Slovenia's castles: the ones open to visitors, and my pick of them

Slovenia’s three most famous castles

Bled Castle is first mentioned in writing in 1011, making it the oldest in the country. Only the Romanesque wall and the entrance tower survive from then; the rest is Renaissance and Baroque. Inside there is a forge, a printing works, a knights’ hall and a chapel, but the reason to go up is the view of the lake from the courtyard.

Predjama Castle is in a different league. Wedged into a cave mouth halfway up a 123 m cliff for some eight centuries, it holds the Guinness record for the biggest cave castle anywhere. Its most famous resident, the rebel knight Erasmus of Lueg, is said to have known a secret passage through the cave to the surface and to food. If I were paying for just one castle, this would be it.

Ljubljana Castle has watched over the capital for around 900 years. Take the funicular or walk up, and from the tower at 400 m, the tourist board says, a third of the country is visible on clear days.

Castles with a family story

The Old Castle of Celje was the stronghold of the Counts of Celje, who in the 14th and 15th centuries rivalled Europe’s great dynasties; its story goes back to the 12th century. Ptuj Castle stands on the site of a Roman sanctuary, with 17th-century stucco rooms that now house the regional museum and a historic cellar where tastings are held in total darkness.

Snežnik Castle, in the Lož Valley, is my favourite of the lesser-known ones. The National Museum shows it with genuine furniture from the late 19th century, when it was the hunting lodge of the princes of Schönburg-Waldenburg, and charges €8. Bogenšperk was home to the scholar Johann Weikhard von Valvasor, a Fellow of the Royal Society in London, and displays his work. Štanjel in the Karst is a 15th-century fortress with the stamp of the architect Maks Fabiani.

Posavje, the land of castles

Because between the Mirna, Sava, Krka and Sotla rivers there are nine well-preserved castles plus several ruins, more than anywhere else in the country. Brežice has four towers and a frescoed knights’ hall; 12th-century Rajhenburg belonged to Trappist monks who made cheese, sparkling wine and chocolate; Sevnica is 700 years old with modra frankinja vines on its slopes; Podsreda is one of the few well-preserved Romanesque monuments; and Mokrice has a 200-year-old English park and an 18-hole golf course.

To sleep close to everything, search places to stay in Bled on Expedia and filter by area before price.

Sleeping in a castle

This is where I would spend a bit more for one night. Otočec, on an island in the Krka, is Slovenia’s only castle on water and a member of Relais & Châteaux. Strmol keeps its last owners’ original furniture, Grad in Goričko is the largest castle complex in the country and has rooms, and Vinica in Bela krajina has stood for almost 950 years. For the wider picture by region, see my guide to hotels in Slovenia.

Two castles that work differently

Brdo, near Kranj, is where Slovenia receives heads of state, and was once a residence of the Karađorđević royal family and of Tito. It opens inside only on European Heritage Days, though the estate is open all year. Socerb, above the Gulf of Trieste, is more about the view and the restaurant than what is inside. Close to the capital, in Mengeš, Jablje Castle, first recorded in 1268, was restored in 2004, and Slovenia used it for meetings when it chaired the EU Council in 2008.

To sleep close to everything, search places to stay in Bled on Booking.com and filter by area before price.