Celje, the town of the three stars

The third town, where rivers and routes meet

According to SURS, Celje has 38,175 people in the town and 49,802 in the municipality on 1 January 2026, making it Slovenia’s third largest settlement. It’s the main town of Savinjska and recorded 33,902 tourist arrivals in 2025. Celje’s tourist office points out that it grew up where three rivers meet, on the old Amber Road between the Baltic and the Mediterranean, and the national tourist board gives it the gold Slovenia Green Destination label.

The Counts of Celje and their three stars

The three stars on the town’s coat of arms belonged to the Counts of Celje. They began as the Lords of Sanneck, in the Savinja valley, inherited the castle in 1333 and took its name. At their height they held more than 120 castles and estates. Herman II saved the life of Sigismund of Luxembourg at the Battle of Nicopolis in 1396 and married him to his daughter Barbara, who became queen of Hungary, Bohemia and Germany. Ulrich II, the last count, was murdered in Belgrade in 1456, and his inheritance passed to the Habsburgs.

Locals never tire of telling how Frederick II fell for Veronika of Desenice. His father refused to accept the match, had Veronika drowned and shut Frederick in a tower.

Things to do in Celje: the castle

Celje Castle sits on a crag above the Savinja and is, according to the local tourist office, the largest medieval castle in Slovenia. It opens every day of the year. Frederick’s Tower is closed for repairs, expected to last until November 2026, but you can walk the walls, the wooden rampart and the courtyard. In the warmer months there are living history weekends with re-enactors dressed as knights.

If you are staying the night, see the best hotel deals in Celje for your dates: the well-placed rooms go fast.

Roman Celeia and the Regional Museum

The Slovenian government lists Celeia among the three leading Roman towns in today’s Slovenia, and it became a self-governing municipium under Emperor Claudius. In the basement of the Prince’s Mansion, the exhibition Celeia, the Town Beneath the Town, shows its walls, a Roman road with the cart ruts still visible and statues of Pohorje marble. It’s the largest in situ display of the Roman town’s remains.

Upstairs is the exhibition on the counts, including their skulls, which the museum has held since 1956. In the Old Landgrave’s House, by the river, you’ll find the Celje Ceiling, a huge early 17th-century painting by an unknown artist, and the largest lapidarium in Slovenia. The museum also has a room on Alma M. Karlin, the Celje writer who travelled the world alone long before cheap flights.

The town forest and the lake

Celje is one of the few towns with its own town forest. It covers 94 hectares, with 14 km of paths and Slovenia’s largest tree house, which hosts workshops and concerts. On the edge of town, Lake Šmartno has nearly 12 km of shoreline for walking, fishing or paddling, and Celjska koča is a hill with a family ski slope in winter and an adventure park in summer. In the city park beside the Savinja there’s an ice rink in winter, and the Heart Trail sets off up Anski vrh and St Nicholas Hill for a view over the whole town.

So you do not lose the morning at the ticket office, browse tickets and tours in Celje on GetYourGuide.

Celje in a day

One day covers the essentials, with the castle in the morning, the museum and old town after lunch and the forest to finish. With two, I’d add a trip up the Savinja valley for Pekel Cave or the beer fountain at Žalec, or an afternoon in the thermal pools at Laško. The Žalec fountain is more fun than it sounds. It pours beer rather than water from eight taps, and with a special glass fitted with a chip, bought in town, you pour a decilitre of each local brew. With children, swap it for Tehnopark, the first and largest science park in Slovenia. If you’re touring the east by car, Celje is close to Velenje and Maribor, and pairs well with Pekel Cave.

If you are staying the night, see the best hotel deals in Celje for your dates: the well-placed rooms go fast.