Staying in Munich for the Starkbierfest

Prices in Munich are high at the best of times, and the Oktoberfest rush means that even the shoddiest hotel room goes for around a €100 a night in late September. For that reason alone, there are plenty of dedicated Wiesn-goers who have never seen the inside of a Munich hotel: they prefer the hostels, campsites, or company of local friends – and who can blame them?

Yet if you are coming to Munich for the Strong Beer Festival and you’re not lucky enough to know someone in town with a sofa you can crash, then you’re already limited in terms of non-hotel options by the fact that campsites are generally closed. So given the slightly less pressured situation vis-à-vis hotel beds during the spring, you might want to take the plunge

Hotels

If you’re looking to stay in Munich without taking out a second mortgage, then you might have good chances at the Starkbierfest. Not only is the city nowhere near as crowded as during the Wiesn weeks, the tapping of the Strong Beer and most popular parties do not take place at Theresienwiese, meaning that all of the usual hotels which cash in during Oktoberfest are all of a sudden not in the same strong negotiating position they usually are: you might find some spare capacity at hotels between the Oktoberfest fields and Hauptbahnhof. If you really do want to roll out of bed and into a litre of beer (and then vice-versa at the end of the night), then your hotel will need to be in Giesing, the area around the Nockherberg brewery where the Starkbierfest is at its best. On the plus side, Giesing in not an expensive area of Munich; on the down side, it’s highly residential and lacks hotels.

AirBnB

Speaking of residential: our recommendation for staying in Munich around Strong Beer time is actually to take a look at sites like AirBnB or 9Flats. There are some really great apartments in the Giesing area which are within walking distance of the Nockherberg brewery – and priced competitively. Take a look at this one in Obergiesing, for example, or at this one nearby at Silberhornstraße. And who knows: maybe you’ll make a friend and enjoy Munich’s best kept secret, the Starkbierfest, all the better for it? And have someone to help advise you on all the latest lederhosen and dirndl trends for 2014…