Oktoberfest is free to enter, has no ticket, and you can walk straight into any tent. That sentence is true and it is also how most first-timers end up standing outside a full tent at 6pm on a Saturday with nowhere to sit. The festival is free; getting the experience you pictured takes a little planning. This guide is about the parts that actually need deciding in advance.
The 191st Oktoberfest runs from Saturday 19 September to Sunday 4 October 2026, on the Theresienwiese in Munich. Sixteen days, despite the name — it starts in September and always ends on the first Sunday of October (or 3 October if that lands later).
The opening Saturday is the ceremony: the mayor taps the first keg at noon with the cry of "O'zapft is!", and no beer is served anywhere until he does. Weekdays are calmer and easier; weekends and evenings are when tents fill and close their doors.
There are 17 large tents and 21 small ones. Reservations are made directly with each tent, usually in units of a full table (eight or ten people) and often bundled with food and drink vouchers. They open early in the year and the good evening slots go within days.
Go on a weekday, and go early — late morning or early afternoon. Tents that are full close their doors entirely, even to people who just want to walk through. Mornings and the first two hours after opening are your reliable windows for walking in and finding space at a shared table.
| You want | Look for |
|---|---|
| The classic loud party | The big brewery tents — busy, boisterous, standing on benches by evening |
| Something calmer | The smaller tents and the wine tent — easier to get into, more relaxed |
| Traditional atmosphere | The older, ox-roast and hunter-themed tents lean less rowdy |
"Free entry" is the headline. The real spend is inside the tent. A litre of festival beer (a Maß) runs well into double figures in euros before you have eaten anything, and the tents only serve full litres. Add a roast chicken or pork knuckle, a couple more Maß, and a day inside a tent adds up faster than people expect.
The costs that genuinely surprise people are the fixed ones: accommodation during the festival, which is where the real money goes.
You do not need to be next to the Theresienwiese — Munich's transport is excellent and the U-Bahn gets you there from most of the city in minutes. Staying a few stops out is cheaper and barely less convenient. What matters is booking before the good-value rooms are gone, which happens early.
Find a hotel in MunichCompare stays for the festival datesMunich Airport connects to most of Europe and beyond, and the S-Bahn runs from the airport into the city in around 40 minutes. If you are coming from elsewhere in Europe, the train network into Munich Hauptbahnhof is fast and central — Hauptbahnhof is walking distance from the Theresienwiese.
Compare flights to MunichSearch dates around the festivalLand, check in, and spend the evening in the city rather than the Wies'n — the English Garden, a beer hall in the centre, an early night. You will want the energy.
Get to the grounds by late morning. Walk the whole site once — it is enormous, part funfair, part beer tents. Pick a tent before the afternoon rush, eat before you drink, and pace the Maß. Full litres sneak up on people.
Munich itself: Marienplatz, the Residenz, a museum, or a day trip. Neuschwanstein castle and the Bavarian Alps are both within reach and make the trip more than a beer festival.
An eSIM installed before you fly means you land connected — useful at Oktoberfest specifically for finding your group across a site with hundreds of thousands of people, splitting off and meeting back up, and calling a ride when the U-Bahn is packed.
Germany eSIMInstall now, connects when you land19 September to 4 October 2026, on the Theresienwiese in Munich.
No. Entry to the grounds and the tents is free. You only pay for what you eat and drink — and, if you want a guaranteed seat on a busy evening, a table reservation.
For weekend evenings, effectively yes. For weekday daytimes, no — arrive early and find a shared table.
Two or three. One full day at the festival, plus time for Munich and a possible day trip.
Yes, especially the funfair side and the quieter daytime hours. Tuesdays are traditionally the family days with reduced ride prices.