When to go?

Hello,

Planning on travelling all over Germany, I dont want to go during school holidays... thinking of the expense and waiting in lines to get into places and accommodation wont be as easy to get.. as I want to just show up and try and get accommodation without pre-booking so my holiday can remain flexible.

Was planning on going in early September.... but just realise Oktober Fest is on... is it very busy during the month of September/October... or is it just busy on Oktober Fest?

Thank you

School holidays(summer) in Germany are starting in June and ending at the beginning of September (Bavaria) . So it shouldnt be a big problem. Oktoberfest in Munich this year will be held from September 20 to October 5. So they would better call it Septemberfest. During that period its difficult to get a room (and if, it will be terribly expensive) in and around Munich.
But the rest of Germany wont be involved in that. By the way, September is a good month for traveling. Still warm weather if you are lucky and cheaper prices, because the peak season is over. And tourist spots not so crowded anymore.

School holidays in German depend on the state (Lander) they're in. The various states schedule their summer vacations to minimize overlap, therefore in some areas school will be on while others are on vacation. The earliest summer vacations begin 23June and end 1Aug. The latest two are 24July to 6Sept for Baden-Wuerttemberg and 4Aug to 15Sept for Bavaria. Most states also have a Fall vacation, from 4-15 days, mainly sometime in October.

Large events such as Oktoberfest in Munich (19Sept to 5Oct) and the Cannstatter Volksfest in Stuttgart (26Sept to 12Oct), as well as large trade fair shows can cause hotel rooms to become very expensive and nonobtainable for places in their vicinity. In many areas, especially rural ones, it should be possible to find available accomodations at any time of the year, and in the rural areas they can possibly be very cheap.

Late September is a good time to visit wine country, the grapes will be ripe on the vine and the weather can be beautiful.

school holidays mean:
Fewer business travelers (no trade fairs, no big conferences or meetings). This means low season for hotels. Apart from some seaside or mountain resorts. As many (most) will go for vacation outside of Germany this also means less crowded public transport (fewer commuters, no pupils). Only long distance transport (far distance trains, planes and autobahns) is more crowded than usual.

The itinerary of German domestic tourists won't overlap that much with the ones of tourists like you. Only at a few places, e.g. Neuschwanstein Castle, both groups will met. But the Germans won't queue for the guided tours in English.

octoberfest is only affecting the greater Munich area