Savinjska Region

rom one of the most beautiful Alpine valleys past the medieval castle inspirations of the Celje Counts to mysterious Kozjansko, the Savinjska region offers secret corners of unspoiled nature, thermal and climatic health resorts, towns and cities with interesting pasts and lively presents, hospitable farms, places with sporting challenges . . .

Logarska dolina, one of the most beautiful glacial valleys in Europe, surprises its visitors with the peaks of the Kamniske-Savinjske Alps, the Rinka and other waterfalls, and many natural and cultural features that also enrich the neighbouring valleys of Robanov kot and Matkov kot.

The Savinja River has been creating the unique appearance of the Celje Basin since prehistoric times. The center of the basin is Celje, the home of the famous “Counts of Celje” below the renovated Celje Castle. A regional, economic, commercial, cultural, educational, and major fair center, it has an attractive medieval core with museums, galleries, old churches. Not far from Celje are several renowned health resorts: Dobrna, Topolsica, Lasko, Rimske Toplice, Rogaska Slatina, and Olimia in Podcetrtek. Rogaska Slatina is also a home of a famous chrystal glass factory. The Salek Valley is also worth visiting, along with lively Velenje, which draws people in with its outstanding underground Mining Museum of Slovenia, its excellent tourist-recreational centre by Velenje Lake, and the Velenje Museum, which houses eleven museum collections.

Toward the southern border, in addition to the health resorts with venerable traditions, you are invited to visit the town of Sentjur, which is famous for the largest archaeological finds from the late Antique period according to the European scale at Rifnik, for the composers of the Ipavec family, and for the blessed Bishop Slomsek. Other towns worth visiting are Olimje and its monastery with the oldest pharmacy in Slovenia at the picturesque Olimje Castle, Kozje with the nearby Kozjansko Regional Park and the mighty Podsreda Castle with the museum collection of glassware, Rogatec with the renovated Strmol Castle and open-air ethnological museum, and Bistrica ob Sotli with its Svete gore, one of the most important sacral monuments in Slovenia.