Staying in a castle has long been etched onto our bucket list. We are always on the lookout for something different and this being one of the most unusual experience offered in Slovenia, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to make our dreams to stay in a castle come true!
The Castle Podsreda is nestled into the rolling hills of regional park of Kozjansko and has a prefect secluded location for an intimate, serene and care-free escape to the 12th century. Being 22 kilometres south of PodÄŤetrtek, the location is perfect as it allows to visit all the nearby places while seeing a new, undiscovered part of Slovenia. If you’re looking for an ultimate romantic experience, look no further.
The castle can sleep 14 guests in 6 apartments/rooms which have been beautifully restored. We stayed in the Apartment of the Counts of Celje (Apartma Celjskih Grofov). Upon arrival we were met by the smiling Mojca, ready to assist us into our new home. Arriving to our apartment there were double front doors, immediately making us feel like VIP. As we walked in there was a separate kitchen with dining area and welcome basket of fresh apples along with locally produced 100 % natural apple juice that grows in protected park of Kozjansko. Kitchen was very well supplied with goodies like 100 % natural, hand-picked seasonal herbal tea.
In the next room there was a large bedroom with our king sized bed with white crisp linens. The bed was beautifully decorated with roses.
A living area featured large windows with stunning views of the vast forests (on the sunset side!) and velvet curtains, which allowed complete darkening of the rooms. All furniture was custom-made solid oak furniture offering the best of both worlds – a historic haven with modern comforts. There was a welcome note on the table accompanied by complimentary champagne and some local delicious sweets. A perfect pick-me-up before exploring the castle.
After unpacking we walked to the end of the room with doors that opened up to the bathroom with a shower and toilet. There was even adjustable underfloor heating and again all handmade natural products like soap made from raw materials from the local environment.
All the apartments had a private access to the castle at all times and entry free of charge. As the Castle Podsreda had booked us an appointment for lunch we decided to postpone the exploring of the castle for later. If you’re visiting as an outside guest, check for the current opening times and entrance fees here.
For lunch we indulged at the Amon Restaurant in Olimje, which only uses local and seasonal products, grown in their own garden. See more about our dining experience on our TWISPER profiles.
After lunch, we decided to test our golf skills on their beautiful golf court backdropped by the rolling hills. It was hot, so we did only a couple of rounds before moving on. Next, we paid a visit to a deer farm and felt cute feeding the Bambis. It felt like being in a Land of Fairy Tales.
Evening was reserved for a wine tasting and watching the sun setting over the vineyards. It was beyond charming and all of the 5 winemaker-selected wines we tasted were delicious, but the Red Special was favourite for both of us.
That night we slept like royalty. The next morning we woke up bright and early. We were determined to enjoy the castle during the sunrise. We picked up our castle breakfast basket filled with only locally produced products and crops from the surrounding farms and homesteads of Kozjansko – homemade bread, homemade pate, homemade jam and spreads, homemade honey, homemade juice and homemade meats, sour cream and homemade yogurt made from milk of cows grazing in the surrounding pastures.
It was a special gourmet experience with only selected home-made Kozjansko delicacies grown on the land that has fed the castle for centuries. Impossible to forget.
The idea of the castle breakfast basket is that you can choose your own basket ingredients and they can be eaten in the comfort of your castle room, in the castle courtyard, at a nearby pond, meadow or in the forest. Even though it was a sunny, warm summer day we decided to enjoy breakfast in the comfort of our room. We ate all of it, it was so good we just couldn’t resist.
After our cosy breakfast we went for a walk around the castle and felt inspired to fly the drone. We realised how large is the protected area of the Kozjansko regional park where the castle sits, surrounded by the pre-Alpine Posavje mountain range, hills, and plains along the river Sotla.
This day was planned for feeling spoiled in the thermal waters of Orhidelia – in our opinion the top wellness location in Slovenia and perfect relaxation destination. The wellness pampering was included in our package stay at the Castle Podsreda, so we packed our swimsuits ready to be spoiled. The property features indoor and outdoor pools, slow river, underwater music, water fun, huge gardens, sauna and selfness programmes, and other wellness delights – all available in one single place. We spent a good 5 hours if not more. There was even a tiny bit of rainfall in the afternoon which made the whole experience even more beautiful… Imagine swimming in the warm rain. We felt we could spend an entire week here just relaxing and enjoying all the peace this place has to offer.
The evening was reserved for dining like royalty. We made our way to the castle’s grand dining room to enjoy an authentic royal meal as a private dining experience. Whole castle was candle-lit. The dinner was prepared in front of us on open fire and the atmosphere was excellent. They’ve had a local chef that again sourced the local products to satisfy our gastronomic cravings. It obviously showed in the quality of the food. Every single dish was superb and you can definitely tell it was very thoughtfully done.
The local staff was so friendly we ended up chatting until 1 AM. The son of the main chef even played us a piano and it was beautiful to see the castle go completely quiet after we were returning to our room.
While it was tempting to not leave the room, the very next morning was planned for another sunrise mission on top of Rudnica with newly built tower. We decided to have an active morning and the view paid up for it… It was a sunrise like no other.
On the way back we discovered a cute little spot with a mesmerising view of the whole castle. Clouds and fog this morning were dramatic and made for a perfect photo-opportunity – we thought it’s incredible.
By this time we were quite tired as we only slept 3-4 hours so we went back to our room. We gave a call to the reception and asked for a late check-out. They were genuinely happy to extend our stay for a couple of hours so we were able to recharge.
After relaxing and enjoying our second cup of coffee, it was now time for a final stroll through the castle.
The light inside the central court that morning was a perfection. It had a beautiful open space to roam around, there were tons of seating areas, and many historical sights.
It was then time to pack our bags and give a royal goodbye to the fairytale Podsreda castle in the enchanting countryside of Kozjansko.
We genuinely could not have been happier with our stay. It was a truly unique experience sleeping inside a real medieval castle. It felt like a balm for the soul of the tired traveler. We’ve honestly spent some of our most calm and intimate moments, enjoying the feeling of seclusion far from the rest of the world.
If you’re planning a trip to Slovenia, we would highly recommend adding a stay at the Castle Podsreda to your itinerary. It was an absolute highlight of our time and once in a lifetime experience. It also made it firmly onto our list of top places to visit in Slovenia!
If you want to book the same experience in a castle and activities as we did, click here. Offers of such packages start at 550 EUR.
If you wish to visit on your own, find and save all these places on TWISPER. TWISPER is an awesome social travel app to search, save and share great places to eat, sleep and drink. It gives you top places with genuine reviews by simply searching the location. It takes the stress and guesswork out of traveling from stays to finding the best restaurants. We honestly don’t want to travel without TWISPER anymore, it makes vacation simplified! All we have to do is pull up the app, search the location, and enjoy!
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Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post for TWISPER App. All opinions remain our own and we were in no way influenced by the company.Â
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Have you ever experienced a castle stay?
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