FAQs and Tips

The legal Drinking age for beer in Germany is 16. If you look near this age, you might be asked for ID. Children are however allowed to visit the beer tents but children under 6 must leave by 8pm.

The second weekend of the Oktoberfest is Italian weekend. The Italians that visit are heavily disproportionately men, are not used to drinking beer in glasses larger than 250ml and cannot generally speak any other language than Italian but who nonetheless have the number one goal of picking up foreign women. You can already imagine the fun that ensues. Keep this in mind if you are female and visiting on the middle weekend.

There are a couple of big gay meetups at the Oktoberfest. The biggest of them all is at the Bräurosl on the first Sunday. If you want to get in on this day, get to the tent early (before 8am) and start lining up.


A much loved souvenir is the Maßkrug that you drink out of. Although it might look easy, don't think about stealing these, as the door staff will be onto you. If you get caught you will be taken to the onsite Police station and fined at least €50, along with other possible reproductions. You can buy these Maßkrugs for around €10 at almost every stall at the Oktoberfest.


Tipping is normally not so important in Germany, however at the Oktoberfest it is paramount. The staff serving you beer is overworked, and you will definitely get priority if you are good at tipping. If you don't tip at all, you might be waiting a long time for your next beer. Although beer prices are around the €9 mark, it's probably a good idea just to give €10 euros over and be done with it.


Tuesdays between 12pm and 6pm is Family Day. Rides are cheaper between this time and there are other family oriented specials.


Keep a close eye on any personal belongings as thieves and pick pockets will travel in specifically for the Oktoberfest. If you do lose something, it is worth checking if it has been handed into the Lost and Found, which is located behind the Schottenhammel tent. You can also call them on +49 89 233 302 98.


A lot of locals dress up in traditional "Tracht" for the Oktoberfest. If you want to get some of your own, you can do so relatively cheaply in some of the bigger clothing shops (C&A for example) near Marienplatz in the center of town. The cheapest deals will start at about 50 euros including the trousers, shirt and suspenders. For the proper stuff, you're looking at 200 euros just for the shorts. There are plenty of hats, shirts and costumes that you can buy inside though if you want a memento of your trip.


If you've got to the grounds late and all the tents are full, then it's probably futile to wait in line. Your best bet is to enjoy everything else the Oktoberfest has to offer and then come back to the tents at around 5pm. At this time, most of the people who showed up early will have had enough and will be leaving. The first round of reservations leave at this time too, so there is a chance that the tent will be opened again.


Be careful of tables with the "Reserviert" or "Reservierung" signs on them. You might be able to sit at them briefly but you'll be kicked off as soon as the people who reserved the table come. If there are no other tables available, it can be worth trying to sit down at these seats because you might get lucky and the people that reserved won't turn up.



You can dance on the seats but you must not dance on the tables. Doing this will very likely get you, and possibly your whole table, kicked out.


If you still haven't had enough of the Oktoberfest when the doors close, there is another tent that is open until 3am located at Stiglmaierplatz (U1) in the Löwenbräukeller.