The whole premise of this post may sound crazy, but hear us out. We’ve been to Oktoberfest twice and while we aren’t experts per-say, we do know a thing or two about how to do it right. Both of our trips were group trips (weird, considering our niche is group travel) with slightly different numbers. The first time we had five and the second time we had ten. Yes, ten. We may be a little crazy!
Before going to Oktoberfest the first time, we scoured the internet for information on what the hell to do when we got there and how to get into those infamous tents. After reading one million blogs, we decided that the best course of action was to get down to the grounds as early as possible to try and get a seat. We decided against a tent reservation. For this first trip we had five total, three girls and two guys. All of us girls did wear the traditional dirndl as well. The guys opted out of the lederhosen for this trip. If you want to read more about Oktoberfest in general and how to get a seat in a tent check out our other blog post dedicated to tips and tricks.
So why did we decide against a tent reservation that first trip? Well, we only had five people. And when you do a reservation, you pay for an entire table, which is ten people. That’s ten liters of beer, plus ten dinners – usually half a chicken. They really love their half chickens. But the cost was going to be very high for only five at the table. The other negative was that because we only had five, it would have been IMPOSSIBLE to stop five randos from coming and joining us. Those tents are packed with people all vying for that coveted spot to get a drink, and there’s no way we could have fought them off.
Pro tip: at least one member of the group has to be seated to get a drink. OBVIOUSLY we are friendly people (for the most part), but for the price of an entire table, to essentially have it inevitably overtaken, for us did not make sense. Another thing that can happen when you have a tent reservation, is you feel like you have to stay in that tent and you can’t go to others. Part of the fun, is experiencing what the atmosphere is like in different tents. If you only see the inside of one tent while you’re there, you did not do Oktoberfest well!
In the end, if you do still feel like you want a reservation, get on it, because chances are they could already be sold out. But also check Trip Advisor or Viator since now some tours exist that include a spot at a table. This was definitely not a thing the times we went!
Overall, we loved our experiences at Oktoberfest and no two times are the same (this is probably why we are planning a return in the near-ish future!) so get out there, strap on your lederhosen or dirndl and grab a liter of beer. Prost!
