Oktoberfest

Crazy? I went to Munich on the opening day of the fest, and even around the parade route it was uncrowded and calm. A lot of people around where the 'fest is held, but not so much beyond that.

Crazy-expensive? VERY! The hotel rates were more than double than during the non-fest. Be ready for that.

-- Mike Beebe

Yes.
Well visited and drunk.
No.

We were in Munich during Oktoberfest in 2024 and didn’t find it much different than it usually is. It’s easy enough to avoid the people who come for the Fest.

I had the same question as you as a non drinker. Oktoberfest brings out families in colorful costumes and adds an extra layer of excitement to the city. It was actually very enjoyable to be there during this time. The heavy drinking and partying take place at the festival grounds. You can have a great visit to Munich and ignore the festival grounds if you choose to.

The biggest negative to coming during Oktoberfest is the price of lodging. We found we needed to be a bit away from the city center and found a hotel that was on the S1 line. To our surprise, we loved the hotel and discovered we were really happy to be a short train ride from the center. We stayed at Hotel Gastoff Maisberger. We enjoyed it so much, my son and his wife stayed there again on their next visit to Munich.

I have been there for three opening weekends, (including this past September) arguably the busiest days of the fest.

I really had no issues getting around, finding places to eat, even seats at beer gardens. The weekend is a celebration for the locals as well as visitors, things are busy, but fun. Once the weekdays hit, the crowds lessen, the locals go to work, and there is just a steady crowd.

Lodging is really the only drawback, but you can get rooms, and there are nearby towns to stay in as well.

Even on the Fest grounds, there are plenty of non-drinking activities, and even the tents are worth walking through to see the spectacle. To a degree, the fest is like a big State Fair.

When we were there this last September it was not planned ahead of time. We were planning on flying into Munich but going immediately to Austria. Because of recent storms and flooding in the places we were going to we had to cancel our hotel reservations the afternoon before our early morning flight. As mentioned above, lodging in Munich during and leading up to Oktoberfest is expensive. I found a more affordable hotel in Dachau, on the S1 line. We enjoyed staying there and were only about 15 minutes away from the main station in Munich.