Where to stay in Munich for Oktoberfest, the best guide

So you’ve been wondering where to stay in Munich for Oktoberfest, but there’s so many decisions to make about commuting in and out, or paying a fortune for a hotel within walking distance.

Not to worry my friend, I’ve done your research for you and put together this handy guide on where to stay for every budget, including helpful hints on how to use the public transport.

There are options for everyone, whether you’re planning a more family friendly fest or if you want to dance on the benches all night long and need to be as close to the action as possible.

I’m here to help you make the best decision on where to stay in Munich (or beyond) and enjoy your Oktoberfest experience in style.

And have somewhere lovely to sleep!

Grab your dirndls and lederhosen, we’re off to the Wiesn!

We’ve heard about how there are loads of visitors to the festival, so how early should we be looking up accommodation sites and working out train lines?

I would say around 6-9 months out to get the best pricing but there will still be some options closer to the festival.

The earlier you book, the more likely it is that the rates will be lower and you can lock in a good deal.

Also if you’re in charge of booking for a bigger group, definitely book early.

Availability will run out quickly for big bookings and a group holiday won’t be much fun if you’re scattered across hotels.

What about if you don’t have 9 months notice, what if you’re a last minute call up and you’re only getting a month’s notice.

If you have lots of cash to splash, then you’ll probably be able to find a luxury room within the inner city. And I see why your friends invited you.

If you need to stick to more of a budget, other options include camping grounds, youth hostels, and staying further out in neighbouring towns and cities.

I’ll go over some different budget options on further. But don’t worry, all hope is not lost if you’re in need of a last minute room.

And yes, the festival grounds close overnight so sleeping under a table in the sawdust is not an option.

1. Check the rating of your accommodation, personally I won’t book anything below 7/10 

2. Check your accommodation has a free cancellation option, proceed carefully if it does not, you might end up wearing the cost of cancellation if you can’t make it

3. Bonus points if your stay is within walking distance of public transport to the festival, you don’t even want to think about how much a cab will be charging at 1am to get back. Or walking distance to the grounds themselves.

4. Don’t forget about the option of staying out in the commuter towns that I list below, and catching the efficient trains in.

5. Stick to hotels and hostels, hosted stays where people rent out their extra space (you can guess which jumbo platform I’m referring to here) are infamous for being cancelled last minute and relisted with massively inflated rates.

So, sadly, budget options in Munich are not exactly what you might consider “normal” pricing and that’s especially true during Oktoberfest.

Prices at 150€ a night for a dorm room (I KNOW) are very possible if you’re booking last minute, you’re looking at roughly 300€ a night for a private room at peak rates.

So when I say book early to avoid the budget pain, I mean it.

Things do get a bit more affordable if you’re willing to travel by public transport each day to the festival grounds but overall, unfortunately, you’ll be forking out extra even to stay at a hostel for Oktoberfest. 

Some highly rated hostel options are:

Wombat’s City Hostel Munich Hauptbahnhof: 130€ a night in a dorm bed, 10min walk to Oktoberfest

Euro Youth Hostel: 140€ a night in a dorm bed, 10min walk to Oktoberfest (no cooking facilities)

MEININGER Munich Olympiapark: 90€ a night in a dorm bed, about 40min on public transport to Oktoberfest

Alternatively, there is the ultimate budget option, which I can’t say that I’ve tested out.

There are a number of campgrounds that spring up with pre-set up tents, complete with sleeping bags and air mattresses.

Some come with free brekky and even options for unlimited booze, with afterparties after the main Oktoberfest tents have shut up for the night.

An option I’ve heard of is the Stoke Travel Campground, 65€ a night and boasting bottomless brunch and bottomless drink options.

I’ve got no doubt that you’ll be able to rustle up some drinking buddies from among your tent neighbours.

Keep in mind that these campsites come with those large after-parties, fun if you’d like to stay up until the wee hours, your tent might not do such a good job of soundproofing your sleep. But it is one of the cheapest options for where to stay in Munich for Oktoberfest.

If you’re thinking that communal bathrooms and earplugs are less your style, let’s find some mid range hotel options around the city.

Your best options here are going to be booking in advance and potentially looking further afield than Munich city centre.

This will help keep prices a bit more affordable.

If you’ve got a buddy to share a room with, many of these options which are a bit further away from the festival grounds are honestly similar in price to two dorm beds in a hostel. Which is a bit crazy but hey, shows the value of doing your research.

These options are priced for a single night’s stay mid-week during the 2023 Oktoberfest, researched with a month to go until the festivities. You will able to find cheaper rates if you’re able to book 3-6 months in advance.

Leonardo Hotel Muenchen City West: 250€ a night for two people, 35min walk

B&B Hotel München City-West: 260€ a night for two people, 30min walk

Hotel Rivoli: 220€ a night for two people, 30min walk

These hotels are all 4 star and are priced accordingly, all are within a few minutes walk of the main train station too, a handy stroll when you have heavy luggage!

Of course, you can expect a higher degree of luxury here, no shared bathrooms or 30 minute hikes from the suburbs on this list.

