For the one in Munich!
Its my 40th next year and the plan is a long weekend in Munich drinking Steins and eating Frankfurters+Sauerkraut.
The missus is organizing this trip and needs some hints on where to stay (large group – 20 or so), possibly package deals, basically any handy advice from people who have been before. The package deals so far seem to have been pretty expensive, but if they are worth it let me know.

Thanks all 😉

From everything I’ve heard, best advice is not to go. There are better beer fests.

It’s loads of massive corporate sponsored event tents full of Germans getting stupidly wrecked by 2pm and not really being able to handle it.

Its a right pain to get a group organised but I did it for my Stag for 30 peeps

There really is only one place that will take bookings that big. Haus International and book 6 months+ in advance

http://www.haus-international.de/de/

If you want a table I highly suggest mid week as weekend are near impossible. And annoying all correspondence is by fax in German!

It will be my 5th trip this year….worth every bit of hassle!

I disagree with Molgrips – I have yet been to one more organised or fun – there is nothing like it – its just massively insane.

Compared to 6 million British out on the lash there is virtually no trouble. Should be on every bodies bucket list.

Let me know if you find anyplace nice to stay/visit. Going to Munich for a week in November, and maybe a bit of biking in Austria if the weather isn’t too scary.

Only if you like excessive drunkenness for its own sake! It’s not on my bucket list.

It is definitely not about getting lashed – that is just part of it for some people.

With a party of 20 – you’ll probably need to book what tents you want

http://www.oktoberfest.de/en/navitem/Beer+Tents/

Well I never went myself, just going by what the locals told me. What else is there besides the beer?

Dont stay in the Hotel Bristol. Awful.

What else is there besides the beer?

No idea

Well I never went myself, just going by what the locals told me. What else is there besides the beer?

Classic. 🙂

Well I never went myself, just going by what the locals told me.

Knob.

Its a great event but you must book and make sure that the tent you’re in a ‘quality’ one – full umpah band and all.

I’ve been a few times with work – I usually try to ensure that I’m there when there is a ‘works do’ organised – and dressing up is also expected.

One of our Team:

I’ve been to a couple of other big beer festivals in Germany (Erlangen’s one is awesome, but you’ve missed that this year) and really enjoyed them. Munich’s not a bad place either, so if the two are good in isolation, then both at the same time must be excellent!

I said right at the start I was simply repeating hearsay. Knob yourself.

It’s all about all the cool people there

And meter long sasuage

We did a bit of investigation last year, but didn’t really get anywhere as it was too early to book. My birthday isn’t until Oct 2013 so plenty of time. Thanks for links, I’ll check them out in a min.

Accommodation at a sensible price is impossible. Consider the smaller but still huge Frulingsfest in the spring.

My birthday isn’t until Oct 2013 so plenty of time.

and remember its in September

abuse between member and no thread closure – like it.

OP – i’ve not been to the Munich event but I have been to one in Stuttgart and it was grim. Felt like it could have erupted in to violence at any point. It was just me and the (now very distant ex) girlfriend which made me more on edge than usual but it was unpleasant to say the least.

Saying that I would still like to tick the Munich one off. Looked in to it last year and the prices accomodation rise as the fest nears to extortionate levels.

For that reason I would definitely second the advice to book as early as possible.

With the numbers your taking, you’ll have a right craic – I bet you can’t wait!

wear leiderhosen! everybody does, and you feel really underdressed if you dont. seriously

Do it, its good fun but trying to get tables for 20 of you in the tents may be a struggle.
Went a few years ago with 3 mates, rented a mobile caravan (RV) and drove down, staying at a campsite a few metro stops from the festival.
Its not for everone, and in a group your size there may be some little logistics problems but I say go for it.

Went in 2007 with seven mates for a Stag. Epic. Started on Friday, then after an early start Saturday morning (to make sure we got a table) a group of us went in search of a TV to watch England beat Australia in the Rugby world cup. Then back for steins and pork belly.

Group of 20 will be a challenge but you’ll still have an unbelievably good time. Go for it.

Oh, we camped as well. Mixed feelings from the group but as I just passed out every night it was easy 😉

My birthday will be last weekend of fest. Yes will be wearing leirderhosen! We are looking at using alpenrider. It’s in austria, but can also go mtb’ing and canyoning. They do airport transfers and also ttransport to and from fest. They appear to have a table in one of the tents too.

I’ve been a couple of times and thought it was great: halb-hendl, giant pretzel and oompa bands washed down with German beer. The Wiesen has a big fun fair too which is interesting after several steins.

We camped both times; it was a bit brutal the first time when it snowed and a mate ended up in hospital with borderline hypothermia, but second time was fine. Not very civilised but cheap and fine for a weekend.

