We just went last November. We deliberately missed the crowds of Oktoberfest, but we caught the crowds of the Christmas market. Advice:

1.) Study the rail map. We were caught with the wrong ticket, even though the guy at DB Bahn swore it was the right one. the S1-S8 and inner/outer rings can be a little confusing. Just google it and stare at it for a bit.
2.) The hop on/hop off tours aren't that great, as they don't speak English on most. Rail is really cheap, too.
3.) Oktoberfest is to Munich like Mardi Gras is to NO/Bourbon Street. The tents can be a tourist trap. You can enjoy the beer and oompah bands in the hofbrauhaus any day.
4.) Take a WWII walking tour. It's amazing the history right there in Munich.
5.) If you like BMW's, there museum is worth a couple hours to visit.
6.) I didn't visit Dachau, but it's right there if you want to visit it.
7.) Neuschwanstein castle is a car ride away if you rent one. Can't reach it by rail, but if you do rent a car, it's an option. Neat castle to tour. Disney modeled their castle after it. BTW, sixt may be your best bet for renting a car while you're over there.
8.) There is beer everywhere you go. You'll drink plenty without building your trip around it.
9.) Hotels near Marienplatz are little more expensive, but that's pretty much where the most walking will take you. If you can get a good deal on a hotel right there, I would go that route. Again, it could be expensive though.

More may come to mind.

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Posted by Newgene

Waveland, MS

Member since Nov 2005

7240 posts

Posted on 5/2/17 at 12:03 pm to Newgene

Also, on a little different note. You may want to visit your connecting flight city for a couple days. Although Amsterdam wasn't fantastic, we were able to visit there for 2-3 days for the same price. We just made our connection at that airport, and created the layover with a delay for the next flight.

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Posted by baldona

Florida

Member since Feb 2016

20550 posts

Posted on 5/2/17 at 12:16 pm to Newgene

quote:
3.) Oktoberfest is to Munich like Mardi Gras is to NO/Bourbon Street. The tents can be a tourist trap. You can enjoy the beer and oompah bands in the hofbrauhaus any day.

Not really, Bourb on a random Saturday is not like Mardi Gras either. Furthermore, doing the actual event is worth something. That's like saying going to your local Italian restaurant is like going to Italy, or eating sushi is like going to Japan. There's something well worth going to the actual event.

Also, inside the tents is FAR from being a "tourist" event. Inside the tents at night is probably 90% locals. It may be higher than that. Just look at pictures, there are some tourists certainly but most tables inside the tents are reservation only (at least 75% of them) and to get a reservation you basically have to be local.

Similar to Mardi Gras but on a much grander scale, Oktoberfest is very very much a celebration of the people of Munich and Bavaria of being Bavarian. Go to the Hofbrauhaus and there are maybe a handful of people in their Dirndl and Lederhosen while at Oktoberfest at least 75% of the people are dressed traditionally. If you aren't, you definitely feel "out of place". There's a ton of locals that love going there. Additionally, while the fest is going on you can go to other parts of the city and have little idea that its going on outside of more locals wearing the traditional clothes than normal and seeing more people on mass transit.

This post was edited on 5/2/17 at 12:20 pm

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