Where to go for Oktoberfest and beer festivals

The festival meadow itself: tents, funfair and parades on one vast central ground.

Where the mayor taps the first keg at noon on opening day to start the festival.

The locals pick: wood barrelled Augustiner, a calmer room, near the cheapest Mass.

The historic corner: heritage rides, folk singers and a slower, older Wiesn feel.

The festival ground itself: tents, rides and the fruit column on the Neckar.

The best known big tent on the Wasen for a classic Mass and band session.

Nine floors of car history five minutes from the Wasen: the perfect dry morning.

Historic zoo and botanical garden in Bad Cannstatt, walkable from the festival.

The festival on Am Hagen: seven tents and Bavarian bands in high summer.

The huge regional show sharing the grounds: food halls, crafts and producers.

Straubing's best known hotel in a historic complex, the local splurge base.

The main Freimarkt fairground behind the station, lit up and ride packed at night.

The Bavarian style hall on the grounds: Mass beer and bench tables, northern style.

The small historic market by the Rathaus: crafts and fair food in daylight.

Medieval lanes for a calm morning walk between fairground nights.

The fairground on the Rhine meadows, best entered over the bridge at dusk.

The classic Altbier hall: small glasses that refill until you cover yours.

The Rhine tower view over the fairground, the river and the Altstadt.

The Dom ground itself: a mile long fairground in the middle of the city.

The festival on the field: big rides, food streets and Friday fireworks.

The harbour piers: the morning half of a Hamburg Dom day, fifteen minutes away.

The festival park: huge pavilions, bands, folk dance and beer halls for 19 days.

The parade street: floats, bands and dance groups roll through the centre.

Large central hotel, a festival favourite for bands and groups alike.

The riverfront festival ground: stages, food and the Festhalle on the Ohio River.

A 300 foot tent for over a thousand: the closest US take on a Munich session.

Ohio's oldest public market in the old German brewery district: lunch first.

One of America's oldest beer gardens: the heritage table of the weekend.

The largest Festhalle, where K-W Oktoberfest began in 1969: book early.

Willkommen Platz downtown: free biergarten, market and stage on the big weekend.

A beloved club Festhalle with a famous family day and Swabian kitchen.

Mennonite country market: fritters, summer sausage and farm baking nearby.

Two weekends on Larimer Street: stages, stein hoisting and keg bowling.

Denver's lager temple: slow poured lagers in a vast hall near the festival.

Sleep inside Union Station: the city's best arrival, a walk from Larimer.

The festival ground at Fort York: the big tent under the downtown skyline.

The historic fort beside the tent: the history hour before your session.

A working brewery in the old roundhouse: Toronto's own pilsner story.

The main West Coast venue: vast tents, stages and the opening spectacle.

The Laoshan venue by the beach: direct Tsingtao pours and a calmer evening.

The 1903 brewery museum: German era machinery and the freshest pours in town.

Old town lanes near the brewery museum, where festival beer stations have spread into the historic city.

Five October weekends of German taps, bands and knuckles opposite the Gabba.

Home of Oktoberfest in the Gardens: one huge beer hall day on 10 October.

Cliff top city views and a river walk: the frame around a club weekend.