Oktoberfest was one of those experiences where I thought I knew what to expect. Beer, Bavarian outfits, giant tents and lots of people, right?

I was not prepared. 😂

We arrived in Munich on opening weekend of Oktoberfest, and from the minute we walked onto the Wiesn Sunday evening, it was absolute chaos in the best possible way. There were crowds everywhere, people dressed in traditional Bavarian clothing, music coming from the tents, food stands lining the festival grounds and thousands of people having the BEST time.

What surprised me most, though, was how friendly everyone was and how much more there was to Oktoberfest than drinking giant beers.

If Oktoberfest has ever been on your bucket list, here's what our first experience was really like, what surprised me, what I'd do differently and how we spent three days in Munich.

Getting From the Munich Airport Into the City

We flew from Budapest to Munich on Sunday afternoon. One thing to know is that the Munich airport is quite a ways outside the city center, but taking the train into Munich was really easy. (Shout out to my husband for always figuring out train schedules when we are traveling internationally!) From the main train station, we walked to our hotel, Eurostars Book Hotel.

Our hotel wasn't anything particularly special, but the location was fantastic. We were only about a 10-minute walk from the Oktoberfest gates, and I was SO glad we stayed within walking distance.

If I were planning Oktoberfest again, location would be one of my biggest priorities when choosing a hotel. Being able to walk back at the end of the night instead of figuring out transportation after leaving the festival was absolutely worth it.

And book early! Oktoberfest brings a huge number of people into Munich, and hotels within walking distance are going to fill up. (I booked this hotel six months in advance.)

We checked in, dropped off our bags and pretty much immediately headed to Oktoberfest. It was Sunday evening of opening weekend, and WOW.

Our First Night at Oktoberfest

Nothing really prepares you for the scale of Oktoberfest. The festival takes place on the Theresienwiese, a huge festival ground in Munich. You'll also hear people call Oktoberfest the Wiesn, which comes from the name of the grounds.

It's almost like an enormous state fair combined with the biggest party you've ever attended. There are rides, games, food stands and people everywhere, and then you have these massive beer tents that are really the center of the Oktoberfest experience.

Except calling them "tents" is a little misleading.

The Oktoberfest Tents Are Not Really Tents

I pictured enormous temporary canvas tents before we went, but these things feel like actual buildings once you're inside. They're massive temporary structures that are constructed for Oktoberfest and can hold thousands of people. They have full kitchens, stages, elaborate decorations and seemingly endless rows of tables.

There are 14 large beer tents at Oktoberfest along with a number of smaller ones, and each has its own personality. We went into several during our time there, including Augustiner, which was one I really wanted to experience.

We also made a point to find Hacker-Festzelt, famous for its ceiling painted like a blue Bavarian sky with white clouds. Of course I needed to see that one!

You could spend your entire visit exploring different tents, and the experience can be completely different depending on which one you walk into and what time of day you go.

Do You Need a Reservation at Oktoberfest?

This was one of the things I worried about most before our trip because we did not have reservations in any of the tents.

The good news was that there were only two of us, which made it much easier. We were able to find spots at tables with other people, especially during the week, and that ended up being one of my favorite parts of Oktoberfest.

Our first evening we sat next to a group of Germans in their 20s, and they were SO much fun. We talked for hours about Germany, the United States, travel and life. By the end of the night, Randy had given one of the guys his phone number and invited him to come to Southern Illinois to go deer hunting with him. 😂

I'm pretty sure that wasn't on our Oktoberfest itinerary, but those are the experiences you remember.

If you're going as a couple, I wouldn't panic if you can't get a reservation. Be flexible, go earlier in the day and understand that you may need to try several tents before you find somewhere to sit. We found that during the week we could make it work.

If you're traveling with a group, though, I would absolutely try to make tent reservations months and months in advance. Don't wait until a few weeks before your trip and assume you'll figure it out once you get there, especially if you're going on a weekend.

