Maribor is Slovenia's second city — overlooked by most visitors who rush between Ljubljana and the Slovenian Alps, which is their loss. A university town of around 100,000 on the Drava river in the northeastern corner of the country, it has a relaxed, lived-in quality that the more self-consciously picturesque capital sometimes lacks.
The old town stretches along the left bank of the Drava, with Lent — the riverside promenade — as its social heart. This stretch comes alive every summer for Festival Lent, a sprawling music and cultural festival that draws performers and visitors from across Central Europe. The main square, Glavni trg, is anchored by an 18th-century plague column, and the Maribor Castle above it houses the regional museum.
Maribor sits in the middle of Styrian wine country, and the surrounding hills are thick with vineyards. The Maribor Vineyards along the south-facing slopes above the old town include the oldest productive grapevine in the world — over 400 years old, according to the Guinness World Records — which produces a small quantity of wine each year. Wine tourism is a serious part of the regional economy, and the Mariborske Pohorje hills immediately south of the city offer skiing in winter and hiking in summer. The Maribor Synagogue, one of the oldest in Central Europe, is an unexpected highlight in the old Jewish quarter.