Things to do in Ptuj

Ptuj is Slovenia's oldest town, settled since Roman times and anchored by a hilltop castle above the Drava river, about 130 km east of Ljubljana (roughly 1h30 by car).

Most visitors time a visit around late January or February, when the town hosts Kurentovanje, its Shrovetide carnival of Kurent runners in sheepskin costumes with horned masks and cowbells, inscribed on UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

Outside carnival season, the old town's arcaded streets and the castle museum still fill a half-day, with Maribor around 25 km away for a bigger city stop and Celje roughly an hour southwest for the medieval counts' castle. Ptuj works best paired with one of those two rather than visited alone.