Oktoberfest at Campingplatz Obermenzing

It would be wrong to suggest anyone could ever have too much Bavarian beer, too many sausages, sing too many drinking songs arm-in-arm at too many trestle tables, in between spinning round too fast on too many fairground rides, but... If you do feel like a short break from the beer swigging celebrations in the city centre, there are other sources of amusement nearby. After the manmade mayhem of the festival, there’s something very peaceful about the pelicans and the polar bears in the Hellabrun zoo, placidly plodding about their lives without a litre-stein in sight, and you get the same effect, on a grander scale, among the free-roaming bears, lynxes, deer and wolves at Wildpark Poing, 40 minutes’ drive away. It might be a touch nippy for swimming (it doesn’t mix with beer, either), but half an hour away, the Sternberger See is a serene location for head-clearing lakeside walks, runs and bike rides or relaxing cruises on the water. Back in town, try refreshing the parts that beers can’t reach with tours of the city’s renowned Egyptology and technology museums, wanders of the grand 18th-century Nymphberg castle or 4D thrills, stunt shows and cinematic history at Bavaria Filmstadt.