Traveling to Germany Ocktoberfest in Munich

There are two rail options that I know of. There is a CNL overnight train all the way from Rome to Munich. There are still seats for €83, or single economy (WC at end of car) compartments for €179. There is also a day train, a Eurocity from Bologna to Munich for €49. She'd still have to get from Rome to Bologna. These are online, train specific, non-refundable fares. I found these fares on the German Rail website. I haven't checked the return fares yet.

There are seats on Ryanair from Rome Ciampino to Munich (Memmingen) for 67 Euros on 9/21; coming back there are seats on 9/26 for 69 Euros. I doubt your daughter will find a place to stay in Munich at this point. She might want to check outside Munich - maybe Augsburg, about 40 minutes by train from Munich, or Landsberg. Augsburg has a hostel. The Memmingen airport is a healthy distance from Munich, but it's very easy to get from the town of Memmingen to Munich's main station - just get on one of the direct RE trains - about 20 Euros each way. Augsburg can also be reached by direct train from Memmingen.

Whatever method of transportation you use, make sure you find accommodations first. Ryanair tickets are non-refundable from the time of purchase. Bahn discount tickets are only returnable up to the day before travel, and then less €15. The reason Russ said to fly on the 21st and the 26th is that Ryanair doesn't fly between Ciampino and Allgäu airport on the 22nd or 25th. And be sure you note the arrival times - 8:10 PM into Allgäu and 10:05 into Ciampino. The last city bus to the Memingen rail station leaves the airport at 7:08 PM, before the flight arrives. There is an Allgäu Airport Express, directly from the airport to Munich. One leaves at 8:40, 30 min after the flight arrives from Ciampino and gets to Munich at 10:15 PM. A later bus arrives in Munich at 11:10 PM. The Allgäu Airport Express also goes to Augsburg and Landsburg.

She could also get to Munich for Day 1 of revelry, then take a 2 hour train to Salzburg for the night (if she likes beer/beer gardens there's good reason to stay in Salzburg). There's a better chance of getting a room there. Is she traveling alone? If not, up to 5 people could take that train for €29; if alone, then for €21. She/They could then buy the same ticket(s) the next day and travel round-trip for the same €. Details on that to follow if she's interested... However she gets there, she very possibly could end up carrying her backpack to the Oktoberfest grounds; there's no guarantee of getting a local hotel room nor of the availability of luggage lockers at the train station. Plus, if she stays in Salzburg, she can't leave her luggage at her hotel until after that first day in Munich. In the recent past, they've actually closed the rental lockers (security concerns) and offered only their luggage counters :-(

In 2007, I stayed the last Thursday and Friday night of Oktoberfest in Oberammergau (2 hrs from Munich), the last Saturday night of Oktoberfest in Landsberg (1 hrs from Munich), and the last Sunday night in Noerdlingen. I had no problems making accommodations at the regular rates.

If you can't find accomodations in Munich I recommend the town of Rosenheim, it's about 45 minutes or so by train east of Munich, there are quite a few trains into Munich everyday and it's also on the way to Salzburg if she decides to go there as others have suggested.

The nice thing about Rosenheim is that if you are coming to Munich on the train from Italy and Innsbruck, its before you get to Munich. In 2009. I arrived at the Hbf around noon on the last Thursday and put my bag in a locker before proceeding to the Oktoberfest grounds. There are a lot of locker rooms at the Hbf, and I easily found an empty locker in one of the outer rooms.