What better way to experience my first trip to Germany than during Oktoberfest! Luckily I went with a group of people which is always more fun.
Right after we landed on Friday in Munich, we made our way by train/subway to our hotel at Holiday Inn. City Center (click here for review) and we took a bike tour of downtown with Mike’s Bike Tours (click here for review).
For opening day on Saturday, we hopped on the subway, got off at the Theresienwise stop and arrived at the Oktoberfest grounds around 10am. Many tents were crowded, but luckily we were able to get an outside table at the Lowenbrau (pronounced Looven-broy) tent.
Lowenbrau
The beer couldn’t be served until noon on opening day so we passed the time by mingling with everyone around us and joining in singing Heeeey Baby! ooo ahhh! I wanna know ohh ohh will you be my girl! When the beer was finally served, I was very impressed with the bier maidens who carried at least 10 one liter beer mugs at a time. I could barely hold one!
Lovely & Strong Bier Maiden
To avoid loosing your seat, baskets of goodies would come around for purchase of sausage, donuts, and of course big as your face pretzels!
Goodie basket
On Monday we had a better chance of getting into a tent and beer is served starting at 10am. We went into the Augustiner festhalle and stayed here all day! I’m not a beer drinker so luckily this tent had 1/2 liters of wine. By the end of the night, we were standing on the benches, singing English and German songs, dancing in the aisles, and having a pretty awesome time!
Augustiner Festhalle
If you are interested in the other tents at Oktoberfest., here is a good overview. Some tents, like the Hippodrom, you can’t get in without a reservation.
So what else will you see at Oktoberfest? People dressed up in dirndls and laderhosen. As MileValue said on twitter, dirndls are the new black! I recommend buying one online prior to going to the festival as these will cost from 100-200 Euro for an outfit in Munich.
I’m grateful for miles and points for giving me the chance to experience this fun festival at a very low cost and for the great friends that I have met in the process.
Prost!