When planning your trip, it is a good idea to look at local holidays since these can impact on both what you can do on certain days, as well as your hotel prices

Religious holidays in 2024

Bavaria is very Catholic and as such, has more public holidays than the rest of Germany. Whilst these will rarely impact hotel prices, you might find the hotel you wanted has limited availability or that the site or restaurant you wanted to visit might have limited opening. The following link lists most, plus a few secular holidays.

In Anglocentric countries, Christmas is celebrated on the 25th. In Germany, while the 25th is still very important, the 24th is perhaps more so: gifts are typically exchanged in the evening. Most restaurants and bars will shut by early afternoon. In Munich, an exception is the Hofbräuhaus. Asian restaurants – of which Munich has a great selection – are also frequently open. Of course, if you are staying in a hotel during this period, they will also have options – but its always a good idea to ask, especially in smaller places.

School holiday dates in Bavaria 2024

School holidays can lead to some popular spots being either booked out or the hotels raising their prices. The following link has dates for 2024-5.

Oktoberfest 2024

Oktoberfest in Munich will run from September 21st until October 6th 2024.

Last year we had 7,2 million visitors  (Compare that to 2022 – 5,7 million; 2019, 6,3 ,million). 

2023 was an exceptional year for tourism, not just in Munich but Germany wide. Whether the “Covid bounce-back” continues into 2024 remains to be seen, but at the time of writing (February 2024) we are already receiving a lot of inquiries for private tours in this period.

Hotel prices in Munich tend to treble during Oktoberfest – some of our guests last year were staying in Stuttgart, Nuremberg and Salzburg (Austria!) and coming on the train then going back at night; some even came from Scotland on a red-eye flight just for the day. Is that dedication – or something else?