We prefer going in September before the masses start arriving from all over Europe and the world. But no matter what day you go, prepare for an unforgettable time — if you can remember anything at all after so many gallons of beer.

Once you get to Munich, there are plenty of ways to shrink your wallet while expanding your beer belly. If you don’t follow a few simple tips, it’s easy for first-timers to waste a lot of cash and time. Here are some ways to save when hitting the happiest place in Bavaria.

1. Arrive “beer-ed” up and ready to go

The cost for a one-liter stein of beer has passed the €10 mark, so make a plan to pre-party elsewhere first. Smaller beer tents sell beer for a euro or two less, but outside the festival, there are dozens of beer gardens to hang out at for €6.50+ a pop.

The breakfast room at Meininger City Hostel & Hotel. Photo: Courtesy of Meininger

2. Hotel regulars: try hostels

Munich is a place with a huge selection of decent hostels around the city, many of them with private rooms. Hostelling Youth International is present, along with Germany’s well-received Meininger Hotel or try CVJM/YMCA Hostel for a really cheap sleep. Some hostels rival cleanliness and amenities with large city two-star hotels. Don’t let the experience of age get in the way of a good offer at a Munich hostel.

Search all Munich hotel options on EuroCheapo

3. Hostel regulars: try camping

Campsites specific for Oktoberfesters include The Tent and Wies’n Camp that cost €35 to €140 per night depending on how much equipment you have. Camping gear is also available for rent, even ready-made tents, so you don’t have to bring much. For lower costs, remember that the larger your group, the cheaper the price. Other Munich camping sites include Campsite Nord-West and Campsite Obermenzing.

4. Stay local and cheap during Oktoberfest

The festival is not located in the old city center or anywhere near the Hofbrauhaus, so staying downtown is probably not ideal if you are only town to experience Oktoberfest. The festival is located at S-Bahn station Hackerbrucke, which is a few stops away from downtown. Look to book closer to the festival in neighborhoods like Laim or Hirschgarten (an area with amazing greenery, cute deer, and large beer gardens).

Related: Our favorite cheap hotels in central Munich

5. Metro trains are the best way

Forget taxis, the best part about traveling around Munich are the quick and efficient S-Bahn and U-Bahn (metro) trains. Since the festival ends every night at 11:30 p.m., the metros are still running for an extra hour or more. It’s easy to get around, and a three-day travel ticket is only €16.80, while a one-way trip is €2.90. There’s even an online guide to using public transport during the festival too.

6. Scoring deals on lederhosen and dirndls

It’s a great souvenir and beer-drinking outfit that lasts a lifetime but make sure to shop around for the best deals. If you’re not looking for uber-authentic, try larger department stores around Marienplatz than the real McCoy. A full dirndl outfit set can be as low as €60 if you shop smart.

7. Eat a big meal before you enter

The roasted chicken and warm potato salads are to die for, but the prices might just kill your wallet. It’s not an insane amount, but a pretzel, a beer, an apple strudel…it all adds up very quickly. Grab a big meal before heading into the festival to guarantee you’ll be eating just enough to get your beer belly through the night.

Related: Our favorite cheap eats in Munich

Those giant cookies may look tasty, but they make better souvenirs than desserts. Photo: Erik C.

8. Pass on the lebkuchen

Lebkuchen are those heart-shaped cookie cakes with adorable phrases written in icing look so delicious and sweet! But don’t be fooled. They’re not as fresh and moist as you think, and the shrink wrap around it doesn’t add a very nice flavor either. These cakes are not to eat, they’re to wear as a necklace. A cute gift, but don’t go for the XXL size.

9. Don’t buy a pointy hat

This is a personal pet peeve I have with first-timers at Oktoberfest. Maybe it’s because they’re the cheapest souvenir around, but these tacky, grey felt hats claim to be “original Bavarian” style. Trust me, there are much better and much more flattering Munich hats out there that don’t resemble a drunk college guy meets wimpy Halloween witch.

Most importantly, remember to have fun. Cheers to a happy time at Oktoberfest! Photo: Jason Paris

10. Save time by knowing when to go

Yes, it’s true people wake up at 6 a.m. to score a seat in a tent, but it’s more out of anxiety than necessity. Large tents are open from 10 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. but waiting early for a tent to open is for beginners. Locals know that Oktoberfest weekends are for sunny beer garden afternoons and weekdays are for hassle-free walk-ins to any beer tent.

