Ptuj, the Roman and medieval town on the Drava

What to see in Ptuj, square by square

The centre has two main squares. Mestni trg holds the town hall, while Slovenski trg has the town tower, studded with Roman stones, St George’s Church and the Orpheus Monument, a five-metre Roman tombstone the tourist board describes as the largest monument found in Upper Pannonia.

The Dominican and Minorite friaries were founded in the 13th century. The Dominican one is now a cultural and conference centre, and the Minorite friary keeps a library of over 5,000 books, some from the 16th century. Around the streets you’ll also come across shrines to Mithras and an open-air archaeological park.

The later centuries left their mark too. Visit Ptuj explains that the castle, both friaries and St George’s Church went up in the 13th century, and that around the middle of that century Ptuj gained its town charter and the right to build walls. Then came the Ottoman frontier years and several devastating fires, and in the late 19th century the first tourists, drawn by the wine and by bathing in the Drava. Until the Second World War the town was known for cafés and hotels hosting concerts and balls, and that spirit lives on today in the City Gallery, the Art Stays contemporary art festival and the cafés on its squares, such as Kipertz, with its own house coffee, and Muzikafe, with its green patio.

What to do across the Drava

Cross the Drava. On the other side lies Lake Ptuj, Slovenia’s largest man-made lake, where more than 230 bird species nest, with a little beach and, in summer, sailing, canoeing and kayaking. The spa is right next to it, with one of the country’s largest water parks. To the south begin the vineyard hills of Haloze, and to the north the Slovenske Gorice, with a walking and cycling route up to Mestni vrh.

The castle and the cellar

Ptuj Castle commands the town from its hill and holds the Ptuj-Ormož Regional Museum’s most visited collections, from musical instruments to carnival masks. The view over the rooftops alone is worth the climb.

Down below, the Ptuj wine cellar is, according to the tourist board, Slovenia’s oldest. For seven centuries it has kept the wines of the surrounding hills, keeps the oldest Slovenian vintage, from 1917, and has a wooden barrel holding more than 22,000 litres. You can even taste wine in pitch darkness in a tunnel beneath the castle.

Once your dates are set, check which hotels are still free in Ptuj before prices climb.

Getting around

The old town is best on foot, and for everything else there are free options. The electric Zapeljivec covers the centre from 9:00 to 17:00 and stops on request, while the Pecikl scheme lends out 40 bikes, 16 of them electric, after a €1 sign-up. The railway station is a few hundred metres from the centre.

When to go and where to stay

February is the big month, with Kurentovanje running from 3 to 9 February 2027. In summer it’s all about the lake, and through the year there are festivals of poetry and wine, contemporary art and sauvignon. In 2026, European Best Destinations named Ptuj Europe’s best cultural heritage town. For a bed, the old town and the spa are the two bases, both covered in my guide to hotels in Ptuj.

If you would rather have a local show you round, book a guided tour in Ptuj and choose by the reviews.

Old Poetovio

The town numbers 18,247 people and the municipality 23,898, per SURS at the start of 2026, and its 68,444 tourist arrivals in 2025 put it well ahead of anywhere else nearby bar Maribor. That makes it the second most visited town in Podravje, after Maribor.

The Slovenian government includes it, as Poetovio, among the three main Roman towns on this territory, together with Emona and Celeia. Visit Ptuj says around 30,000 people lived in the area and that it was one of the most important Roman army bases of its day. The tourist board calls it the oldest town in Slovenia, though Kranj in turn claims to be the oldest continuously inhabited settlement, so I’d settle for «one of the oldest».

Once your dates are set, check which hotels are still free in Ptuj before prices climb.