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Oktoberfest

If you are travelling to Munich for the world's biggest beer festival, look at our travel advice before your departure.

• From: British Embassy Berlin
• Published: 17 September 2013

This was published under the 2010 to 2015 Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government

Coachman in traditional dress with his horse, By Hullbr3ach [CC-BY-SA-2.5 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5)], via Wikimedia Commons

Oktoberfest is one of the highlights of the Munich social calendar. If you are planning to make the best of what Oktoberfest has to offer, check our travel advice for useful information and contact details before you make the trip.

This year’s Oktoberfest runs from 21 September to 6 October. The festival is a huge tourist draw for the city of Munich. Last year, over six million people visited the region. During their stay, participants drunk approximately 7 million litres of beer and 80,000 litres of wine, and ate 240,000 sausages.

Most visits to the Oktoberfest are trouble-free, but with large numbers of Britons attending the festival, consular staff offer assistance where it’s needed. Our consular staff have been working with the local authorities to make sure British visitors know how to access help in the event of an emergency.

You can make the most of your visit if you take some simple precautions and follow the advice of local authorities and Oktoberfest officials. You should:

• take out comprehensive travel and medical insurance before travelling to Germany, even if you’re only going for a few days;
• keep on your person a separate record of your passport details, preferably a photocopy of the details pages with the next of kin details, and the name, address and telephone number of your accommodation;
• take care of your personal possessions at all times. Crowded areas such as the Oktoberfest can attract pick-pockets.
• And remember, the beer served during the event is stronger than most beer served in the UK so please bear in mind the risks of overindulging which can lead to accidents and difficulties with the local authorities.

Further information

British Consulate-General, Munich

Munich Tourist office

Get travel updates on Twitter from either @ukingermany for Germany specific information, or @fcotravel for general information.

Published 17 September 2013