Oktoberfest… and Six Other Highlights of Munich
I’ve been pretty open about my love for Oktoberfest in Munich. As the largest festival in the World, Oktoberfest attracts over 6 million visitors each year during the 17 day event. The past five years, I’ve spent at least a couple days at the Wiesn, and I’ve always had a blast. This year was no different.
See this post for ten tips to planning a trip to Oktoberfest in Munich.
Instead of going four consecutive days at Oktoberfest, we decided to mix things up a bit in order to conserve some of our energy later in the trip. As a result, we decided to spend two of our five days in Munich at the Oktoberfest and use the other days explore Munich.
An Around the World Trip — Oktoberfest and Asia
- Introduction
- United Global First Class Chicago to Munich
- Oktoberfest… and Six Other Highlights of Munich
- Le Meridien Munich
- THAI Royal First Class Munich to Bangkok
- THAI Royal First Lounge and Royal Orchid Spa
- A Layover in Bangkok
- THAI Royal Silk Business Class Bangkok to Shanghai
- Two Days in Shanghai
- Park Hyatt Shanghai
- China Eastern Economy Class Shanghai to Hong Kong (to Shanghai)
- A Weekend in Hong Kong – Ten Highlights
- Hyatt Regency Hong Kong, Tsim Sha Tsui
- Grand Hyatt Shanghai
- Air China First Class Lounge – Shanghai-Pudong
- Air China Forbidden Pavilion First Class Shanghai to Tokyo-Narita
- A Twenty-Two Hour Layover in Tokyo and the Hyatt Regency Tokyo
- ANA Suite Lounge – Tokyo-Narita
- ANA First Class Square Tokyo-Narita to Washington-Dulles
I’m not going to go into great detail about what we did at each of the tents this year, but the majority of our days were spent in the Hacker-Pschoor Tent. I’ll just share a couple of photos to show bits and pieces of the experience.
Of course, there’s more to Munich than Oktoberfest… I’ve learned that the last few years after completely ignoring the city my first trip there. On this trip, I tried to show some of my first-timer friends a good time, and we hit up some of my favorite parts of Munich!
Highlights of Munich
1. Hofbrauhaus
If you end up in Munich during a time other than Oktoberfest, this place is a must-see. In fact, it’s a must-see even if it IS Oktoberfest time. The Hofbrauhaus is probably the most famous beer hall in the world. When you walk inside, you’re transported to an incredibly happy place where liters of Hofbrau are slung out by the wait staff, the room smells of German meats, and sounds of Bavarian music and a hum of excitement. This year, we were able to grab a large table, and we took advantage of that. After sending out a few texts, soon our full group of 18 people migrated to the Hofbrauhaus for a memorable first night in Munich!
2. Sights of Munich
Munich is a beautiful city. It’s a fantastic city to walk around and see the sites. admittedly, I didn’t come close to seeing all the sights of Munich, but make sure to hit highlights such as its largest church, Frauenkirch; the New City Hall (Neues Rathaus), and the World famous Glockenspiel. Those are just some of the sights in the City Center. There are all sorts of other sights in other districts of the city, and several must-sees like the Nymphemburg Palace, but these are the easiest to see in a short time.
3. Surfing in the English Garden
Surfing? In the middle of a park? In landlocked Munich? Yup.
Munich is home to a 365-day a year surfing attraction on a man-made stream that runs through the massive English Garden. It’s a crazy cool thing to see in the middle of a city! The English Garden itself is worth a gander, as it’s one of the largest urban parks in the World!
4. Explore the Outdoor Beer Gardens
There are dozens upon dozens of beer gardens throughout Munich. On a pretty day, it’s a quintessential German experience to have some schweinsbratan or pork knuckle over a liter (or two… or three) of Bavarian Beer while sitting outdoors in one of the famed beer gardens.
5. Attend a FC Bayern Munich Game
The current Champions of the Champions League reside in Munich — FC Bayern. The squad plays its games in the northern part of the city in the impressive Allianz Arena. I try to make it a habit of attending local sporting events when I’m traveling abroad, so I was pretty excited to get to experience a FC Bayern game during this trip as they took on and schooled Hannover 96 4-0.
6. Order a Pork Knuckle at Haxnbauer
Roasted pork deliciousness. Crispy pork knuckles. Unbelieveable goodness. Eat it. Thank me later.
Of course, there are so many other things to do in Munich, but we did all of these things in addition to spending two beer-soaked days at the Oktoberfest!
Awesome! Do you have to buy tickets for the tents in advance? I can’t go to oktoberfest next year but was thinking maybe for 2016.
No, you don’t have to buy tickets in advance. Now, on weekends you will have to wait in lines to get into the tents, but tickets are not necessary. Tent reservations are extremely hard to get. Unless you’re with a massive group (with local connections), it’s really not necessary to get reservations.
I agree, Haxenbauer is crazy good. I had a double knuckle plate. Half veal knuckle and half a pork knuck. Wife had goulash with spatzle. The knuckles rotating in the window was a sight.