Oktoberfest

Why book early

The 191st Wiesn runs 16 days and fills Munich's hotels city-wide. Rooms near the Hauptbahnhof and Theresienwiese are the first to go, and prices roughly double against a normal September week.

Theresienwiese, Munich

What Munich is known for

• Sixteen days of tents on the Theresienwiese, free to enter
• The Oide Wiesn, the quieter traditional corner of the festival
• Marienplatz, the Viktualienmarkt and the English Garden
• Day trips to Neuschwanstein and the Bavarian lakes

Where to stay — neighbourhood guide

Practical tips for Munich

• The Wiesn has a free Safe Space for women and girls, run by the Sichere Wiesn campaign since 2003. It sits in the Servicezentrum behind the Schottenhamel tent at the "Erste Hilfe" entrance, next to the police post. Open daily 18:00–01:00, and from 15:30 on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and 2–3 October. Staff will give you somewhere calm to wait, help you get home, walk you to a taxi, and go with you to the police if you want that.
• Save the Safe Space number before you go: +49 89 890 57 45 188, staffed during the festival. Emergency numbers are 112 for ambulance and 110 for police.
• Skip the Theresienwiese U-Bahn station at peak times — it gets crowded enough that staff sometimes close it. Schwanthalerhöhe (U4/U5), Goetheplatz or Poccistraße (U3/U6) are each about ten minutes' walk and far calmer, as is the S-Bahn to Hackerbrücke.
• Tents stop serving around 22:30 and close about 23:30, which produces one enormous simultaneous exit. Leaving half an hour early is the difference between a walk and a crush. (Käfer and the Weinzelt stay open until 01:00, with last orders at 00:30.)
• A Maß is a full litre of beer at roughly 6% — stronger than most people expect, and served faster than you can pace. Order water between rounds; every tent serves it.
• Since 2023 you can request a fixed fare when booking a Munich taxi by phone or app, which removes the haggling at the ranks.
• Agree a meeting point with anyone you arrive with before you go in. Phone signal on the grounds is unreliable at peak times and tents are far too loud for calls.

Getting there and around

Munich Airport (MUC) is 40 kilometres out; the S1 and S8 both run into the centre in about 45 minutes and are the cheapest and most predictable option. Memmingen (FMM), sold as "Munich West", is really an hour and a half away by coach. In the city, the U-Bahn runs until roughly 01:30 at ten-minute intervals during the festival, and all lines run through the night at 30-minute intervals from Friday to Sunday. Driving is not worth attempting: a large cordon closes the streets around the Theresienwiese and there is no parking at the grounds.

Frequently asked questions

When is Oktoberfest 2026?

The 191st Oktoberfest runs from Saturday 19 September to Sunday 4 October 2026 on the Theresienwiese in Munich, sixteen days in total. It opens at noon on the 19th when the Lord Mayor taps the first keg in the Schottenhamel tent; no beer is served before that.

Is Oktoberfest safe for a woman on her own?

Plenty of women go alone and have a good time. The realistic risks are pickpocketing, drinking more than you planned because a Maß is a full litre, and unwanted attention in crowded tents late in the evening. The festival runs a dedicated free Safe Space for women and girls in the Servicezentrum behind the Schottenhamel tent, staffed by trained women who can help you get home safely — worth knowing where it is before you need it.

Do I need a tent reservation?

Entry to the grounds and to the tents is free, and there is no ticket for Oktoberfest itself. Tables are a different matter: much of the seating is reserved, and tents close their doors when they fill, particularly on evenings and weekends. Arriving before noon on a weekday gives you a realistic chance of a table without a booking.

Where should I stay for Oktoberfest?

Anywhere on the U3/U6 or U4/U5 puts you a few minutes from the grounds without paying festival-adjacent prices. Glockenbachviertel and the Altstadt are the easiest bases for a solo trip — central, walkable and lively enough late that you are not the only person on the street. Book early: the whole city fills, not just the streets by the Theresienwiese.

How late does public transport run during Oktoberfest?

The U-Bahn runs until about 01:30 every night at ten-minute intervals, and every line runs right through the night at 30-minute intervals from Friday to Sunday. Since the tents empty around 23:30, you have time — but the platforms are at their worst in the half hour after closing.