Pack-Up · the list · the realities Nine days · six stops · one bag

Nine days,one bag.

Everything the trip actually asks you to bring, sorted by the thing that asks for it — the clubs, the Ring, the Wiesn, the car. Tap an item to tick it. Then the realities that bite if you forget them: the 3-litre Wiesn bag limit that gets people turned away at the gate, and the legal kit a German rental has to be carrying before you drive it off the lot.

Days
0
Pack groups
0
Items
0
Realities
0
/ Checklist

The Pack List.

Eight groups — swipe the stack, tap to tick.
01 · Papers

Documents & money

Half of this is cash. Germany still runs on it.

  • Passport — valid 6 months past 20 Sep
  • Schengen visa — non-EU/US/UK passports only
  • Driver's licence — the IDP is worthless without it
  • International Driving Permit — AAA, $20, in person. Drivers only
  • Credit cards, no FX fee — travel-noticed before you fly
  • Debit card for ATM cash
  • €200–300 cash — the brauhäuser and the Wiesn queues take nothing else
  • Travel insurance card + policy number
  • Printed backup itinerary + hotel confirmations
  • Passport photo on your phone and on paper
  • Both Sixt references — wagon 1 Stresemannstr. 364, wagon 2 Hamburg City Centre. Two different branches
  • ICE 506 group ticket — one booking covers all seven; the named lead passenger needs photo ID at inspection
0 / 12 packed
02 · Tech

Power & signal

There is no outlet in a Wiesn tent, and none on the Kiez at 4 AM.

  • Type F (Schuko) adapters ×2 — Germany is 230V
  • USB-C charger, 65W, multi-port
  • Power bank, 10,000 mAh+ — the Ring and the Wiesn are all-day, off-grid
  • Cables: USB-C, Lightning, one spare
  • eSIM activated before you fly — Airalo, ~€15 for 10 days
  • Offline maps: Berlin · Hamburg · Köln · Baden-Baden · München
  • Car phone mount + 12V charger — three days of driving
  • Camera + spare battery + SD card
  • Headphones
  • AirTag in the checked bag
0 / 10 packed
03 · Clothing

The everyday

September in northern Germany is not September at home.

  • Layered jacket — nights drop to ~8–10°C
  • Rain shell — Hamburg and the Black Forest, both wet
  • Swimming trunks / swimsuit — Baden-Baden Wed 16. Caracalla always, and Wednesday is a swimwear day at the Friedrichsbad too, so there is no getting out of it
  • Smart jacket or blazer — not the warm one. The Casino enforces a jacket for gentlemen in the classic rooms; reception rents one for €10 if you skip it
  • Fleece or midlayer
  • Jeans / trousers ×3
  • T-shirts / base layers ×5
  • Underwear + socks ×9
  • Comfortable walking shoes — Berlin loop, Hamburg, Dachau, the Wiesn
  • Light scarf
  • Something decent for the Rebstock dinner and the casino — collared shirt, proper shoes
  • Sunglasses — the autobahn runs south into the sun
  • Flip-flops — for the baths, and for whatever the hostel showers are like
0 / 13 packed
04 · The big nights

Berghain & the Kiez

Sat 12 Berlin · Mon 14 Reeperbahn.

  • One all-black fit — plain, no logos, no sportswear
  • Berghain: dress down, look bored, say little. Phone cameras get taped over at the door
  • Shoes you can stand in for six hours
  • Earplugs — you will want them by 03:00
  • Cash for the door and the bar
  • No big bag — the cloakroom queue is the enemy
  • Nothing you would mind losing
0 / 7 packed
05 · Spa day · Wed 16

Thermal kit

Baden-Baden, Wednesday afternoon. Towels are provided at the Friedrichsbad, not at Caracalla.

  • Swimsuit — Caracalla always, and Wed is a swimwear day at the Friedrichsbad too
  • Own towel for Caracalla — the Friedrichsbad supplies towels, slippers and toiletries in the €39
  • Flip-flops
  • Hair tie and a comb
  • Refillable bottle — you dehydrate fast in the hot rooms
  • Something decent to change into for dinner at the Rebstock
  • Passport — the Casino is 21+ and checks ID at the door
  • A jacket for the casino — required for gentlemen in the classic rooms. Reception rents one for €10 if you skip it
0 / 8 packed
06 · Wiesn · Sat 19

The 3-litre rule

Measured at the gate. There are no exceptions.

