Crowds around Munich and Bavaria during Oktoberfest

I think you will find most tourists will be planning along the same lines as you. All the cities within an hour commute to Munich will be booked. This is, however, a great time to visit the rest of Germany with fewer tourists. And there will be a large number of beer and wine fests going on all across Europe. The largest wine fest, for example, is held in western Germany the week before Octoberfest starts in Munich.

https://reisenaround.com/bad-durkheim-wurstmarkt/

Expect the crowds to also do the regular tourist stuff. And expect hotel prices to be much higher than normal.

We used to live in Munich and I've been attending Oktoberfest every other year for at least the last 15 years (most recently this past fall).

The biggest issue you will face is hotel prices are 3-5x the normal price everywhere within 60min of the fest grounds. Some touristy locations are more crowded (Hofbräuhaus for example) but I've found the museums to be similar to what you might find during school holidays. Day trips like Neuschwanstein aren't really more crowded than the summer high season.

Personally when I'm in Munich area during Oktoberfest and I don't want to pay Oktoberfest hotel prices I'm usually staying south in Tegernsee and come in for the day using a combo BRB-MVV day ticket.

DJ

I have found the rest of Bavaria to be less crowded than durring the summer high season. For example, I was in Stuttgart for their Volksfest. A little more than half as big (4 million visitors vs 7 million) as Oktoberfest and occurs around the same time. I didn't think Stuttgart was at all crowded given that the festival was happening. Ditto for Bamberg, Nuremburg and many other cities.

I lived in Augsburg, Germany for four years (working for the US Army). I did the Oktoberfest three times, we took a group bus once and the train twice.
Hotels are full and expensive. Crowds are huge, so I don't recommend going there for touring the sites.

The fest is fun, especially if you go the first day and see the parade.

Some people would stay in hotels in Augsburg (50 miles west of Munich) and take the train to the fest. Hotels there are cheaper.

We chose to head to Munich for opening weekend this year, and I have been there on opening weekend in 2009 and 2015.

Yes, hotels can be tough, but we daytripped once, staying in Fussen that night, Stayed in Tegernsee another weekend, and this last time in Freising. Hotels were not crazy expensive, and getting around was easy.

For the most part, crowds were not oppressive. Of course on opening day, while we quickly visited the fest grounds after the parade, we spent the day hitting beer gardens, plenty of room, busy but not crazy. We did hit the tents, but have found it best to go on the Monday afternoon after opening weekend, was able to get seated in every tent we wanted. Any time during the week will work well.

We were able to wander Munich, visit shops, go to restaurants, even the Hofbrau Haus without too many problems.

Outside of Munich, sites may be a bit busier, but still fine.

Hotel Gastof Maisberger in neufarhn was how we dealt with high hotel prices during Oktoberfest. Situated directly next to S1 line it was easy to get into central Munich. We ended up loving the hotel.

Thank you all for the information! Day tripping to Munich instead of staying there sounds like a good plan.

Long story that I won’t go into, but this year we were flying into Munich and planned to head directly to Austria. The afternoon before our flight we cancelled our Austrian reservations and needed to find somewhere to stay for a week not too far from Munich. I checked a lot of places, but we ended up staying at a hotel in Dachau on the S1 line. It was super easy to get in and out of Munich and do day trips to other towns. I was amazed to find this place at the last minute considering we arrived just 3 days before Oktoberfest.

"Thank you all for the information! Day tripping to Munich instead of staying there sounds like a good plan."

A good plan if in fact you want to be doing things and going places in Munich, when it's at its busiest - during Oktoberfest.

Munich represents only a tiny speck of the Bavarian experience. With options like Nuremberg, Bamberg, Regensburg, Bayreuth and Würzburg, Bavaria is overstuffed with fine places to visit, so overstuffed with museums, historical sites, palaces, breweries, etc. that one needn't set foot in Munich at all. See locations of these places on this map:

https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/img_auth.php/b/b7/WV-Bavaria_regions.svg.png

If you are landing at MUC airport (40 minutes away from central Munich) and don't wish to travel far the first day, the lovely town of Landshut (see map,) which is on the train route to Regensburg, is just as close to the terminal as Munich itself (35 minutes by direct train to Landshut.) Or stay on the train for Regensburg (90 minutes.)

Regensburg, with UNESCO WH status for its medieval town center, is one of those Bavarian destinations which Rick does not cover AFAIK:

https://tallgirlbigworld.com/things-to-do-regensburg-germany/

I have found the rest of Bavaria to be less crowded than durring the
summer high season. For example, I was in Stuttgart for their
Volksfest.

Stuttgart has lots to see as well as the Volksfest. But it is located in Baden-Württemberg, a hefty distance from Munich and from Bavaria.