Visit Maribor

First impressions of Maribor

Maribor is Slovenia's understated second city — a calm, leafy university town of about 95,000 in the rolling vineyards of the Drava river valley in the country's northeast, just south of the Austrian border. The compact historic centre on the north bank of the river was the Habsburg-era Lower Styrian capital, with red-tiled merchant houses and the dramatic Renaissance Maribor Castle (now home to the excellent Regional Museum). But Maribor's most famous resident is The Old Vine — a single Žametovka grapevine planted in 1551 against the wall of the Lent district's Old Vine House (Stara trta) and recognised by Guinness World Records as the oldest continuously fruit-bearing grapevine in the world. The vine still produces about 35-55 kg of grapes a year, ceremonially harvested and turned into 100 tiny commemorative bottles given to visiting dignitaries. The wider city has the dramatic Pyramid Hill panoramic walk above the centre, the beautiful Maribor Cathedral (the seat of Slovenia's Catholic archbishop), and an excellent food scene that has earned the city a UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy designation. Don't miss the day trips up to Pohorje (a 1,500m wooded plateau with the best skiing in eastern Slovenia in winter, brilliant mountain biking in summer, accessed by Slovenia's longest cable car) and the surrounding Štajerska wine region (especially the Hiša Služiča estate for excellent Furmint and Welschriesling).