Oktoberfest 2026

You arrive to a city already humming with anticipation. After settling into our centrally located hotel, we gather for an easy welcome stroll through Munich’s old town, past the Marienplatz and the glockenspiel, so you can get your bearings before the week ramps up.

That evening Jeremy and Jessica host a relaxed welcome dinner in a traditional Gaststätte, where the first steins are poured and the group starts to feel like a table of old friends.

Today is the reason you came. With reserved seats waiting inside one of the historic festival tents, we spend the afternoon exactly the way Munich intends — liter mugs, brass bands, roast chicken, and the kind of shared-table camaraderie that only happens here.

We pace the day so it stays joyful rather than overwhelming, with a quiet break in the afternoon and a lighter dinner for anyone who wants it.

We slip behind the scenes for a private tour of a centuries-old Munich brewery, walking the copper kettles and cool cellars with a master brewer who explains what actually separates a great Märzen from a forgettable one.

A guided tasting follows, pairing each pour with the breads and cured meats that were built to go alongside it.

The morning belongs to the Viktualienmarkt, where we shop the stalls with Jeremy and Jessica, tasting cheeses, mustards, and Weisswurst as we go and gathering what we’ll cook later.

Back in the kitchen, a hands-on class turns those market finds into a proper Bavarian lunch — you’ll leave knowing how to make at least one dish you’ll want to repeat at home.

We trade the city for the mountains on a day trip south, where a fairytale castle rises out of the forested foothills and the Alps fill the horizon.

There is time to wander, photograph, and take a slow lunch in a village inn before we wind back toward Munich in the late afternoon light.

A gentler day by the water. We visit a serene alpine lake just outside the city, where wooden boats knock against the docks and the mountains double in the still surface.

The afternoon is deliberately unscheduled — a chance to rest, revisit a favorite spot, or simply sit with a coffee and watch Bavaria go by.

We close the week the way we opened it — around a long table. A farewell feast brings the group back together for a final toast, a few speeches, and the swapping of addresses that always seems to happen by the end.

After a leisurely morning, we help with onward travel and send you off already plotting your return.