So you’ve missed Oktoberfest again, despite swearing to yourself and all who would listen that you would (a) remember it begins in September, and (b) go to Munich this year no matter what. No worries—we’ve found some great Oktoberfest alternatives.

Make up for it by staying in a pub

Yes indeed, you can rent a pub all to yourself. It may not have the party atmosphere of an Oktoberfest tent, but it’s all yours.

Or in a beer barrel

If a pub isn’t beery enough, you can see what it’s like to be beer, sleeping in a super cozy antique beer barrel. Hop right in.

Your stay in Ostbevern, Germany is guaranteed to be barrel of fun.

Or in a room lined from floor to ceiling with vintage German beer cans

Your host at Brewhouse Mountain has covered nearly every inch of wall space with vintage beer cans from around the world—and if German beer is your brew of choice, he has you covered with his German Room.

 The German Room at Brewhouse Mountain Eco-Inn [Photo courtesy of Airbnb host Jeff Lebo]

There are other Oktoberfests

Kitchener & Waterloo, Ontario

Take off the beer goggles and you’ll still be seeing double at Ontario’s Oktoberfest: two towns celebrating together for one of the world’s largest Oktoberfests outside of Germany, and two holidays blur into one at the Kitchener-Waterloo Oktoberfest Thanksgiving Day Parade.

 Quiet, central bed and bath in Waterloo

Cincinnati, Ohio

Take the ultimate German-American authenticity trip: stay in Over-the-Rhine, do the world’s largest Chicken Dance at America’s oldest Oktoberfest, and indulge in goetta, Cincinnati’s hangover-curing breakfast sausage patty.

Hong Kong

East blurs into west at Hong Kong’s Marco Polo German Bierfest, complete with giant Bavarian pretzels, folk-rocking flugelhorn solos, and Halloween costume contests that get weirder and braver with every keg tapped.

Blumenau, Brazil

Let other Oktoberfestives shiver in their lederhosen—Blumenau’s balmy weather is perfect for a cold beer, or two, or 652,000 (!) at Brazil’s biggest Oktoberfest.

Alpine, California

Find pure hoppiness in Alpine’s own microbrewery and retreat to your Alpine Creek art house designed by James Hubbell, where there are no corners to bump into the morning after oceanfront Oktobertfest celebrations in nearby San Diego.

James Hubbell designed art house in Alpine, California

Santiago, Chile

Chileans call their biggest Oktoberfest Fiesta de la Cerveza (Festival of Beer), and it’s the only acceptable local excuse to skip Chilean wine and seafood in favor of beer and sausage. Sleep it off at your Bellas Artes retreat, and steam it out at the neighborhood Baños Miraflores with the traditional Chilean spa drink: that’s right, it’s beer.

 City view from Bellas Artes retreat in Santiago

Plan for next year

Airbnb has over 1000 choices in Munich. You’ll really do it this time, right?