Maribor and Pohorje

Maribor in Pohorje: mesto ob Dravi in gozdovi nad njim

Maribor and Pohorje are very close, yet different in character. In the morning you can walk along Lent past the oldest vine in the world, at midday rise by gondola into the Pohorje forests, and in the evening a glass of Styrian wine awaits you in the town core.

Maribor is the second largest Slovenian town and lies on the Drava, and right above it rises Pohorje, an extensive forested upland reaching 1,543 metres. The city and Maribor Pohorje are linked by a gondola, so in one day you can combine the old city core and the high plateau.

For planning your visit, divide the area into three parts: the city by the river, Maribor Pohorje right above it, and the western part of the plateau with Rogla above Zreče. The drive across the ridge is slow, so choose one base and get to know the rest as day trips.

Maribor: the old town core, Lent and the Oldest Vine

Če Maribor for the first time, start at the river. On Lent, the oldest part of the town, grows the oldest vine in the world, inscribed since 2004 in the Guinness Book of Records. It climbs up a house that was once part of the town walls, and its variety, the Žametovka, is among the oldest noble varieties in the country.

Along the riverside stand three preserved towers of the former walls, the Water, the Judgement and the Jewish tower. A few steps higher is Jewish Square with the synagogue, considered one of the oldest preserved synagogues in Europe and today functioning as the Centre of Jewish Cultural Heritage. For a walk by the river set aside at least an hour, as the towers, the squares and the vine follow one another within a few hundred metres.

The town core is closed to traffic, so you can easily walk across it. On the Main Square stand the plague column and the town hall from 1515, and on Castle Square Maribor Castle with the Regional Museum. Beneath the town centre stretches the Vinag cellar, which measures 15,000 square metres, and if you are interested in wine, you can arrange a visit in advance.

Mariborsko Pohorje: z gondolo iz mesta v gozd

The lower station of the Pohorje cable car stands about five kilometres from the old town core, and the gondola brings you without any climb up to Maribor Pohorje. This is the quickest way to round off a city visit with a few hours in the forest, and the opening times and prices are on uradni strani vzpenjače.

The upper station is at Bolfenk, from where you can walk along circular paths across the plateau and on towards Areh. The paths are through the forest and gentle, and the views open up mainly on the clearings and along the edge of the plateau, towards the Drava Field and the Slovenske gorice.

Mariborsko Pohorje is also a starting point for mountain biking, as the descents run all the way down to the valley. If you return to the town late, bear in mind that it gets dark quickly in the forest, so prepare a light for the descent.

Rogla and Zreče: the western part of Pohorje

Na drugem koncu planote so Zreče, from which a road leads up to Rogla, which lies at 1,517 metres and is at once a winter centre and a place for athletes' training. In the valley there are spas, so for many a day in the mountains ends in a pool or sauna.

Rogla has a different character from Maribor Pohorje, as the plateau is more open and the forest alternates with pastures and bogs. It is precisely for this reason that it is the starting point for the best-known Pohorje route, the walk to the Lovrenc Lakes. At the top there is also the Treetop Walk, a kilometre-long path on wooden walkways above the forest, with an observation tower and a slide for the descent.

Nearby there are two more places that you can choose as a quieter base. Slovenske Konjice lie among wine-growing hills below the plateau, Slovenska Bistrica pa ima grad sredi mestnega jedra in kratek dostop do pohorskih cest.

Naravne znamenitosti Pohorja

Pohorje is not a range with rocky walls but a forested plateau with bogs, small lakes and waterfalls. The best known are the Lovrenc Lakes, a group of about twenty bog pools at around 1500 metres. They lie on the largest raised bog in Slovenia, fed only by precipitation, and an easy path from Rogla leads to them.

Along the Lobnica stream stretches nineteen hectares of primeval forest with the Veliki and Mali Šumik waterfalls. At Osankarica lies the Black Lake, whose forested surroundings are protected as a forest reserve, while by the lake there is a memorial site of the Pohorje Battalion. Less visited is Ribnica Lake above Ribnico na Pohorju.

Along the edge of the plateau are gorges that you can walk through in an hour or two, among them the Bistrica Gorge above Slovenska Bistrica and the Oplotnica Gorge. The northern side above Lovrencem na Pohorju is the most forested and least visited, and you will find a full overview among naravnimi znamenitostmi.

What to do in summer and in bad weather?

Poleti je v ospredju cycling, saj po dolini teče The Drava cycle route, which links the town with the villages along the river, while mountain trails and descents run across the plateau. For cestne kolesarje je klasika vzpon na Roglo.

