OktoBROfest & other suggestions

I've been to the Deutsches Museum twice. It's really interesting, particularly the exhibits on mining, bridge building, and aviation. (I don't know when you will be there, or what will be open when you are there, but these are three exhibits I really liked.) It would be easy to spend an entire day in that museum.

If you like aviation, there is an extension the the aviation exhibit of Deutsches Museum in Schleißheim.

There is also the Münchner Stadtmuseum south of Marienplatz. I've been there twice. Each time they have had interesting exhibits about history in Munich.

I wouldn't go to the Residenz again. It was interesting at first, but eventually became tedious.

The grounds at Nymphenburg are very pretty. The main building itself is small, but I particularly liked the Amalienburg (hunting lodge).

No experience with Oktoberfest--though I do have a friend heading there shortly--so I'll just say I particularly enjoyed the Moderne Pinakothek the most, bought a ticket that allowed me to hit all 3 of them, but that's fairly easy as a solo traveler. I liked Nymphenburg a lot--was just there in May and it was a lovely day to be exploring the extensive grounds as there are numerous other little residences and a church besides the main palace, and the thing I liked most was the Marstallmuseum of carriages and sleighs--just the most ornate and fabulous things, so wonderful. In the park area there is a good restaurant/beer garden called the Palmenhaus where I had an excellent lunch. I enjoyed wandering the old town area near Marienplatz, didn't get to the Residenz or English Garden, sadly--I was battling a terrible attack of back spasms the entire 6 days in Munich so was just happy I was able to do the 2 day trips I had already planned to Dachau and Nuremberg.

On Friday get there early! If the tents are full, the doors are closed and "manned". There's no opportunity to tip anyone for a seat. They just won't let you in and there will probably be a line waiting.

I like the Munich Walk Tours (www.munichwalktours.de). Their 3rd Reich tour is very good.
Be sure to spend time in the English Gardens.
Have a great time!

Nymphenburg is no big thrill IMO. Maybe you'll want to go out to the BMW museum. Sit in the driver's seat of a 100,000 EUR sports car and be flattered by the sales pitch.

To other posters who might know:
Aren’t you able to reserve a table ahead at Oktoberfest?

An entire table of 10 with a per person minimum booked 6 months in advance. Or join a tour operated by someone who did.

Do go on a walking tour your first day or so there and then you will have a good orientation to the city and the guide will be able to suggest some other places to see based on your interests. Radius tours is a good one, but if you look on TA, you will see other popular tours. Avoid the "free" New Europe tours unless you want to walk around with 35 other people listening to a memorized script.

Go watch the surfers near the English Garden. That was the most fun we had in Munich, was watching them take turns surfing.

Hi Josh- this link has a lot of good info about the 'Fest, Especially the insider guidebook.

http://www.oktoberfest-insider.com/

As for Friday evening, Get to the 'Fest in the afternoon before 4, pick your tent, go in and explain your birthday situation to one of the waitresses (it helps if you speak some German) with a 20 Euro in your hand, and I think you will be escorted to a seat.

I'll leave you and your Bro a few beers-

Have a great trip!!!

My brother and I have planned a guys trip to Oktoberfest every other year since 2009 and have put together a pretty solid itinerary. We usually go opening weekend.

It varies each time but it basically goes like this:

• Arrive Munich on the Friday before the fest starts. Check into hotel. Stop by Lidl (or another supermarket) to stock up on snacks and bottled water in you hotel room. The water is key!
• Saturday watch the parade in the morning then head to the fest for our table reservation. Spend day at the fest. Sometimes we do a short self paced walking tour of the city center. We have our own but it’s similar to the Rick Steve’s one.
• Sunday, take it easy in the morning. If 1860 is playing we go watch the match, otherwise we take lunch at a Biergarten or hall then head to the fest again in the late afternoon for our table reservations. Sometimes we make this a museum day for the first half as well.
• Monday, usually use this day for a day trip out of Munich. We always have several lined up so we can pick and choose based on the weather. Previous day trips included: Salzburg, Nürnberg, Andechs, Klosterruetberg, Tegernsee, Berchtesgaden, Erding.
• Tuesday, rent bikes to explore the city. Typical route is city center up through the English Gardens to mini-Hofbräu, West through the Olympia park and on to Nymphenburg, return to the city center via Königsplatz. There are always several beer stops along the way. We sometimes move this to Monday depending on the weather. Renting the bikes is constantly considered a highlight of the trip.
• Wednesday depart or one last day at the fest and depart Thursday.

Tips:

• the weather changes a lot so have a few good and bad weather options each day.
• at the fest if you are not wearing lederhosen then wear closed toe shoes and pants (not shorts and sandals). I always feel like this should be a given but every time we have to remind people not to wear sandals.
• bring basic medications. Our standard is Advil, Tums, Imodium, Pepto, and Pedialyte powder packages.
• Download all applicable transit apps for your smart phone. Also download Google Maps off-line for Munich.
• remember these emergency numbers even though you won’t likely need them: Police 110, EMS/Fire 112.
• When you check into your hotel grab a business card and keep it on you at all times. This way if you get lost or are too drunk to get home you can give the card to a taxi driver and he can take you back.

DJ

This will be our third trip to Oktoberfest and we will there the 25-26th. DJ has some great tips. One thing I would highly recommend is to go early in the week and get there in the morning as the gates open. Don't wait until Friday to go. There are plenty of other cool places to celebrate his birthday.

My last trip was with a group of four, including myself. The first day we found a table and proceeded to get drunk for 9 hours. The second day we tent hopped and walked through each tent and grabbed a beer where we could, drank it, then kept moving. I personally plan to take the same approach again as it worked well.

My least favorite tent is HB. It usually has the youngest crowd with the most Americans and non-German tourists. The Augustiner tent is perfect for crabby middle aged guys like myself. 😀

Last summer we visited the Alte Pinotek, and really, it was one of the best museum experiences I can remember (we do art museums all the time - 5 this summer, so we know from art museums). The little audio device had such good detail and information that I learned more in the one visit to that museum about art than in many other museums. Really good visit.

Wow, that's a lot of great insight!
Thanks for that link too Kenneth.
I appreciate all the info & just got even more excited about our trip - THANK YOU ALL!

Since beer is a center of the trip, you can easily visit some of the surrounding smaller breweries just outside of Munich:

In the town of Freising, accessible by S-Bahn, is Weihenstephan, not small, but they are interesting in that they have a nice restaurant and beer garden, but they are also the premier brewing school in Germany. You can also hit Gräfliches Hofbrauhaus, a smaller brewer.

Ayinger has a great looking brewery and restaurant and a great range of beers.

Andechs is reachable by train and bus, Monastery brewery and great location and food.

Tegernsee has Bräustüberl Tegernsee, well known for their beer, you can use the BOB train to get there and also get a taste of the Alpine foothills, even take the lift up into the hills for a look.

My wife & I really enjoyed Andech Monastery & Brewery. Great location and fantastic beer.

Our favorite tents:

1. Augustiner-Festhalle - the best beer, since it is still served from wooden vats. Nice layout.
2. Haker-Festzelt - beautiful tent with blue "Himmel der Bayern" sky above. A bit younger crowd.
3. Winzerer Fähndl - super fun tent with great band playing all the excellent sing-a-long tunes.

Prost!