Timing is still important: try to get there before 4 p.m. for any decent seat. But the key to a fun Oktoberfest experience is flexibility, patience and going with the Oktoberfest beer flow.

Your secrets to enjoying Oktoberfest

Have you been to Oktoberfest in Munich? Let us know your tips in the comments below!

The post Munich: 10 ways to save time & money at Oktoberfest appeared first on EuroCheapo's Budget Travel Blog.

No matter which tent you end up in, beer will be €10 a pop and people are bouncing off the walls in dirndls and lederhosen. But to get a grasp of what’s happening in other tents, here’s a rough guide.

Caravans from Italy

The second weekend of Oktoberfest is “Italian weekend.” Camping spaces around the festival are reserved for caravans from Italy, and there’s a notable presence in Munich of accents and sweaters that read “Italia!” These Italian stallions are found in large groups at the beer gardens outside — they arrived too late in the day to actually get in any tent.

Lowenbräu and Hofbräu: The “tourist” tents

Maybe it’s the 15-foot tall lion statue above the entrance that makes things look exciting. Still, Italian tourists, along with Australian and Asian visitors, are known to “park it” at the Louwenbräu tent. The line is always the longest, the tent look is very traditional, and the indoor and outdoor seating hit the 8,000 mark.

The Hofbräu tent seems to be reserved especially for the North American backpacker traveling Europe via Eurail, and the Aussies on Busabout party coaches who like to rockstar their way through Europa. They’re psyched out of their mind that the legendary bierhalle (and legendary tourist trap) Hofbräuhaus has – for a limited time – a flippin beer tent!

Bräurosol and Hacker: The “local rager” tents

The “Hacker” tent (aka “Bavarian Heaven”) and the “Pschorr Bräurosol” are the real party tents for Bavarians ages 18 to 35 (the 16-year-olds are at the Paulaner tent, along with more Austrailians). Both are massive and have lots of side entrances to help you sneak in when main doors are busy (but make sure your group’s woman-man ratio is at least 2:1). Tables are also great for the bigger group.

These tents’ bands are known to mix things up after 5 pm with more rock and pop hits, but don’t expect anything beyond Bon Jovi, White Stripes and the guy who reminds me my life was fine before knowing of his existence… what’s his name… Robbie Williams.

Trend of 2013: The smoking ban inside the beer tents has caused some creative initiatives. Besides sneaky, under-the-table puffs when servers aren’t looking, both men and women in the Bräurosol are smoking out the wooden corridor just before the men’s toilet. Intimate talking corner? Maybe. Ashtray that looks like a sauna hall? Heck Yes. Gross.

Fisher Vroni and Ochsenbraterei: The “foodies” tent

Worthy of a mention are the beer tents that offer more than your run-of-the-mill Oktoberfest food.

Above the Ochsenbraterei entrance sits large motorized figurines roasting a giant ox on a spit – a fair warning for vegetarians, and a mouth-watering invitation for carnivores. Inside the tent, a mechanical ox rotisserie roasts more than 100 bovine during the festival for dishes that go from €15 to €30 per plate. Not the cheapest pick, but as far as rotisserie pros go, 100 years of practice puts Ochsenbraterei at a master level.

Fish-on-a-stick might be a sore second after something as savory as 100 rotisserie oxen, but think of a 50-foot row of fresh mackerel, salmon, trout and more grilled over hot coals to Bavarian perfection. It looks impressive after drinking one beer, and after your second beer it’s to die for.

Hippodrome: The “celebrity” tent

The bourgeoisie of Munich are the “Shickeria” – amazingly tanned, platinum blonde, pearly white smiling (always smiling), and apparently hanging out at Oktoberfest for people to see them drink themselves silly. Yes, Hippodrome is the “see and be seen” tent, which is an obvious reason why they’re the first tent in line at Oktoberfest.

I don’t know if most people who go to Hippodrome are already famous, want to be famous, famously blow more than your average Bavarian spender (an already wealthy bunch), or have a thing for drinking beer on white tablecloths – but I’m guessing it’s a combination of all of these. It can’t be because they like breweries, Hippodrome serves other brewer’s beers… and champagne!

