Hidden Tips

One more advice is to make maximum use of the different pool areas. Your stay at the Grand Hotel Primus will give you the opportunity to enjoy the more exclusive and tranquil Vespasianus hotel pools (both indoor and outdoor) and dip into the much larger and livelier public Terme Ptuj Thermal Park just across the street. Use the hotel’s private pools for a nice, quiet, and relaxing swim. The fun and water slides are more family-oriented; swi’m over to the Thermal Park.

One of the things you should do when you are on a trip to a place is to climb up to Ptuj Castle, which stands above the Old Town. The climb can be rather steep but it’s all worth it in the end. The castle contains quite a good regional museum with collections of historical artifacts, furniture, and traditional carnival masks (Kurenti). Probably, the views from the castle’s courtyard, as you look down over the orange-roofed town to the Drava River, are the best in town and would present an ideal photo opportunity.

Be sure to book your visit during Kurentovanje if you can only experience the local culture. It is the biggest carnival in Slovenia, celebrated for ten days before Shrove Tuesday. Travelers witness the parades of fantastic and devilish figures dressed in sheepskins with cowbells, the Kurenti, who perform various ceremonies to drive winter away and usher in spring. A once-in-a-lifetime cultural experience.

Use the hotel as a launching pad to discover the wine country that lies all around. The hills around Ptuj and Jeruzalem form part of one of the most renowned wine-growing regions in Slovenia. Pop into a local winery for a wine tasting and find out. Besides, you can visit Ptujska Klet, situated in the heart of the Old Town . it is one of the oldest in the country. Just behind its massive façade, there are miles of galleries reeking with the bouquet of old white wines.