Spring in Ptuj

Do you like to spend your weekends near Zagreb, in a place where you can relax and get a good night's sleep, enjoy wellness and swimming in thermal springs, where you can spend your free time exploring the special features hidden in the city of beautiful views, peeking into restaurants serving unique menus that bear the mark of domestic and local, take advantage of spring in Ptuj! A small but also the oldest city in Slovenia, only 90 kilometers from Zagreb, it is an ideal place for a weekend getaway as a couple but also a vacation spot for all lovers of continental destinations. Especially in the warmer part of the year, when the place where you will drop your suitcases offers unique water attractions and wellness, which, due to the thermal water rich in sodium hydrogen carbonate, relaxes muscles and body regeneration.

One of the special places in Ptuj is certainly the Grand Hotel Primus, located in the heart of Terme Ptuj. It was built in 2007 as a wellness oasis with 118 rooms of various categories, made special by three thermal springs 1050 meters deep. The water in which Terme Ptuj is located is pleasant, with a temperature of 35-39 degrees Celsius. It is located within a swimming pool complex and a water park with the largest system of slides in Slovenia.

You will sleep well at Terme Ptuj, and in addition to the wellness area with a Roman atmosphere where you can enjoy as a couple, you will be delighted by the Flavia saunas with unique programs for rapid regeneration. Regain your energy with a leisurely walk through the green oasis where the thermal baths are located, stop at the Health Windmill in Fortuna Park (6 simple exercises that increase energy), and if you like golf, play it at the 18-hole Ptuj golf course.

Terme Ptuj is in harmony with the nature in which it is located, and offers each guest an individual approach to their stay - from apartments with personalized saunas and thermal water baths, to standard rooms with anatomical beds, a campsite where you can choose to stay in a bungalow or your own tent, or relax in one of the eight luxurious barrels that once stored wine in the Klet Ptuj, also the oldest wine cellar in Slovenia.

If you like a wellness experience, Terme Ptuj is the right place. Wellness Valens Augusta consists of units inspired by the times of ancient Rome, the Orient, Japan, Egypt, and Thailand, which you can also experience as a couple. In the wellness center, everything is a sign of natural beauty, so in the spring period, the focus is on treatment packages for natural rejuvenation and body shaping, which you can complete during your stay with the Flavia sauna, which, in addition to several different types of saunas, offers an ice cave and hot and cold Kneipp baths. All wellness experiences at the Grand Hotel Primus are available to hotel guests as part of specially created packages, but also to external guests who explore Ptuj during the day and want to revitalize their mind and body in the evening.

Ptuj is located in Slovenian Styria, a beautiful part of Slovenia shaped by wine-growing hills, mountains, and interesting towns. Here, you will eat the most delicious chicken, pork specialties, and cured meats, which you will want to complement with Slovenske gorice and Haloz wines. To allow you to taste Styria in Ptuj, the Ptuj Tourist Board created the Tastes of Ptuj project. Seven caterers are participating in it with their traditional media at a unique price of 27 euros for three courses.

What are the Tastes of Ptuj? During your stay at the Grand Hotel Primus, you can try Essigfleisch (boiled beef with onions, pumpkin oil, vinegar) for the main course, a chicken pancake made from rye bread, Ptuj žlikrof (stuffed pasta) with vegetables and onions, and cracklings. For dessert, this menu serves apple strudel. If you want to enjoy the Tastes of Ptuj in the old part of the city, visit the Amadeus tavern, where the Tastes of Ptuj is served in a combination of a cold appetizer (pork ham rolls with sauerkraut and pumpkin oil and pumpkin seeds), and for the main course, pork fillet, with cheese štruklji and in a jurki (a type of grape) sauce.

The dessert plate is also a perfect blend of flavors - walnut štruklji, ice cream, and buckwheat popcorn dominate. The third flavor of Ptuj is 'Pri Tonetu, ' which is located near the Ptuj Ring. For almost 200 years, a specially created carnival menu (sausages, blood sausage, sauerkraut, pork steaks) has been served here during the Carnival (Pust). Then, when the Carnival is over, the flavors of Ptuj are created by courses of breaded chicken or pork steaks with traditional side dishes.

When you are in Ptuj, know that you will not be bored. Although the town is small, the fact that it is the oldest town in Slovenia reveals several different attractions that make a stay in this place special. Take a pleasant promenade along the Drava River from the Grand Hotel Primus, and enter the old town via a pedestrian bridge. There is much to do in Ptuj, the BEST - the oldest town with the oldest wine cellar in Slovenia, one of the oldest cinemas in the world (which is still operating today), the oldest lapidary in Slovenia, and recently a new attraction hidden in the city center, which houses the oldest and longest mechanical wooden clock with a 21-meter-long pendulum. This historical rarity is located at the top of the Town Tower, which is also the bell tower of the Church of St. George, the patron saint of Ptuj. You need to climb 150 steps to reach the very top, and the experience at noon every day is unique. Once you have adjusted your watch to the time in the tower, set off on an exploration of the city through the narrow streets.

Let your landmark be Ptuj Castle, which has been guarding this city from a hill since the 11th century. Many people have lived here throughout history, from the Salzburg Archbishopric to the Counts of Ptuj, then the Scottish nobles Leslie. The Herberstein family was the last to live here until 1945. From the plateau in front of the most magnificent castles in Slovenia, the view opens up to the mosaic of roofs of medieval buildings and monuments.

In the old town centre, all the roofs are red, and the city seems to be guarded by two monasteries - the Dominican and the Minorite. What else do you have to experience when you are in Ptuj? Take a peek into the oldest wine cellar, Kleti Ptuj (ask about guided tastings), explore the tunnels under the castle, where you will hear about the history of the city on a guided tour (5 euros per person/tours are organised every Saturday at 2pm) by lamplight and try your hand at a unique tasting of four courses of wines from this region served in one part of the tunnel (tastings are by appointment, the price is 25 euros per person). In the very centre of the town you can find out all about how one of the most delicious pralines in Slovenia is made, the ones made every day (except Mondays and Tuesdays) by master Matevž Božič in the Xococ boutique near the Town Tower.

The beginning of the year is special in Ptuj when both young and old prepare for Kurentovanja. It is an international carnival, a time when Kurenti/Koranti parade through the city streets to bring happiness, health, and prosperity. They are dressed in a suit made of sheepskin, with a mask decorated with horns or feathers and with five large bells strung on a belt worn around their waists. The Kurenti costume weighs almost 40 kilograms, and this year there were as many as 1,100 participants of all ages in the procession.

The most popular and massive traditional ethnographic carnival character, characteristic of the Ptuj and Drava Valleys, Haloze and Slovenske Gorica, has been declared a protected cultural heritage of Slovenia by UNESCO. If you don't get to meet him during the festival/carnival on the city streets, during the year you can step into his house/museum Kurentova hiša, where you will learn all about the uniqueness of this custom during an interesting tour lasting an hour, knowing that it was the Kurents who saw off the winter in February and brought happiness to the city streets of Ptuj, which is enjoyed by the residents and many tourists who discover this special city every day.

Photos: Nikola Zoko i Promo