The plus is that the Hippodrome tent – besides looking like a glam “Moulon Rouge” gone Bavaria – has the latest closing time. While other tents end at 11 pm, the upperclass of who-the-heck-knows-your-famous-outside-Bavaria-anyways get to rage it until 1 am. And for singles, it’s a jackpot.

Augustiner: The “family friendly” tent

As cultural and cozy the mood at Oktoberfest is, things easily get loud, messy large men hit the ground – it’s just no place for kids. Good news is the Augustiner tent is known to be great for families, which is vital information for anyone planning to hit Oktoberfest with the little ones.

Tuesdays are “kids day,” which means kids drink for free! Just joking. It means the food and drink menu is marked at a discount for adults and kids with a talking tummy.

The post Report from Oktoberfest: A guide to the tents, tastes, and trends appeared first on EuroCheapo's Budget Travel Blog.

Even if you’re a loyal Oktoberfest patron, here are five reasons to consider heading to Holland for an “off the beaten beer path” experience:

1. There’s more (room for) variety.

Face it, a day at Oktoberfest does not mean “tent hopping” from one brewery to the next. It means finding one spot and staying put, which also means drinking the same beer, liter after liter.

That can be a great thing at Oktoberfest, but beer lovers after a mixed mug will appreciate the market style setup at the Bokbier Festival in Amsterdam. The open layout is lined corner to corner with almost 100 small bok beer stands to sample from.

Visitors have surprisingly ample elbowroom to float around from tap to tap. The beers are brought from small and large breweries across the Netherlands, with a considerable cluster from Belgium and a handful of German bok beer classics.

2. It’s (almost) self serve.

Like most beer festivals in the US, the Bokbier Festival has a “bar service style” where patrons approach different stands to be served. There’s no waiting for traditionally dressed barmaids (which can be a disappointment for some); simply find your next appealing bok tap and show your glass to the brewer behind the bar for a refill.

3. BYO grub.

Food here is not amazing, but guests are free to bring in food from outside. Anything goes, from take out boxes to grocery bags full of snacks. Even high tables are available for a sizable spread. Some common Dutch beer snacks include cubes of fresh Gouda cheese with mustard, small smoked sausages, and spicy borrelnootjes peanuts with a thin cracker shell.

4. It’s cheaper than Oktoberfest, sort of.

Oktoberfest beers are hitting the €10 mark per stein. While the number of beers consumed varies from person to person, calculate in the food, candy and carnival rides: It’s easy to drop €50 on a day at Oktoberfest without even trying.

Amsterdam’s Bokbier Festival charges between €10 and €15 for a one-time entry fee that’s good for the three-day period. This includes a sampler glass, which you can take home, and counts as your re-entry ticket.

Sampling the beer is on a token-based pay structure. One token is usually €2, and a six-ounce sample costs one token. One Oktoberfest liter stein equals to about five of these samples, so the price of beer is about the same. The savings is more apparent when you consider all the little extras (or lack thereof). At the Bokbier Festival it’s strictly about the beer.

5. It’s way, way smaller, but still traditional.

Although Amsterdam’s Bokbier Festival is the largest of its kind in the world, it pulls in about 10,000 visitors for its weekend soiree at the downtown venue. In contrast, Oktoberfest welcomes over 4 million in a span of two weeks (with over a dozen tents holding thousands of seats).

Still, the Bokbier Festival has its traditional Dutch drinking music, old beer chants, and farmers dressed in overalls instead of lederhosen. You’ll catch locals wearing authentic wooden clogs, and some women wearing dirndl-like dresses. And above all, the friendly spirit of beer enthusiasm flows freely throughout the weekend, just like a good beer fest should.

More information: Read more about the festival on the Amsterdam tourism website. If you’re heading over, be sure to also check out our Amsterdam guide for recommended cheap hotels and budget tips.

The post 5 reasons to visit the Bokbier Festival in Amsterdam, the Dutch Oktoberfest appeared first on EuroCheapo's Budget Travel Blog.

