not conscious of this earlier than I began planning my very own journey, so do not feel unhealthy in the event you had no thought, both.

The Theresienwiese is generally coated in all these massive pageant tents, nevertheless it additionally has carnival rides and video games, smaller tents to drink in, memento stands, and even an enormous Ferris wheel.

My favourite issues to do outdoors of the beer tents at Oktoberfest had been:

1. See the horse groups – Each morning, all the most important breweries with tents at Oktoberfest deliver adorned beer wagons pulled by groups of draft horses to the pageant grounds. The horses are often “parked” outdoors the most important tents for just a few hours every day, making for some nice photographs!
2. Trip the Ferris wheel – The Willenborg Ferris wheel has been working at Oktoberfest in Munich since 1979, and can whisk you 50 meters (164 toes) above the Oktoberfest grounds. From there, you get an incredible view of Munich, and on a transparent day may even see mountains!
3. Go into the Teufelsrad (Satan’s Wheel) – The Satan’s Wheel is principally a big, barely slanted disc on the bottom inside a small tent. Teams of persons are referred to as to return sit on the middle of the wheel (teams might be issues like “youngsters aged 5-10” or “males carrying lederhosen” and even “law enforcement officials”), and the objective is to be the final one left because the wheel spins sooner and sooner. The wheel makes use of centrifugal drive to dump folks off it – however issues like ropes and padded balls are sometimes used as obstacles, too. You possibly can go in and simply watch, even in the event you do not need to take part (you’ll have to pay to enter this tent; final 12 months it value €5).
4. Watch folks on the Toboggan slide – If people-watching is your jam, head over to the Toboggan experience. That is only a easy toboggan-style slide – however to get onto it, riders have to make use of a fast-moving conveyor belt to get to the steps. Once you add mildly inebriated folks to this equation, hilarity typically ensues.

DON’T skip the Oide Wiesn

I’ve talked about the Oide Wiesn a number of occasions, and now we’re gonna discuss it! Oide Wiesn interprets to “Outdated Oktoberfest,” and principally is the old-timey part of Oktoberfest. You do should pay to enter this space (it often prices about €4), however this implies it is often actually chill and quiet right here.

You will discover the identical sorts of issues within the Oide Wiesn as elsewhere at Oktoberfest – simply with a nostalgic bent. There are tents serving beer; Bavarian people music; historic rides and video games; a puppet theater; and even a museum tent with kids’s programming.

I actually loved this a part of Oktoberfest. It was an incredible place to go to on a Saturday afternoon when the common beer tent crowds obtained to be an excessive amount of.

DON’T be stunned to see youngsters

Oktoberfest may be identified for its liters of beer, nevertheless it’s really fairly a family-friendly occasion, particularly throughout the day. Children are welcome in all Oktoberfest tents and on the rides, and there are even household days on the pageant. Individuals completely can and do deliver kiddos to the Wiesn.

You possibly can take the children to Oktoberfest at evening, too, however simply remember that youngsters between 6 and 16 have to be accompanied by an grownup in tents after 8 p.m., and children below 6 (or youngsters that *look* like they’re below 6) usually are not allowed within the tents in any respect after 8 p.m.

You DON’T should drink beer

As somebody who doesn’t drink beer (like, at ALL), I all the time assumed it would not be value it for me to go to Oktoberfest. However you may completely benefit from the beer tents with out ingesting any beer!

Entry to the tents is free, so technically you would go in and never drink something in any respect. However most certainly you will need to drink *one thing.* Together with liters of beer, you may also order gentle drinks, water, juice, and even wine.

My good friend Ashley typically drinks radlers (beer blended with lemonade) at Oktoberfest for one thing lighter. And on my first day within the tents, I used to be ordering Apfelschorle, which is apple juice blended with glowing water. (You possibly can order Apfelschorle by the liter, and it LOOKS like beer – in case you need to get your normal Oktoberfest photographs with out losing beer.)

In fact, there’s solely a lot apple juice a digestive system can take, so I switched to glowing water by the second day. And guess what? NOBODY CARED. Drink no matter you need.