A Couple of Oktoberfest Rules We Learned Quickly

There are also a few unwritten rules that are VERY helpful to know once you sit down in one of the tents.

First, take care of your server from the very first order. These servers are unbelievably busy, carrying enormous beer mugs and trays of food through packed aisles all day long. Tip well on that first round and continue to take care of them. Trust me, you want your server to like your table. 😂

And maybe even more important: GET OUT OF THEIR WAY.

When you get up to go to the bathroom, walk around or leave the tent, pay attention before you step into the aisle. Those servers come flying through carrying multiple one-liter beers at a time, and they do not have time for you to casually wander around in front of them. We learned very quickly to look both ways before stepping out.

Basically, Oktoberfest server rules are simple: tip them well, be nice and get TF out of their way. 😂

Oktoberfest Is Definitely Not Just for Twenty-Somethings

I think I pictured Oktoberfest as basically a giant party for young people, but that wasn't the case at all. We saw people of every age, from young adults to people our age and much older, and everyone was joining in.

I was also surprised by how many people wore traditional Bavarian clothing. I would estimate 60 to 70 percent of the people we saw were dressed traditionally, with women in dirndls and men in lederhosen.

And this brings me to one of the mistakes we made.

What I Would Do Differently About the Bavarian Outfits

We thought we'd rent our outfits once we got to Munich. I had even made a reservation at a rental shop, but when we got there the line was down the street and they were already sold out of many sizes. We finally gave up and went without them.

If I had it to do over again, I would shop online ahead of time, buy a dirndl for myself and lederhosen for Randy, and then try to resell them after the trip if we didn't think we'd use them again.

But here's the important part: buy the real thing.

The Germans aren't walking around Oktoberfest in cheap Halloween-store costumes. They're wearing actual traditional Bavarian clothing, and you can absolutely tell the difference. I would do a little research and buy something authentic rather than ordering a costume version.

Once we were there, I really wished we'd had them. You definitely wouldn't feel silly or overly dressed up. If anything, you almost feel like the odd one out when you're not wearing traditional clothing.

Let's Talk About Those Giant Beers

Oktoberfest beer is traditionally served by the Maß, which is a one-liter glass mug.

ONE LITER. That's about 34 ounces of beer. 😂

Another thing I didn't realize before going is that the beer served at Oktoberfest isn't just any beer. The official Oktoberfest beers come from Munich breweries and are brewed specifically for the festival.

I also wondered before we went whether I'd be able to get anything besides beer, and yes, you can. Depending on the tent, you'll find nonalcoholic beer, soft drinks and other options. You can even find coffee, which became very important when we arrived at Oktoberfest at 10 AM Monday morning and I was thinking, I am absolutely not ready for a liter of beer.

Monday: A Full Day at Oktoberfest

Monday was our real Oktoberfest day. We headed over in the morning and spent hours going from tent to tent, meeting people and just taking everything in.

And here's the crazy part: family friends of ours who are also former neighbors happened to be at Oktoberfest at the exact same time! What are the chances? We were able to meet up with them during the day on Monday and had SO much fun together. You travel all the way to Munich, Germany, during the biggest festival of the year and somehow end up drinking beer with people from the midwest. It really is such a small world.

One of my favorite parts of the day was watching how the atmosphere in the tents changed as the hours went by. Earlier in the day, the bands played more traditional Bavarian music, which was exactly what I pictured hearing at Oktoberfest.

But as the day went on, things escalated. 😂

The bands started mixing in songs everyone knew, including American hits and classic party songs. Before long, thousands of people were singing together and standing on the benches.

And yes, the benches, not the tables. Standing on the benches and singing is part of the fun. Standing on the tables will get you kicked out. (Also, did you know that chugging a beer can also get you kicked out? Both of these rules keep things from getting rowdy in the worst way.)

The energy inside those tents when everyone is singing together is hard to describe. It was one of my favorite parts of Oktoberfest and one of those things you really have to experience for yourself.