I’ve spent the past two weeks in Munich watching the city prepare for, and then celebrate, Oktoberfest. Although the festival continues through October 4, 2009, I’ve already taken some notes for getting the most out of the festival next year. Simply follow these five tips:

1. Come in September

The most common misconception is that Oktoberfest runs in October. While that makes sense to the rest of the world, the festival is meant to “bring in” October, so it runs the last two weeks of September. To be exact, Oktoberfest begins the second-to-last Saturday of September and lasts for two weeks. This year, 2009, it runs through October 4.

2. Bring only what you want to spend

Between beers hovering around €10 and not-so-cheap grub, it is scarily easy to drop €50 in one day. Make a daily budget and stash the rest of your cash somewhere far, far away: you’ll thank yourself later. Of course, ATMs are always available for emergencies.

3. Pace yourself

A stein is one liter… period. That’s about three cans of beer, each with almost six percent alcohol, by volume. Remember this: it’s all about knowing your limits. Eat a giant soft pretzel (“Bretzel”), drink a half-liter water (“Wasser”). Whatever happens, just remember to pace yourself to survive a demanding day full of beer-drinking.

4. Bring your camera for cheap souvenirs

Legally acquire souvenirs. After all, stealing a stein can cost you thousands of euros, and stealing a kiss can cost you a fat slap on the face! Common Oktoberfest souvenirs are costly t-shirts and cheaply made trinkets. Photos are the best way for cheap memories—the festival brings endless photo-ops and camera theft isn’t a common occurrence.

5. Know how to score a tent seat

Never use the main entrance during busy times. Some people wait in line for hours, not knowing that the side and back entrances are crowd-free. Larger groups should split up on busy nights and rendezvous when things get a bit more spacious. When zoning in on seats, make sure the table you find is not reserved.

Bonus tip: Hit the loo early on

Lines for the toilet can be ridiculous, especially on weekends. Head to the W.C. as soon as you feel the need: chances are you’ll have to wait in line. Toilets are in tents, on the terraces, and in between tent zones.

The post Munich: Top five Oktoberfest survival tips appeared first on EuroCheapo's Budget Travel Blog.

Before you grab your favorite stein and head for Bavaria, test your Oktoberfest knowledge with our Oktoberfest Quiz:

1) When does Oktoberfest take place this year?
a. September 19 – October 4, 2009
b. October 1-17, 2009
c. October 1-31, 2009
d. October 16-November 3, 2009

2) How many official beer tents will you find at Oktoberfest?
a. 6
b. 9
c. 14
d. 32

3) How much does it cost to visit the beer tents?
a. They’re free.
b. €3 per tent
c. €5 per tent
d. €10 per tent

4) The locals refer to “Oktoberfest” as…
a. “Biertrinkenfest”
b. “Festenbier”
c. “Braufest”
d. “Wiesn”

5) Each year, how many visitors attend Oktoberfest?
a. 1 million
b. 3 million
c. 4 million
d. 6 million

6) How many liters of beer are downed each year?
a. 850,000
b. 1.5 million
c. 5 million
d. 25 million

7) Which of these is NOT a beer tent at Oktoberfest?
a. Spatenbräu-Festhalle
b. Currywurst-Festhalle
c. Hackerbräu-Festhalle
d. Löwenbräu-Festhalle

8 ) The beer tents are run by:
a. “Bosses”
b. “Landlords”
c. “Chiefs”
d. “Riflemen”

9) According to “Interesting Facts and Figures” by the tourism office, 4,000 items were reported lost by attendees in 2007. Which of these was NOT on the list?
a. 200 mobile phones
b. 260 pair of glasses
c. 2 crutches
d. 1 set false teeth

10) Beer tents don’t start serving beer until…
a. 7 AM
b. 10 AM
c. Noon
d. They never stop serving.

Answers:

1) A. Sept 19-October 4. Ironically, Oktoberfest takes place almost entirely in September.

2) C. 14 tents. Here’s a list.

3) A. They’re free. But you have to pay for the beer and sausage.

4) D. “Wiesn”. Read the charming story behind the name.

5) D. 6 million. And it gets bigger every year. Here are the stats.

6) C. 5 million. Remember—some attendees don’t drink (like, say, children).

7) B. Currywurst-Festhalle. But it should be.

8 ) B. “Landlords” run the beer tents.

9) D. False teeth. Or at least they weren’t reported lost.

10) B. You’ll have to wait until tents open at 10 AM (9 AM weekends).

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