  • Bag under 3 litres — max 20 × 15 × 10 cm. Security measures it at every entrance and turns you away
  • Anything bigger goes to luggage storage at the P1 / P5 / P8 / P10 entrances — €5
  • The crew's real bags go to Hbf Schließfächer or Bounce that morning
  • Closed-toe shoes — the tent floors are wet and there is glass
  • Lederhosen / Dirndl — Bavarian Outfitters, pick up the Friday before
  • Cash — a Maß is €15+ and the queues do not take cards
  • No glass bottles. No large camera bag
0 / 7 packed
07 · Health

The aftermath

Two very big Saturdays, eight days apart.

  • Earplugs — clubs, tents, and whoever snores
  • Eye mask
  • Ibuprofen / paracetamol
  • Electrolyte tabs — Berlin Saturday and Wiesn Saturday both need them
  • Antacids
  • Blister plasters — this trip walks a long way
  • Hand sanitiser + tissues — plenty of WCs charge €0.50
  • Reusable water bottle
  • Snacks for the car days
  • Laundry bag
0 / 10 packed
08 · At the Sixt counter

The legal kit

German law, not Sixt policy. Check before you drive off.

  • Warnweste — hi-vis vest. One per car is the law; bring one per seat. It must be in the cabin, not the boot
  • Warndreieck — warning triangle. Check it is actually there and it opens
  • Verbandkasten — first-aid kit, DIN 13164, in date. The 2022 standard adds two face masks
  • Umweltplakette — the green sticker on the windscreen. Without it you cannot legally enter the low-emission zones in Berlin, Köln or München
  • Automatic, not manual — German rentals default to stick. Confirm at the counter
  • Photograph the car all round before you leave the lot
0 / 6 packed
/ Risk

The Realities.

What bites if you forget it — swipe the stack.
Risk 01 · Wiesn

The 3-litre gate

Bags over 3 litres — bigger than 20 × 15 × 10 cm — are refused at every Theresienwiese entrance, and security measures them. A normal day pack does not get in. Luggage storage at P1/P5/P8/P10 is €5.

Sat 19 Sep
Risk 02 · Driving

The legal kit

Every German car must carry a warning triangle, an in-date first-aid kit and a hi-vis vest, and the low-emission zones need the green Umweltplakette. Rentals normally have all of it — but it is the driver who gets fined, so check the actual car.

Tue 15 Sep · Sixt
Risk 03 · The baths

Last admission

Both baths close at 22:00 but they stop letting people in well before that — Friedrichsbad 19:00 (the circuit takes ~3h) and Caracalla 20:30. A 15:00 start is comfortable; a 19:30 arrival is a wasted trip.

Wed 16 Sep
Risk 04 · Money

Cash-only Germany

Most brauhäuser and every Wiesn beer queue take cash and nothing else. Hold €200 minimum, per person. Many public WCs want €0.50 in coins.

All trip
Risk 05 · Documents

The IDP

Every rental counter wants the International Driving Permit alongside the licence. $20 from AAA, in person, and it cannot be done from Germany. Drivers only — but if the named driver forgets it, the car does not move.

Before you fly
Risk 06 · Weather

Hamburg rain

Mid-September Hamburg runs ~20°C by day and 10°C at night, with grey and drizzle more often than not. Monday is the outdoor day and the Kiez night before it runs late — bring the shell.

Sun 13 – Mon 14 Sep
Risk 07 · Rental

Manual by default

German rentals are stick unless automatic was specified at booking. Check both confirmations now, not at the counter — one manual wagon means one driver does the whole trip. Pickups Tue 15 Sep, Stresemannstr. 364 at 08:30 and Hamburg City Centre at 09:00; both drop at Munich Hbf Thu 17 by 21:00.

Tue 15 Sep
Risk 08 · Rental

Two pickup branches

The wagons are at different Sixt offices, 30 minutes apart — Stresemannstr. 364 at 08:30 and Hamburg City Centre at 09:00 — and neither is at the hotel. Split into two teams before you go to bed Monday, agree who has which reference and which driver's IDP, and pick a rendezvous point on the A7 rather than trying to convoy out of St. Pauli at rush hour.

Tue 15 Sep · 08:00
Risk 09 · Beds

Wiesn surge

Munich hotels run 2–3× on opening weekend and the trains cap out on the Saturday. Munich is booked. Köln is booked — KONCEPT, Altstadt-Süd — so every bed on the trip is locked.

Köln · Tue 15
Risk 10 · The drive

Tuesday is 600 km

Hamburg 08:30, Autostadt 11:30–15:00, Köln around 19:00. Six hours behind the wheel with a museum in the middle. Rotate the sober DD in each wagon and take a real rest stop — this is the longest driving day of the trip.

Tue 15 Sep