Oktoberfest in Munich is a beer drinker’s paradise.
Walk into a tent and there are people as far as the eye can see, all sitting down and all with large mugs in front of them.
There’s a constant buzz of sound: conversation, live music, singing and shouting. It’s just like in the old Inspector Clouseau Pink Panther movie – a large, crowded and fun party.
While there are a dozen beer tents at Munich, to really do Oktoberfest right, you’ve got to go to the Hofbrauhaus.
It’s the only beer tent in Munich in which you don’t have to be sitting down to get a beer. Here you can be anywhere and they just seem to appear, as if you’re in some kind of beer drinker’s heaven. Which you are, in fact.
For this reason, Hofbrauhaus brings in all the youthful big-time party people from around the world.
They gather at the tables beneath the band – all bands are on elevated stages – start singing with strangers, and the waitress is always right there with a beer when you need one.
(Tip: These are cash transactions so be sure and have ample cash on hand; there’s virtually no crime so you are perfectly safe with money.)
The real party at Oktoberfest – the one you’ve heard about, had people tell you about and want to experience – is in Hofbrauhaus.
This is not a knock on the other beer tents; by all means go visit them, as well (you can freely walk – or stumble – from one to the other). And don’t be intimated by the “sit down to have a beer” rule; just walk around until you find an open spot at one of the long picnic tables, sit down and start partying with those around you.
The restriction, of course, is that this is your home base and if everyone in your party wanders from the spot, you will lose it.
The only thing you are likely to lose at the Hofbrauhaus is your inhibitions.
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