Oktoberfest: Staying outside of Munich Center
 

How far out can one stay and still be able to reach the grounds easily? The few hotels that I am finding near the grounds have rates of 300 Euro per night. Would like something that is not so expensive. Any recommendations?

I've stayed at Garmisch-Partenkirchen during Oktoberfest and it's about a one hour commute by rail to a station a few blocks from the festival site - even the main Munich station is a fairly short walk from the grounds.
There are closer in places like those on Starnberger Sea that would save you about 200 euros a night or more on lodging and also are very nice resorts.

How well do you speak German?

I know of a nice place 1/2 hr by S-Bahn east of the Hbf. It doesn't look like they raise their rates (€69, 2BZ, ÜF) for Oktoberfest. I like to go there because no one speaks English and I get to practice my German.

However, I doubt that an email in English would get a response.

Larry's response reminds me that if staying out a ways investigate the bargain Bavaria pass good for trains all over Bavaria. Larry's an expert on German rail travel so if interested ask him about this pass, bought locally at stations.

Will investigate on those locations... thanks!

So Larry, tell me about this Bavaria train pass.

No German spoken here, so I will have to pass on that one suggestion.

last oct fest my friends and i stayed at the nh munich (there are a few nh's that come up when you search munich. we stayed at one that was nh dor...something)it was right across from the munich train station. it was 168 euros per night. very nice and clean...and a great location. just down from marien platz

The Bayern Ticket is a pass good for unlimited travel for up to 5 people on regional trains (RE, RB, and IRE, S-Bahn) in Bavaria, from 9 AM on weekdays or all day (from midnight) on weekends until 3 AM the following morning. It is also valid on all of the transport (U-Bahn, streetcars, buses) of the Munich metro (MVV). If purchased from one of the ticket machines in Bavaria, it will cost €27; if you use a ticket counter, it costs an additional €2. There is also a Bayern Ticket Single for €19 (from a machine, €21 at a counter). These are the new prices effective Jan 1, 2007.

So, with a Bayern Ticket, you can ride any regional trains into Munich, and then use any of the conveyances in town.

All of the German states have similar tickets. See www.tiny.cc/laenderticketsen. See also www.bayern-takt.de. Select Englisch Version and click on the red Bayern-Ticket box.

If you absolutely have to stay outside Munich you might also consider nearby Augsburg which is about 30 minutes by rail.

You might want to look at Rosenheim. It's 45 minutes by regional trains from the Munich Hbf. It's website is www.rosenheim.de. Click on "Tourismus", then follow the links that say "Unterkunftsverzeichnis". They have a listing in English of hotels. Wendelstein, Panorama, and Goldener Hirsch are very near the station.

Hotel Uhland, which is very close to the grounds, has double rooms for 185 euro during Oktoberfest; they still have availablity.

Or are you trying to find a room for all five of you for under 300 euro?

Augsburg is at least 45 minutes by region rail. The shortest time I found on the Bahn website was 36 minutes by IC, but that wouldn't be covered by the Bayern Ticket.

I didn't mention Augsburg because the city website doesn't give you a list of accommodations to pick from. They just ask you for the date and pick a hotel for you. But you might be able to find hotels in Augsburg from a guidebook. Or maybe someone here has a suggestion for an inexpensive hotel in Augsburg.

If Hotel Uhland is available, I can highly recommend it. And, it's about one block from the Oktoberfest grounds.

Hi

We were at Oktoberfest this past October and stayed at the Ibis Nord on Ungererstrasse. The hotel is part of Accor hotels and you can make reservations online - the rates were very good too. In addition the subway was 1/2 block away and we were down ar the festival in 10 minutes.

And no, we did even spent 150 a night. Great breakfast included too.

According to their website, www.hotel-uhland.de, they have single and double rooms available for everyday of Oktoberfest. Single €140, double €185.

We stayed at the K+K am harras during Oktoberfest 2004 for 90 Euro per night with breakfast included. The hotel is about one mile from the fest grounds and very nice with an underground stop right in front of the hotel. My husband booked it in May or June of that year. When we go back to Munich We will stay there again.

Oops I checked our Visa statement and our room was 109 Euro per night not 90 but still well worth it.

.

Looks like K+K has gotten a little more popular (and expensive) since 2004. I just checked their booking website (www.kkreservations.com), and for the 16 nights of Oktoberfest, 2 people in a double, they wanted €3490 total (€218 average). That was two nights at €180, 8 nights at €200, and 6 nights at €255. Breakfast was not included, but could be ordered at €15 per person per night.

Strange, this is the email I just got from hotel Uhland....

Dear Mrs. B********

Thank you for your e-mail. We regret to inform you, that we have no accomodation available.

At any other time we will be happy to help you.

********

Thanks for all the suggestions, I am off to look for availability on these suggestions!

And Larry, that is a great tip on that train tickets ... thanks so much.

Hmm, at the bottom of their homepage they have a link to "Freie Zimmer Oktoberfest", and it shows that there are rooms available every day. Apparently, like some of the rest of us, they are not real good at keeping their website up-to-date.

Incidently, Frei (here the -e ending is added because rooms "is" plural) means free, as in available, not our translation of free, which in German is kostenlos (costless). Understanding that distinction may come in handy if you ever see "frei" on a pay toilet.