Munich Oktoberfest With an Infant
We recently returned from Oktoberfest in Munich after taking our 7 month old and this is what we learned. Watch our video or scroll down for more tips!
Our Tips:
Since we were traveling with a bunch of adults we just took the baby along for everything we had planned. Oktoberfest has a whole host of family-friendly resources, including a family-friendly area. we explored none of that so I’m not going to speak on that but you can learn more about that here.
I found a lot of resources for people who went with older kids, so definitely search for those if your kids are of the age they can ride rides, etc.
You cannot bring in anything bigger than a fanny pack, including diaper bags, so I was advised to just hand carry in anything we needed for her to avoid the need to check out diaper bag on site. I brought the diaper bag to the hotel where we checked in for our reserved table and left the bag there.
I portioned three bottles of water for her (and I am glad I did since it was impossible to find still water in our tent) and packed a container of formula with enough for the three bottles.
We put diapers and wipes into the baby carrier and our fanny packs, along with a few toys.
We chose the morning session as it was recommended for kids and I definitely know why. It was great and I probably wouldn’t need to be a part of the evening crew even if it was just me.
Our tent was not “family-friendly”, there are some that are more family-friendly than others, but realistically I think you can have kids in any of them if you choose.
Ours not being “family-friendly” meant there was no place to change her in the bathroom in our tent, but our nice bathroom attendant put together a stack of wrapped toilet paper rolls for us to change her on, lol.
I do believe the family area has bathrooms with changing options, we just never left our tent or headed to that section to find out.
You can reserve tables with third-party groups, or just hope you can get a table when you arrive. My family chose to reserve a table which gave us a meeting place, a guide to get to our table and to help us order, and prepaid beer and food tickets to use when we ordered.
I didn’t think it was necessary as at noon on a Thursday there was plenty of unreserved indoor and outdoor seating open in our tent (Lowenbrau). My family speaks fluent German so we didn’t need someone to act as a translator (not that you really would anyway), and she just sat around begging for a tip for the first two hours which drove me nuts.
However, it was nice to know we were guaranteed a spot after traveling so far and with baby in tow. With an older child, I think it would’ve been fine to risk it and bop around tents to find a good place to sit for the morning.
We went on an 80-degree day and the tent got HOT. Dress baby appropriately and know that you can leave the tent and come back in, so long as half of your family is still at your table (just meaning you need someone to stay at the table so you don't lose it)
We were able to go stand outside in the shade and catch a breeze for both of her naps in the carrier. We’re lucky she will nap in the carrier.
Bring baby headphones (we loved these) - they are necessary for the loudness, especially as people get more drunk.
Oktoberfest Blog:
We planned to meet my family at 10am to get the train to our meeting spot for our table reservation. We woke up around 7:30 and decided to go out and get a good breakfast. We enjoyed Bar Centrale, where we had an excellent full meal, and then Drew headed back to our hotel to take a nap and let baby get her first nap in the crib. My mom and I stopped at the grocery store for some water for our room, figuring we’d need them after an Oktoberfest day.
Baby ended up sleeping over an hour, so we were late to the meeting place and let everyone else go without us. We took the streetcar (running into our seatmate from the flight to Munich on our way - small world!) to the hotel that was our meeting place for the Oktoberfest reservations. Our host led the way onto the grounds and took us to our tent and seats. This was around 12pm and honestly, we did not need her or the reservations as at this time there were plenty of tables inside open and the entire outside was open (but it was hot out). However, it was all just a part of the experience my family had planned so we were along for the ride!
We ordered our first round of beers and eventually lunch too. As the day went on baby was the talk of the town. Everyone was enjoying seeing her get to enjoy the day with us. Eventually, she was even in a photo with random people Drew met who were getting married at Oktoberfest later in the week - lol. Oktoberfest with a 7mo was a bit stressful, it was very hot in the tent, I’m a hot person and so is she, so I was concerned about her getting overheated - especially in the carrier when she napped. We took both of her naps walking around to try to get some air for her and to be able to take her headphones off.
If I did it again I might’ve brought her stroller too to help manage the heat. However she truly was a trooper and she made it until around 4 pm, when I felt like she was overstimulated and needed to get going. We had some great times dancing on the benches and getting lots of photos with my family. It was clear everyone else was on a different level and Drew and I were both overstimulated, annoyed at the lack of a next step (we had to leave our table by 4:30), and very tired of the secondhand smoke outside (Germans LOVE to smoke - has anyone told them it’s awful for you???), so we ultimately just left the grounds.
It was a lot of fun seeing the next shift come in for Oktoberfest - the streets were packed and we were happy we chose the morning instead. I’d had a spot for dinner in mind that the whole family could enjoy but I decided it was worth it for Drew, baby, and I to go so we headed there via the U Bahn. Dinner was literally inside of Marienplatz at Ratskeller and it was such a cool venue. The food was good, we enjoyed a bottle of wine (thank god it wasn’t more beer) and stopped for gelato on the way home. When we got back to the hotel we were able to give baby a bath before her bedtime and she was fast asleep almost instantly. As I type this she’s going on 13 hours of nighttime sleep, so Oktoberfest clearly took it out of all of us! Drew and I were not far behind her last night.
Have more questions about Oktoberfest with baby? Let me know and I’m happy to answer what I can!
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