Even the walking time is a generous estimate, some are around the corner from the festival grounds.

These options are priced for a single night’s stay mid-week during the 2023 Oktoberfest, researched with a month to go until the festivities. As above, you will able to find cheaper rates if you’re able to book 3-6 months in advance.

Munich Deluxe Hotel: 493€ a night for two people, 8min walk

Maritim Hotel München: 400€ a night for two people, 15min walk

Hotel München City Center: 464€ a night for two people, 10min walk (includes free breakfast!)

Now that we’ve seen some *pricey* options for accommodation within Munich, there are luckily some more budget friendly spaces outside of the city.

Since they’re a bit further out, they’re not as prone to the wild price rise that many of the hotels near the centre do.

Consider the cost of transit tickets both in and out and work out whether it will be more economical to commute.

Be aware that your fellow passengers on the train may be rather merry after a day of consuming litres of beer, especially if you’re planning on catching the last train back, some lines do run all night though.

Double and triple check those train timetables because you don’t want to be walking back to Freising.

Dachau, a medium sized village known for the former concentration camp nearby, is 20km northwest of the city and is reachable in around 30 minutes on the S2 line.

The trains run from around 4:30am all the way through to 1:30am, so you’ve got plenty of time to stumble your way back to the train station after the tents close up around midnight.

And after the festival, if you still have time, the sombre memorial site at the former camp (KZ-Gedenkstätte) provides insight into the darkest chapter of Germany’s history.

These options are priced for a single night’s stay mid-week during the 2023 Oktoberfest, researched with a month to go until the festivities. As above, you will able to find cheaper rates if you’re able to book 3-6 months in advance.

Hotel DAH-Inn: 134€ a night for two people, 10min walk to the station (+ free brekky)

Altstadt-Hotel Zieglerbräu: 128€ a night for two people, 12min walk to the station (+ free brekky)

Ismanning is a village just outside suburban Munich, directly serviced by the S8 line which runs trains all night long, roughly every 30 minutes.

So you’re free to keep drinking with your new beer tent friends for as long as you like!

There’s plenty of cute restaurants and naturally bakeries (my favourite part of little German villages) to keep you fuelled up for your big days at the fest.  

These options are priced for a single night’s stay mid-week during the 2023 Oktoberfest, researched with a month to go until the festivities. As above, you will able to find cheaper rates if you’re able to book 3-6 months in advance. 

Hotel und Gasthof Soller: 189€ a night for two people, 2min walk to the station (+ free breakfast) 

Gasthof Neuwirt: 150€ a night for two people, 9min walk to the station (+ free breakfast) 

Stern Hotel Soller: 185€ a night for two people, 11min walk to the station (+ free breakfast)  

Hopefully now you have a bit of an idea of some slightly cheaper spots to stay, especially if you’re booking last minute. If you do decide to stay out in one of the towns outside of Munich, I’ve got just the guide for you on how to use the public transport system, even if you’ve been enjoying the Oktoberfest brews.

Staying within Munich city limits? You’ll be able to use the trams circling the city or buses to reach the festival grounds.

I’d advise you to double check when selecting your accommodation to check that public transport links are a short walk away, the walk to your hotel might feel very long when you’ve enjoyed plenty of steins at the Wiesn.

Downloading the MVV app for the local public transport will help you get exactly where you’re going, it also has fare information, vital when the tickets are based on how many zones you pass through in Munich. Plus it tells you when the next train is coming.

You can easily punch in your current stop (keep in mind that the H stands for Haltestelle – German for transport stop) or current location and where you need to go and it’ll work it all out for you. You can even buy tickets on the app and display them on your phone.

You’ll need to know how many zones you cover but essentially, all of Munich falls within the zone “M” and a day ticket covering this area will give you unlimited trips within the M zone until 6am the following morning.

Just the M zone ticket will cost 8.80€ or 17€ for a group of 2-5 people.

If you’re staying out in Ismanning, you’d need an M-1 (Munich city to Zone 1) day ticket or Tageskarte, which will be 10€ for a single or 18.40€ for up to 5 people.

You’ll get some pretty big savings if you’re travelling as a group but you will need to make sure that you’re all travelling together on the same ticket on the way back.

The inspector probably won’t be sympathetic if you promise that your friend back at the hotel has your train ticket.

Kids under the age of 6 are free and from 6-14 years old, two kids count as one adult. I would ignore the Streifenticket, just stick to the far less complicated day pass (Tageskarte).

If you’d like to catch RE trains in from Freising, you’ll need a single Tageskarte for M to Zone 4, costing 13.40€ or a group ticket for 2-5 people at 25.10€.

Alternatively, Nuremberg and Augsburg run regular trains to Munich – a day trip to Oktoberfest from one of these towns is definitely tiring but possible.

You’ll need a Bayern Ticket, costing 36 Euro for two people, this will get you onto any RE or RB trains within Bavaria and even onto local transport like the S trains should you need them.

It covers unlimited trips from 9am on the day of purchase until 3am the following morning.

It won’t be valid on the IC or ICE trains so make sure you stick to the RE and RB trains. This will be much cheaper than buying individual one way tickets.