Hiking on Pohorje is different from alpine hiking, as the paths are mostly gentle and through the forest, and the markings lead from hut to hut, so they are suitable for the less experienced too. Across the plateau runs the Pohorje section of the Slovenian Mountain Trail, which you can walk in individual days. Among poletnimi aktivnostmi besides walking there are also horse riding, adventure parks and guided tours.

Ob slabem vremenu se vrnite v mesto, kjer med kulturo in zgodovino najdete muzeje, gradove in dvorce, med njimi dvorec Betnava on the southern edge of Maribor. If it rains all day, you can also choose the indoor pool or a cellar with a tasting.

Winter on Pohorje: ski resorts and cross-country trails

In winter the area turns to snow, and the most runs are had by the Mariborsko Pohorje ski resort nad mestom in smučišče Rogla above Zreče. Smaller and quieter is Ribniško Pohorje na severni strani, celoten pregled pa najdete med ski resorts.

Thanks to its gentle plateaus, Pohorje is also good for cross-country skiing, as there are around 24 kilometres of trails at Rogla and about 6 kilometres at Areh. Among zimskimi aktivnostmi besides skiing there are also sledging, snowshoe walks and ski touring.

Snow conditions vary between seasons, because Pohorje is relatively low and close to the plain. The operation of the lifts and the state of the runs are published on uradni strani upravljavca.

Kam z otroki?

With children, short routes with a clear goal work best. The gondola can take you up to the plateau without a climb, the Treetop Walk on Rogla offers a view without a strenuous walk, poletno sankališče PohorJet is a rewarding end to the day.

In the town, the Three Ponds in the City Park are close by, and in summer the bathing area on Maribor Island in the middle of the Drava. Along the river there is a laid-out Drava Landscape Park, where the paths are gentle and suitable for bikes, and you will find more ideas among the suggestions, kam na izlet.

If you are travelling with younger children, choose accommodation in the valley and head up the mountain only for the day, as the Pohorje roads are winding, while the distances in the town and by the river are short.

Kje dobro jesti in kaj poskusiti?

The Styrian cuisine draws on what the field and the forest provide. Try buckwheat žganci with sour milk, mushroom dishes and stews, pumpkin oil and pumpkin seeds, and for dessert the Pohorje omelette. In the huts on the plateau you often find simpler home dishes, and in the town a wider choice of cuisine.

Maribor is a wine city, as the surrounding hills yield Welschriesling and Rhine Riesling, Sauvignon and Žametovka, and along the wine roads wine taverns and cellars line up one after another. For a visit as a couple this is a rewarding programme, because a tasting combines nicely with lunch and a view over the wine hills.

When choosing, it is most practical to look at inn and the culinary offer v kraju, kjer boste prespali. Na zahodnem delu Pohorja lokalne ponudnike povezuje znamka Okusi Rogle.

Kje prespati?

The choice depends above all on what you will be doing, so first answer whether you are more interested in the town or the plateau. For a visit in which Pohorje is a day trip, the handiest are hotels and apartments in Maribor, since you have the core and the riverside within a step.

For a longer break in nature there are tourist farms and B&B po pohorskih vaseh, private rooms v dolini ter kampi in glamping. If you are coming for skiing, look at accommodation near the ski slopes, because the morning distances to the lifts matter more than the proximity of the town.

The area also has a thermal offer. Among spa resorts and the wellness offer you can choose depending on whether you want pools in the valley or near the ski resort.

Kdaj obiskati?

Each season opens a different part of the area: choose late spring for the moors and the flowering on the plateau, July and August for swimming by the Drava and longer cycling tours, and September for the grape harvest and the wine roads.

Autumn on Pohorje is colourful and calm, and the forest paths are then at their finest. In winter the programme moves to the ski slopes and cross-country trails, while the city visit is shorter and more compact.

If you want fewer crowds, avoid the fine weekends, when the most visitors from the town climb up to the plateau. Midweek the traffic and parking on Pohorje are considerably more relaxed, so you can head up to the plateau even without getting up early.

Trips to the surroundings: Ptuj, the Žiče Charterhouse and Koroška

Maribor is a good starting point for days outside the area. To Ptuja vodi po ravnini tudi kolesarski izlet iz Maribora, and the town has a castle, a Dominican monastery and an old core. Not far away stands the pilgrimage church on Ptujska Gora.

On the southern side of Pohorje is The Žiče Charterhouse, the oldest Carthusian monastery in Slovenia, which you can visit together with Slovenske Konjice. A little further to the southwest lies Celje z gradom nad mestom.

Along the Drava a road leads towards Koroška, where there are Radlje ob Dravi and further Dravograd, and across the Mislinja Valley you come to Slovenj Gradec. It is precisely in this shifting that the charm of the area lies: one day you are in the old town core by the river, the next in the forest at a thousand five hundred metres, the third among the vineyards.