WEEKENDER - MARIBOR

Against a backdrop of a restored old town, the Slovenian city is embracing its cultural identity, from colourful festivals to age-old winemaking.

- Jessica Vincent

On the banks of the Drava River, Slovenia’s second-largest city cuts a handsome dash. A riot of colour, the medieval, red-roofed houses and turquoise church spires of Maribor stand against a forested backdrop of the Pohorje Mountains. As the seasons change, so too does the landscape, shifting from green to orange to brown and then snowy white.

The city itself is no stranger to transformations, either. After decades of war and occupation, Maribor has been revitalised. It’s no clearer than in the car-free centre, where restored baroque buildings are now home to fine dining restaurants and boho cafes serving speciality coffee and vegan ice cream. With six of its restaurants receiving Michelin stars for the first time in 2020 and now the 2021 European Region of Gastronomy, Slovenia is enjoying its culinary moment in the sun — palpably so in Maribor, where the streets smell of freshly baked rye bread and tarragon-filled dumplings, and restaurants serve buckwheat stews, and Slovenian ales are sipped kerbside on candle-lit Poštna Street.

The country’s largest wine region is right on the doorstep, too. Here, family-run vineyards age their wines just as the Romans did, with the finest bottles appearing on tables across the city.

DAY ONE OLD TOWN & OLD VINES

MORNING

Glavni Trg, Maribor’s main square, in the old town, was once a marketplace. Second World War bombing badly damaged many of its pastel-coloured, 14th-century buildings, but most have now been restored to their former glory, and there are plans to reintroduce a farmers’ market — a tradition dating back to medieval times.