Munich Crowds During Octoberfest

We arrived in Munich right before it opened this year for one night and returned to Munich on closing weekend trying to avoid the crowds. The city center was much more impacted with visitors than our usual visits to Munich. It was harder to get into city center restaurants, there were more boisterous people around and the hotels were very high priced, even the one we ended up using for our last two nights, 30 minutes outside of Munich.

It was doable for someone passing though Munich (flights in and out and 3 nights in hotels). It would add to the festivity for someone wanting to experience Octoberfest, which we didn’t want to do on this trip. We did enjoy seeing all of the traditional clothing in most shop windows and on people in the streets. We didn’t go to the fairgrounds but our S-Bahn stopped at that stop and there were always huge crowds there.

We went into Munich for the day after Octoberfest officially ended and merchants and hotel owners were busy taking the Octoberfest decorations out of their businesses and decorating with fall things.

Biggest issue is that hotel room prices will be double the normal rates, if you can find one.

I arrived in Munich on the last Thursday of Oktoberfest, 2007. The Hbf might have been a little more crowded than usual, but it wasn't mobbed, by any means. I had no problem finding the Oktoberfest grounds - just follow the "ant line" of people between the Hbf and the grounds, which were already crowded at 11 AM.

I peeked into one of the tents, where the table all appeared to be occupied already, then returned to the Hbf and took a train to Oberammergau.

I've been to Munich in June and in my opinion it is a much better time to visit than Oktoberfest. The beer gardens are all well populated but without the problems of finding a table, hotel prices are significantly less and you can enjoy the city without the hordes of tourists that Oktoberfest generates. Of course you won't have the carnival atmosphere that accompanies Oktoberfest but I can live without that.

How crowded is Munich during Octoberfest? Is the entire city/area crowded with Octoberfest visitors or are the crowds more in the area of the festival?

The crowds are more in the area of the fest and the public transport going to and from the fest (the U5 gets crowded). We always stay near the Ostbahnhof during Oktoberfest and you can't really tell there are more visitors in town in that area.

DJ