DO deliver money

An essential factor to learn about Oktoberfest is that its a cash-only atmosphere contained in the beer tents. So you should definitely deliver money (and by money I imply strictly Euros) with you. You will order your drinks and/or meals, after which pay your server once they ship it to your desk.

(And in the event you’re interested by costs, anticipate to pay someplace round €15 for a liter of beer.)

You will additionally need Euro cash (particularly €1 cash) for suggestions and toilet cash. It is normal to tip your server €1-€2 each time they drop one thing off at your desk, and it is also normal to pay €0.50-€1 to make use of the bogs, particularly the ladies’s bogs. (It is because the ladies’s bogs at Oktoberfest tents are precise loos with stalls, that are usually saved fairly clear and stocked with bathroom paper by a rest room attendant, which is who you’re paying!)

DON’T skip the meals

In the event you’re like me (a gal who grew up within the agriculture-heavy Midwest), you in all probability affiliate festivals that really feel like county festivals with heavily-fried meals truck-style meals. And you’ll certainly discover *some* of that at Oktoberfest. However the meals contained in the tents? It is legit fairly good!

Every tent has a barely completely different meals menu (and a few have specialties, just like the oxen at Ochsenbraterei and the fish on the Fischer-Vroni tent), however you may usually look forward to finding Bavarian specialties at most of them. So do not skip the hearty conventional meals!

Throughout my time at Oktoberfest, I had a pleasant roast hen, a HUGE plate of Käsespätzle, and naturally a pretzel as large as my head.

DO anticipate to take a seat with strangers

Tables at Oktoberfest are supposed to maintain 8-10 adults – which means 4-5 folks on every bench. And, until you’ve got reserved a whole desk for your self prematurely, you may anticipate to be sat with full strangers. It is simply the way it’s completed right here!

This could generally really feel awkward at first (like when Ashley and I obtained sat with a desk of Russian girls within the Marstall Festzelt who had been initially NOT joyful at having to share their desk), however in the event you cozy up and clink some beer steins just a few occasions, everybody begins to really feel like household fairly shortly.

(In the event you’re touring with a bigger group and need to ensure that you’ll sit collectively, although, you CAN make desk reservations. Every tent manages its personal reservations, and yow will discover particulars for every on the official Oktoberfest website.)

DON’T stress concerning the language barrier

Talking of sitting with strangers and coping with German servers within the beer tents, do not stress an excessive amount of a couple of language barrier. Virtually everybody in Germany lately speaks fairly darn good English, and in the event you run into somebody who does not (or claims they do not), numbers in your fingers work the identical in each language, and “bier” and “beer” sound the identical.

I do communicate somewhat little bit of German, however I do not assume I used it in any respect at Oktoberfest aside from a fast “danke” (“thanks”) after I ordered/obtained issues.

(And don’t be concerned about not understanding the beer corridor chants, both; you will catch on fairly shortly!)

DON’T be a dick

Sure, folks drink A LOT of beer at Oktoberfest, and lots of of them get fairly drunk. I am not telling you you should not have a very good time, however clearly strive to not be an entire asshole about it.

Do not chug your beer (it will possibly really get you thrown out of some tents). Do not attempt to dance on the desk (it is going to additionally get you faraway from tents). Do not stiff your servers on a tip. Do not pee wherever aside from in a delegated lavatory. And so forth, and so on.

Oktoberfest is supposed to be an enormous celebration, so let’s strive to ensure everybody can take pleasure in it!

And there you’ve gotten all my prime suggestions for going to your first Oktoberfest in Munich!

Goes to Oktoberfest in your bucket listing?

Amanda Williams is the award-winning blogger behind A Harmful Enterprise Journey Weblog. She has traveled to greater than 60 international locations on 6 continents from her residence base in Ohio, specializing in experiential and considerate journey by means of the US, Europe, and remainder of the world. Amanda solely shares suggestions primarily based on her private experiences and locations she’s really traveled!