Celje

Late spring to early autumn is the best time, with warm days and long evenings for the castle and the riverbank. Summer days are hot and often end with thunderstorms. Winters are cold and grey, with frequent frost and some snow.

The biggest annual event is the Medieval Festival at Celje Castle in late August. For a weekend the castle fills with sword fights, horse riders, acrobats and craftsmen showing medieval skills.

Celje Old Castle sits on a hill above the Savinja, south-east of the centre. It was the main seat of the Counts of Celje and was once the largest fortress in Slovenia. Walk the walls and the courtyards for wide views over the city and the valley, and look for Frederick's Tower, tied to the town's famous love story.

Princely Palace (Lower Castle) stands on the edge of the old town. It holds the museum's exhibition on the Counts of Celje, including their skulls. In the basement, "Celeia – Town Beneath the Town" shows Roman walls and a Roman road in their original place.

Celje Regional Museum occupies the Old Counts' Mansion, a Renaissance building nearby. Its highlight is the Celje Ceiling, a large painted ceiling from around 1600. The cellar holds the country's largest collection of Roman stone monuments.

Celje Museum of Recent History tells the story of everyday life in 20th-century Celje, with rebuilt craft workshops and shops. It also includes Herman's Den, a children's museum of toys, and runs the Pelikan photo studio.

Celje Cathedral is a Gothic church from the early 14th century, given a Gothic Revival look in 1858. Visit the side chapel of the Sorrowful Mother of God to see its carved wooden Pietà.

Church of St Maximilian marks the place where, by tradition, the Romans executed Bishop Maximilian. The Protestant reformer Primož Trubar served here as a priest, and a bust of him stands in the park behind the church.

Temple of Hercules is the excavated base of a Roman temple on a terrace of Miklavž Hill, a short walk from the old town.

Šmartinsko jezero is a large reservoir about 5 km north of the centre. It is a quiet place for a lakeside walk, a short boat trip or fishing.

A few things that make a stay in Celje different:

• Medieval Festival at the castle: On a weekend in late August, Celje Old Castle hosts sword fights, horse shows, music, dancing and craft demonstrations.
• Old-style portrait at the Pelikan studio: The Pelikan photo house keeps a glass-roofed studio from around 1900. You can book a portrait made with an old photographic technique, with period costumes if you like. Tours run only at set times, so book ahead.
• Walk up to the castle at sunset: Follow the riverside path along the Voglajna and climb to the castle walls. In the evening light you get wide views over the city and the Savinja Valley.
• Kids in Herman's Den: The children's museum inside Celje Museum of Recent History is built around toys and play, with a fox called Herman as guide.
• Winter on Celjska koča: The hills just south of the city have a small ski area and a mountain hotel, good for an easy day on the slopes.

Celje sits in the middle of the Savinja Valley, and many good trips take under an hour.

• Roman Necropolis of Šempeter – about 15 min west by car. Up to 100 Roman family tombs with carved reliefs stand in an archaeological park, a direct link to Roman Celeia.
• Laško – 10–15 min south by train. A small spa town on the Savinja, home of Slovenia's best-known brewery and a large thermal spa.
• Rimske Toplice – about 20 min by train. A thermal spa with Roman origins, now a restored spa resort.
• Velenje – about 30 min by car or bus. A modern town with a castle museum, a lake and a museum about coal mining.
• Rogaška Slatina – about 45 min east by car. One of the oldest spa towns in Slovenia, known for its mineral water and crystal glass.
• Maribor – about 50 min by train. Slovenia's second city has a riverside old town and the world's oldest vine.
• Ljubljana – 1 h 10 min to 1 h 30 min by train. The capital has a castle, a green old town and lively cafés along the river.

Celje lies in the Savinja region of eastern Slovenia, halfway between the capital and Maribor.

• Nearby towns: Velenje lies up the valley to the north-west.
• Spas: Rogaška Slatina is the best-known spa town to the east.
• Cities: Maribor and Ljubljana are both easy to reach by train.

• By air: The nearest airport is Ljubljana Jože Pučnik Airport, about an hour away by car. Without a car, take a bus or shuttle to Ljubljana and continue by train.
• By train: Celje is on the main line between Ljubljana and Maribor. Trains take about 1 h 10 min to 1 h 30 min from Ljubljana and about 45–55 min from Maribor. The station is next to the old town. Slovenian Railways
• By bus: The bus station is close to the railway station, with intercity buses to towns across Slovenia. Nomago
• By car: Celje is just off the A1 motorway between Ljubljana and Maribor. Slovenian motorways need an e-vignette.

• On foot: The old town, the museums and the riverbank are all within a 10-minute walk of each other. The castle is a steep uphill walk from the centre; the marked castle trails start by the Voglajna River.
• City buses: Celebus buses run on several lines around the city. You can buy a ticket on the bus, or pay with the Centralka city card or app. A Celebus line runs from the railway station to the foot of the castle, but not on Sundays and holidays. Celebus (City of Celje)
• Cycling: The city is flat and the KolesCE bike-share system has stations around town. The first 30 minutes are free after registration.
• Tourist information: The office on Glavni trg in the old town has maps and visitor information. Visit Celje

• Is a car worth it?: Not for the city itself, which is compact and walkable. A car is useful for the Roman sites, spas and hill villages around the Savinja Valley.
• Parking: The old town is mostly closed to traffic. Use the paid zones, garages or park-and-ride sites on its edge. The Centralka app pays for parking. Parking at the castle is free during opening hours.

Celje lies in Štajerska (Styria), where food is hearty: pork, sausages, buckwheat and pumpkin seed oil on salads. The Savinja Valley around the city is Slovenia's main hop-growing area, and local beer is part of daily life. Laško, just down the river, brews the country's best-known beer.

For eating out, head to the old town. Glavni trg and the pedestrian streets around it, such as Stanetova ulica and Prešernova ulica, have most of the cafés, pubs and restaurants, many with outdoor tables in summer.

Celje is a safe city with low crime. Normal care with bags in busy places and at the stations is enough. The old town is quiet at night.

Tap water is safe to drink. The castle paths are steep and can be slippery after rain, so wear good shoes.

The Romans called the town Celeia, and under Emperor Claudius it became a self-governing town in AD 45. You can still see a Roman road and town walls under Princely Palace (Lower Castle), the temple remains at Temple of Hercules, and the stone monuments in Celje Regional Museum.

From 1341 the town was the seat of the Counts of Celje. Through marriage and service to emperors, they rose to the rank of princes in 1436. They ruled from Celje Old Castle and from their palace in town. Their best-known story is the love of Frederick II for Veronika of Desenice, whom his father Herman II opposed. Herman had Frederick locked in the castle tower. Frederick gave Celje its town rights in 1451. The family ended in 1456, when Ulrich II was killed in Belgrade, and their lands passed to the Habsburgs.

Under Austrian rule the town was known as Cilli. The railway from Vienna to Trieste reached it in 1846. In World War II the German occupiers used the old prison Stari pisker, where many hostages were shot. Its memorial is now part of Celje Museum of Recent History.

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