Ptuj, Slovenia

If you've only got time to visit one place in eastern Slovenia, make it Ptuj. Ptuj is the oldest continuously settled site in Slovenia and is historically the most important settlement outside Ljubljana. The town and its surrounds are run through with two thousand years of history, its squares, streets and buildings rampant with architectural and archeological riches – Romanesque and medieval townhouses, built-in Roman monuments and tombstones, and ancient Mithras shrines. Moreover, Ptuj is home to the wonderful Shrovetide Kurent Carnival, Slovenia's most famous, and entertaining, folkloric event.