Oktoberfest occurs annually in September (nope, not October) in Munich and lasts for around 2 weeks. The event is famously known as a beer festival, where festival goers dress up in Lederhosen and Dirndl and drink beer from 1 litre mugs. I was surprised to know that there was actually a family friendly side to the event, with rides, food stalls and everything else that you would find at any festival or fair.
This was another one of my 'bucket list' trips. It is something I have known about for years and years, experiencing many of the other versions that take place trying to recreate this awesome festival. We decided to make our trip straddle a weekend and weekdays, since we read that the tents can fill up early on weekends and we wanted to make sure we had a couple of good days.
We landed early in the morning and our friend Paul was joining us the next day, so we decided to get the Munich sightseeing out of the way on our first day. We went to the town centre to see the Michaelskirche church (the final resting place of King Ludwig II, the Mad King), the glockenspiel (clock with characters that come out like a carousel) and the Frauenkirche church.
After passing by the Residenzplatz (palace) and rubbing the noses of the four bronze lion statues (for wealth and good luck), we stopped off at the famous Hofbrauhaus, where we cozied up next to some strangers at shared benches and ordered litres of beer and sausages.
We wandered through the pathways and found Munich's oldest beer garden, along with its Chinesischer Turm which was built in the 18th century. We stayed into the evening, eating another dinner of sausages (and pretzels!) from the cafeteria.
The next 3 days were a blur of tent-hopping, dancing on tables, making friends and shouting out songs while drinking litres of beer. We met mostly Germans, but I was surprised at the number of Americans he met (or at least heard). Given the close proximity, I would have expected more Brits to be at the festival, but I actually believe there were more North Americans!
If I could do it all again, the only thing I would change is wearing a Dirndl. They were too expensive to buy once you got there, so I would have bought one in advance that I liked (or maybe 2 or 3 to alternate!). I definitely felt more out of place in casual clothes than I would have in traditional dress, not something I was expecting at all! Plus, the pictures would have been just that much better.
This was another one of my 'bucket list' trips. It is something I have known about for years and years, experiencing many of the other versions that take place trying to recreate this awesome festival. We decided to make our trip straddle a weekend and weekdays, since we read that the tents can fill up early on weekends and we wanted to make sure we had a couple of good days.
We landed early in the morning and our friend Paul was joining us the next day, so we decided to get the Munich sightseeing out of the way on our first day. We went to the town centre to see the Michaelskirche church (the final resting place of King Ludwig II, the Mad King), the glockenspiel (clock with characters that come out like a carousel) and the Frauenkirche church.
After passing by the Residenzplatz (palace) and rubbing the noses of the four bronze lion statues (for wealth and good luck), we stopped off at the famous Hofbrauhaus, where we cozied up next to some strangers at shared benches and ordered litres of beer and sausages.
We continued exploring, heading to the Englischer Garten which is one of Europe's largest city parks (bigger than Hyde Park in London or NYC's Central Park).
We wandered through the pathways and found Munich's oldest beer garden, along with its Chinesischer Turm which was built in the 18th century. We stayed into the evening, eating another dinner of sausages (and pretzels!) from the cafeteria.
As it started getting dark, we caught an Uber (they're everywhere!) to the festival grounds, hoping that a later entry would land us a table. We were in luck! We got a table on the balcony where we could look out at all of the crazy dancing and partying. The atmosphere was so energetic, with a live band playing a mix of international ballads and traditional German anthems. People were making friends with other tables and dancing on tables. Great end to the first day!
If I could do it all again, the only thing I would change is wearing a Dirndl. They were too expensive to buy once you got there, so I would have bought one in advance that I liked (or maybe 2 or 3 to alternate!). I definitely felt more out of place in casual clothes than I would have in traditional dress, not something I was expecting at all! Plus, the pictures would have been just that much better.
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