Oktoberfest has been on my bucket list for some time. I have been to the Canstatter Volksfest in Stuttgart which is kind of a mini Oktoberfest but this year I got to go to the real thing. I have been told that you have to reserve tables sometimes 2 years in advance. We were lucky and went with some locals and they did not have a reservation but suggested we go between 4:00-5:00p.m. when the 1st shift/2nd shift reservations roll over. There are open tables that don’t require reservations and if you go at this time, you have a good chance to get a spot. We found a spot with some young Americans from the Seattle area. We were in the Augustiner Festhalle. It was funny that when we got there most people were calm. Then the band started and as the hours progressed, more people were standing on the benches until finally everyone was standing on the benches. You can order food but we mainly drank and just had a couple pretzels. You can only buy beer a liter at a time (a little over 2 standard beers) and the price was 10.10EUR (about $12). Not bad for 2 beers. I checked out the beer filling station and was impressed by how many beers they pour and how the ladies can handle lots of heavy beers. My wife even noticed the next day that her hand was sore from hoisting the 1 liter mug all night. If you go, you should book your hotel far in advance. The festival is 1 U-bahn stop from the Munich main station (hauptbahnhoff). There are lots of hotels near the main train station so that is an option. This means you could most likely walk to Oktoberfest from this spot and also to Marienplatz (central downtown area). This is where the Hofbrauhaus is located and the Christmas Market if you are ever there in DEC. We stayed in Augsburg and took the train into Munich. This is another option where you will probably save 100EUR a night on a hotel (compared to Munich). I can’t wait to go back.