Accommodation Munich

Where to stay in Munich, and how to dodge the Oktoberfest price hike

Munich has accommodation to please every taste and budget, and standards are generally higher here than in other big German cities. Rooms are almost always clean and comfy, even at the cheaper end. Size can be an issue though. You're likely to pay more for less floor space than elsewhere, and that's no great surprise in Germany's priciest city.

NEED A BED? There's no need to sleep at Munich Train Station (like these
girls who were part of a Deutsche Bahn promotion of overnight trains).

Where to stay

Around the Hauptbahnhof (Main Train Station). This is where most of the hotels and hostels are clustered. It's handy for trains, the airport bus and the Oktoberfest field, which is a short walk away. It's not a particularly nice part of the city though, with more than its fair share of sex shops and sports bars, and it can be noisy at night.

The Altstadt and along the Isar. Nicer, quieter and closer to the sights, but rooms here are harder to come by and you pay for the postcode.

Near the airport. Worth it if you've got an early flight or a short layover. There are clusters of hotels at the airport itself and in the nearby towns of Erding (home of a huge thermal spa) and Freising, where you'll find Weihenstephan, the world's oldest brewery. See the Munich Airport page for getting there and back.

What it costs

Space in Munich is a valued commodity and you'll probably fork out more on a room here than in Berlin or Hamburg. Rates go up through the warmer months, so expect "high season" prices from May to October. As a rough guide:

Hostels. A dorm bed or a basic private room starts at roughly €30 to €60 a night. There's a cluster of lively hostels just south of the train station. If you're young, on a budget and like to party, Wombat's is a good place to start; it's clean and friendly, with a late-night bar and a "winter garden" stuffed with hammocks and cushions for chilling.

Mid-range hotels. Expect around €80 to €150 a night outside the big events. The streets facing the train station, Bayerstraße and Arnulfstraße, are lined with mid-range choices of varying quality, so read a few reviews before you book. There's often an oversupply of mid-rangers at weekends when business travellers stay home, so it's always worth hunting for a discount.

The top end. Few cities in Germany can match Munich here. A couple of "grand old dames" are as much a part of the city as any museum or beer hall, chief among them the Hotel Vier Jahreszeiten Kempinski on Maximilianstraße and the Bayerischer Hof, with its rooftop spa and its armful of restaurants and bars. You can lodge more lavishly than the Bavarian kings of old if you've got the funds. Looking for cheaper rates from November to April is a great way to spoil yourself.

Counter-intuitive though it is, hotel rates usually go down at weekends, as business travellers push up demand during the week. It's worth asking for a discount if you're coming Friday to Sunday.

Oktoberfest: book early or stay out of town

Be prepared to bite the bullet if you're coming for Oktoberfest. Rooms near the Theresienwiese can cost three times the normal going rate, and a standard room at one of the big luxury hotels can run to €400 or more a night on festival weekends. Unfairly, it's often the budget places that put their prices up the most. A dorm bed that costs €30 in April can easily cost three times that during the fest.

The only real defences are booking as far ahead as you can, ideally the moment the dates are announced, or staying outside Munich. Though you'll pay a bit extra to commute in and out, you'll save a bunch on the "festival surcharges". Smaller cities less than an hour away by train include Augsburg, Landsberg and Freising, and it's even possible to do Oktoberfest as a day trip from Salzburg in Austria, about two hours away by train. I've answered a reader's question on exactly this, see here.

Check the Oktoberfest dates and start looking early.

Cheaper ways to stay

Camping. Camping is another economical way to visit Munich, and you get to enjoy the city's green spaces at the same time. Some sites rent out tents so you don't need to bring your own, and there's even a special site set up just for Oktoberfest. Most also have space for caravans and campervans. See Camping in Munich.

CouchSurfing. What if I told you I knew a place you could stay for free, where you can make new friends and get a lot closer to the "real" Munich than you ever could in a fancy hotel? See CouchSurfing in Munich.

Whatever your budget, shop around and compare a few places before you settle. Good luck!

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