Welcome to the hotelbook.com Podcast. In the next few weeks the world famous Oktoberfest will kick off in the otherwise sleepy town of Theresienwiese in Germany.
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This two-and-a-half week long festival starts on September 16th. Although the festival is called the Oktoberfest, German for October Festival, the majority of the festival takes place in September, leading to the climactic celebrations in early October. This is a peculiar side-effect of calendars changing and dates shifting since the first festival in 1810.
Of course, bringing the festivities forward also helps with the weather. Most of the celebrations are outdoors and in huge tents. For those unfamiliar with the Oktoberfest we should bring you up to speed…
Each year for almost three weeks the small town of Theresienwiese is captured by a cultural celebration of German heritage and beer drinking. The most popular events are those that combine heritage with beer. For example the annual ‘Official Tapping of the Keg’ is not to be missed. There are parades for the small microbreweries that can be found all over Germany. However, the most popular event must be the Oktoberfest Costume and Riflemen’s Parade which takes place this year on the 19th of September. During this parade you’ll see the fairytale Germany dress from medieval times.
It would of course be terrible to go all the way to Germany, celebrate the heritage and beer without tasting it for yourself. This raises the important question of cost. You’ll be pleased to hear that the official ‘Mass Oktoberfest Beer’ will set you back around 7 euros per litre. That’s about $9 or £4.50 for a whole litre. Your beer will be served in an oversized German tankard, and should be enjoyed whilst wearing various items of traditional Bavarian apparel.
You’ll be able to roam around the fields of beer tents and vendors selling pretzels, bockwurst and Frankfurters. In most of the tents and in the open spaces you’ll be able to hear music from around the world blending with distinctive German oompapa tones. As you can imagine the place is filled with an incredibly sociable atmosphere. People of all ages travel from across Europe and from further afield to enjoy the festivities. It’s all too easy to think of this as a series of drunken nights out, but it really is not. For example, there are official rules governing when Children will be asked to leave the Beer tents; kids under 6 have to be out by 8pm.
The tents are not exactly like any other you’ll find at a regular festival. Some tents have capacities for up to 12,000 people! There are 14 separate tents, each offering different entertainment and their own ‘house beer’ to sample. The tents are sponsored by various breweries who bring their ‘at-the-bar’ rivalry to the festival. The competition is fierce to provide the best entertainments, decorations and spectacles. You’re guaranteed an outstanding night of occasionally raucous entertainment!
Staying in the small town which hosts the festival is really not an ideal option since it is so very small. Instead, most guests to the Oktoberfest will stay in the many hotels in and around Munich. Munich is always busy at the time of the festival, and the chances of finding accommodation in the city are slim to none. The good news is that with the wide selection of hotels available on hotelbook.com you’ll almost certainly find a number of hotels to suit your needs.
The transport to and from the festival to Munich is excellent. German efficiency prevails throughout your trip. The festival is just a short train ride from the centre of Munich. Naturally the train operators are prepared for the influx of visitors. You’ll find that you can pick up great value tickets for the duration of your stay for your whole group. The train timetables are even altered to run for longer hours so that you can stay as late as you like at the festival; after all, there’s nothing quite like a bit of sing-a-long oompapa at 2am!
We’d like to recommend a pair of great hotels for a stay in Munich for the Oktoberfest.
Firstly, the Bayerlscher Hof Hotel which is an impressive five star hotel in Munich. The hotel is almost as old as the festival itself, having been owned by one family for more than 160 years. The hotel is located right in the city centre, near the historic Frankenkirche Cathedral. So by night you’ll be enjoying the festivities and entertainments, and by day recovering in the lap of luxury and perhaps seeing a little of this historic city.
Alternatively you might want to consider the Europaeischer Hof Hotel, also in Munich. It’s a 3* hotel right in the city centre , so you’ll be able to visit many of the other Munich sites. It is a favorite for visitors to the Oktoberfest due to it’s very convenient location for getting to the train station. As you know Germany’s public transport is exceptional and offers amazingly good value for groups traveling to the Oktoberfest, with tickets starting from as little as 20 Euros for a group of 5.
If you do make a trip to the Oktoberfest be sure to tell us all about it and send us some photos. Check out the blog at blog.hotelbook.com where you’ll be able to find links to the hotels we recommend and other sites with more details on the festival. Stay tuned for more travel ideas from around the world with hotelbook.com.
The best place in October is Prague: http://www.ohp.cz/
Posted by: Tamas | September 19, 2006 at 09:23 AM
I was on that festival with my girlfriend. Germany is a nice
country and hotels are really quality there. We got the best
accomodation I'm pretty sure ;)
Posted by: Tőzsde Részvény | June 28, 2007 at 02:06 PM
If you're planning to go to Oktoberfest in 2008 the price of litre of beer will average at about 8 euros, which is about $11 or £6.
Posted by: Martin Brady | August 01, 2008 at 01:50 PM
Sehr gute Seite. Ich habe es zu den Favoriten.
Posted by: mietwagen | March 12, 2009 at 06:12 PM