oktoberfest

Holly - If you go to www.lonelyplanet.com and click on its "Thorn Tree" forum and then its "Traveling on a Shoestring" section. It has an introductory discussion for advice on Oktoberfest.

My recommendation would be for your son to travel via train to Salzburg, Austria. Depending upon his time of departure from Munich the ride is anywhere from 1.5 - 2 hours. As for the trains, there are two that depart Munich around midnight (gives him plenty of time to sample the fine German Beer). An added advantage is that Salzburg Hbf is considered part of the German rail line, ie. if he is using a rail pass, it needn't valid in austria. Good luck and tell him to drink a mass of dunkel for me.

I sympathize with you. We are currently planning a trip which takes us through Munich and we had trouble finding an affordable room (1 night) due to Oktoberfest. We even moved our trip up a week just because we were having so much trouble finding a room. I don't know how long he is staying, but he might want to travel to another nearby destination (Salzburg, Rothenburg, Fussen) for a couple days and then return to Munich. Good luck.

Thank you so much for the help. No bookings yet, but now there are otpions.....comparing train travel times. Augsburg is booked, but there are vacancies in Regensburg and Salzburg.

holly.
i was in munich in 2005 for oktoberfest and me and my companions stayed at a place called "pension westfalia". it is directly across from the oktoberfest grounds. (i mean a skip-hop-jump).
the website is :
pension-westfalia@-online.de.
there is also a reasonable hostel right down the road called "easy palace". it's loud, but quite affordable, and i think a young person would like it. (great pizza there).
if munich is full, i have a great salzburg alternative: check out this website:
www.christkoenig-kolleg.at
it was only about 30 euros a nite in 2005. it's a pension/monastery/religious school too, but my family found it to be a great, affordable place in salzburg. breakfast is included at both westfalia and christkoenig. good luck.
connie
p.s. have son carry a small flashlight for the dark hallways. (dark but safe).

I have to say, I am impressed by the german people. I had one woman, Fatima Zeevat, who owns a bed breakfast email me back. Her B&B was full, but her neighbor's spare bedroom was vacant, and as a mother she understood my worry. I had emailed every "where to sleep" listing in the Munich section of Rick's book on Germany and several days after Fatima's generous offer one of them produced a cancellation for my son's dates. He is now staying at the Hotel Muenchner Kindl for two nights. Thank you all for your advice, and I am hoping he'll go to Salzburg next and stay in the monastery recommended in the last post.

If anyone is interested in Fatima's B&B it is called Zeevat Bed & Breakfast and the website is http://www.bedandbreakfast-zeevat.de/index.php?topo=titulo2&cont=en&menu=menu3

holly,
I'm so glad your son found a place to stay! i will be thinking of him this fall. munich and salzburg are wonderful, and he will have a great time.
connie

Hello Holly,
just for your information: Fatima is not a german, but a brazilian woman. You have a brazilian and dutch hospitality in Munich.
Greetings