In principle, no. Entry into the beer tents is free. A quarter of the places in the tents are not reservable. At the weekend and on the public holiday half the seats cannot be reserved until 3 pm, after that 35% are not reservable. The Käfer Wiesn-Schänke and Kuffler’s Weinzelt (wine tent) are excluded from this rule. Reservations can only be made for the interior of the tents, not for the beer gardens.
There is no central reservation point. Table reservations are always made via the respective tent. In most of the small Wiesn tents you can and should make a reservation in good time, especially if you’re in a group and want to go in the evening. Most reservations are made online, sometimes also by telephone. Find the tents with their reservation info here!
Most tents start taking bookings early in the year for the next Oktoberfest, at the latest in April or May – the information is on the proprietors’ websites. Please do not: Call or email from the October of the previous year – it doesn’t work.
The reservation itself – just like entry to the Wiesn and the beer tents – is free. However you need to buy and pay for vouchers in advance. These are tokens, for example for 2 liters of beer and a half chicken per person.
“Table for two at the Wiesn” – we don’t do that at Oktoberfest. Companionship is the order of the day and reservations are only taken for whole tables. Our tables seat 8 to 10 people. The vouchers for a table cost on average about 350 euros in total, in some tents more.
From early in the year: Check directly on the website of the tent whether bookings are being accepted yet. As soon as that happens, you’ve got to be quick! But just before the start of Oktoberfest, it’s worth checking or asking as some people cancel their reservation at short notice. When you’ve sent your request: You’ve got to wait for the response. After a couple of days or weeks you get a confirmation by email, transfer the money for the vouchers, collect the tokens and entry bracelets (as applicable) from the proprietor’s regular venue or have them delivered to you. And then all you have to do is look forward to it!
In principle, of course yes. But it won’t be worth trying to book the table next to the tapping of the barrel in the Schottenhamel-Festhalle on the first Saturday of the Wiesn! At the weekend and before the public holiday, the tables in the evening are particularly in demand. It’s a bit easier during the week, at lunchtime and at the Oide Wiesn (Old Oktoberfest).
Don’t worry – if that happens, then you can exchange the tokens against food and drink in the permanent venues of the proprietors – for a long time after the Wiesn.
Since 2015 there has been a special rule for Munich residents at Oktoberfest: in the main tents at the weekend, the proprietors are allowed to give 15% of the non-reservable places to Munich residents. (Correct as of 2018) If you’re interested, you must have Munich as your primary residence and see the respective proprietor with your identification card before the Wiesn, mostly from June. There is no minimum consumption here but most proprietors charge a small handling fee. Information on this is on the proprietors’ websites.
Reservations cannot be resold – if that happens the proprietors will normally realize and will cancel the reservations. Therefore please do not “purchase” table reservations at internet auctions or from any place other than directly from the respective proprietor of the relevant tent. It might take a bit of effort and patience but it’s worth being on the safe side.