And Yes, There's So Much Food!

I expected beer to be the main event, but I didn't realize how much food would be part of the Oktoberfest experience too.

Inside the tents you'll find traditional Bavarian dishes like roast chicken, sausages, giant pretzels, pork dishes and other hearty German food. (We enjoyed potato soup, pretzels and brats with sauerkraut.) Outside the tents, the festival grounds are lined with food vendors selling everything from sausages and pretzels to roasted nuts, pastries, sweets and all kinds of things I couldn't pronounce.

Monday Night: We Needed Something Besides German Food

By Monday evening, we had officially reached our limit on heavy Bavarian food.

We left Oktoberfest and walked in the opposite direction from the festival to an Italian restaurant near our hotel. We really just googled “best italian food near me” and were able to get into Vi Vadi. It was delicious and we both would recommend!

Sometimes when you're traveling, the best meal is simply whatever you're craving at that exact moment, and after two days of German food, Italian sounded pretty fantastic.

Tuesday Morning: I Can't Hang

Here's where I remind everyone that I am in my 50s and don’t drink beer. 😂

Tuesday morning I woke up feeling AWFUL. Two days of Oktoberfest (beer) had officially caught up with me.

I can't hang.

So instead of jumping out of bed early to spend a full day sightseeing, I slept in. Eventually I pulled myself together and we headed out around lunchtime to finally see more of Munich.

And honestly, it worked out just fine.

Finally Exploring Munich

We had spent so much time at Oktoberfest that we hadn't actually seen much of Munich yet, so Tuesday became our sightseeing day.

We headed toward the historic center and made our way to Marienplatz, the heart of Munich's Old Town. This is where you'll find the incredible New Town Hall, or Neues Rathaus, with its famous Glockenspiel.

We also visited Frauenkirche, Munich's famous cathedral, where we saw the legendary Devil's Footprint inside. According to the legend, the devil made a deal with the builder of the church and left his footprint behind. Whether you believe the story or not, of course I had to see it.

And apparently feeling terrible that morning didn't stop us from deciding to climb a church tower later that afternoon.

We climbed the tower at St. Peter's Church, also known as Alter Peter. There are A LOT of steps, but the panoramic view over Munich, Marienplatz and the rooftops of Old Town was absolutely worth it.

We continued walking around central Munich and through Odeonsplatz, taking in as much of the city as we could before deciding there was one more thing we needed to do before leaving Munich.

Go back to Oktoberfest. 😂

Our Last Night: Eating Our Way Through the Wiesn

This time, we weren't going back for hours in the beer tents. We wanted to experience more of the festival grounds and, most importantly, the FOOD.

We wandered through the Wiesn, stopping at different vendors and trying whatever looked good. After spending so much time inside the tents the previous two days, it was fun to slow down and see the rest of the festival.

And I think that's when it really hit me that Oktoberfest isn't just a giant beer festival. It's a celebration of Bavarian culture with food, music, rides and traditions that bring together generations of people.

Would I Go Back to Oktoberfest?

Absolutely.

I went into Oktoberfest thinking it would basically be a giant beer festival, and it ended up being so much more than that. I loved the music, the traditional clothing, the food and especially meeting people from Germany and all over the world.

There are definitely a few things I'd do differently. I'd buy an authentic dirndl online before the trip instead of trying to rent one once we arrived, I would only go during the week (not a weekend unless you have reservations), and I might pace myself a little better.

But I wouldn't change much else.

Wednesday morning we got up early, walked back to the train station and took the train to the Munich airport for our direct flight to Chicago. Then came the least glamorous part of our European vacation: getting off an international flight and driving another five hours home to Southern Illinois.

We were exhausted, but Oktoberfest was the perfect way to end our trip.

And if that German guy ever actually shows up in Southern Illinois to go deer hunting with Randy, I'll be sure to let you know. 😂

Our First Oktoberfest: What It’s Really Like + 3 Days in Munich