Ein, zwei, drei – g’suffa

If Augustina Helles is available, drink it, it’s sodding gorgeous.

If Augustina Helles is available, drink it, it’s sodding gorgeous.

+1

And I highly recommend Gutmann and Andechser Weissbeers

I went a few years back, not what I expected but it was still great fun. My only advice would be to take enough money, I ran out and spent ages trying to find a machine nearby which still had money left in it, sober once I made it back to the beer tent.

servus, grias eich!

ok… being the resident Minga resident here i feel that i am qualified to comment on this subject.

firstly, it is not a stein you are drinking from, it is a Maß. steins are made of clay and are more often than not 0.5ltr, rarely see a 1ltr stein and when then it is usually on the shelf of a wirtshaus (pub).

also it is not a pretzel, but rather a Brese or 2 Bres’n.

do not get dressed up in all the lederhosen clobber. you won’t be spending proper money on your outfit and you’ll look like a tit in your loose fitting, thin and cheaply made lederhosen (and the proper bayer (bavarians) will take the piss behind your back). a decent set of trousers costs more than 600€. at best buy yourself a bavarian shirt (about 20€) and wear a pair of jeans or shorts.

with all due respect dismiss what molgrips said. yes some locals (myself included, if i can call myself a local) find the whole thing a little tiresome and many take a holiday during the two weeks to get away from the masses of tourists.
saying that im sure i will attend for at least one day despite the fact i’m also going away on holiday during the Weis’n.

and the bavarians (note; not germans!) can handle their beer. the drunk ones throwing up are mostly Preißn (germans who are not bavarians, although this includes much of bavaria – true bavaria being the area to the south of the Danube) and tourists.

there is very little trouble there. the only trouble i have seen was when two lads tried pushing their way past everyone waiting to get into the station after closing. they ending up being punched and then carried crowd-surfing style over everyones heads and dumped next to some coppers. if you don’t want trouble then best leave your “two world wars and one world cup” attitude in the departure lounge.

avoid the second weekend if you can. for some reason this is when coach loads of italians turn up and get shit-faced.

go during the week if possible. the weekends are crammed.

don’t expect that you switch tents easily. now due to the smoking inside ban people tend to stay in one tent for the whole evening and consequently you will find it difficult getting in to a tent if you leave it too late.

do not get in the way of the waitresses or waiters. the food and drink they are carrying comes out of their pocket and they only get paid once they deliver it to the table. they essentially buy and then re-sell the food and drink. if you cause them to drop a tray with over 200€ worth of food you will be expected to pay for it and if you don’t cough up expect that your night is over (i.e. you will be thrown out).

if you are drinking too slowly you may also be asked to move on.

take lots of money. eine halbe (in this case half a chicken) costs around 10-15€ and a Maß the best part of 10€ (i think a Maß costs 9,20€ this year). the rides and amusements are also fairly pricey. if you are there for the whole day expect to spend over 100€.

Löwenbrau and Paulaner are crap. avoid if you can. Spaten and Augustiner are the better beers on offer (although after 2 Maß it really doesn’t matter).

for the las few years there has been an area called the “Oida Weis’n” (“Alter Weisen”, Old Weisen). they have tried to recreate the Oktoberfest as it was when it first started with simple rides and a large tent (Augustiner!) without the idiots dancing on tables. it costs 3€ to go into but here you will find a more sedate, family friendly atmosphere. you are also more likely to get a seat here during peak times. but it is well worth a visit.

also don’t be surprised if you end up ill. there are so many germs floating around in a crowded tent and people sharing glasses that a lot of people that visit end up with the sniffles or worse.

with the number of people you are planning on taking with you then you should not have too much problem booking a table (but do this asap!!!), even less so when they realise you are english/scottish/irish as your reputation preceeds you.

i can’t help with accomodation, but needless to say there is not enough room on my lounge floor.

if you want a more sedate yet traditional experience then look at the Rosenheimer Weis’n. not so tacky and gaudy as the Munich’fest and you shouldn’t have problems with booking accomodation. plus Rosenheim is about a 40min train ride from Munich and even less so to some proper mountains.

the Stuttgart Oktoberfest doesn’t count and nor does the Erlangen one as Erlangen isn’t really bavarian (despite being in bavaria).

if you’ve got any questions just ask.

I said right at the start I was simply repeating hearsay. Knob yourself.
….
meter long sasuage

Just me or is there a positive correlation between these two comments?

Some great advise there Alpin and thanks for the tip paulo123. Looks like we’ll be doing a cheap family holiday next year then 🙂

Top post that Alpin

^^cheers

how was your bavarian adventure, Buzz?