Address

Maribor

GPS

46.56545681124, 15.619876384735

Address

Maribor

GPS

46.56545681124, 15.619876384735

Level of difficulty 4 paddles |  Gastronomy 3 pitchers |  Length 31.5 km |  Time 5 - 6 hours

An incredibly varied river tour for advanced paddlers from city to city. The Drave reveals itself on its way through the Štajerska region as a good-natured spirit with shallow rapids, lonely river islands and romantic solitude.

General information

Navigation rules

You won't find any bathers here on the Drava River but people paddle here in Maribor alongside tourist ships and wooden rafts cavorting on the water. Ptuj is also very popular among water sports enthusiasts – especially its lake (Ptuj Lake). Fishing boats can be expected on the Drave in the Ptuj area. Keep your distance and give way early.

Dangers and risks

The river access at the small harbor of the boat rental Mariborski Flosarji in Maribor is a bit steep and leads about two meters in height either over grass or over steps into the water (depending on where you go down to the water).

In Maribor in particular there are a number of bridges whose pillars should be bypassed over a large area. The last bridge in Maribor (Meljski most) before the weir runs about a meter above the water, you can only glide under it lying down or kneeling. However, we would like to point out that prohibition signs are attached to the bridge. Water sports enthusiasts have to decide for themselves whether they want to land in front of the bridge and walk to the weir, or paddle through below.

On the other hand, getting back in after the weir is very tricky: right after the building complex of the power plant walk to the right of the sidewalk in the direction of the bushes (go through between the blue entrance gate and the sidewalk railing), the Drave runs below it. But first you have to find a safe descent over the approx. 1.5 m high concrete wall. Please never be alone here, always secure yourself well and help each other on the descent.

The first one to one and a half kilometers after the weir can be extremely shallow, depending on the water level, and in such a case you glide almost continuously over stones or stone slabs, which under bad water conditions cause the fins to scratch permanently. If you encounter such conditions, it's best to kneel forward and paddle on the right bank, it's the least shallow here and the fins don't push so deep into the water. If you are smart, you embark under the weir without a fin and let yourself be carried along by the current for the next one to 1.5 km. At the latest after the second bridge, the stony shallows are over for the time being and you can either stand directly in the river or quickly put on the fins again on a gravel bank. To be on the safe side, it doesn't hurt to have a spare fin packed in case you hit the ground hard. Alternatively, you leave the fins on the board, but flip it around and float down over the shallow section of the river in “shark mode”.

You always have to keep your eyes open along the rest of the route, because the water oftentimes becomes shallow quickly, especially in the area of gravel banks and islands. Then you often flow over easy rapids - so-called riffles – at regular intervals and it is best to shift your weight forward and/or kneel down quickly to protect the fins.

The entire tour requires the paddler's fullest concentration, because the riffles require foresight, tactical action and quick reactions. Again and again the question arises whether one should continue to stand or rather kneel and where the weight should be shifted. Intuition and visual inspection then also decide in a flash which track/ideal line you should paddle.

The right bank of the river often turns out to be the ideal line when the stones are only a few centimeters below the board. Here you have to be careful not to paddle through the bushes and hanging branches.

Directions

For getting to the starting point on the river you could start at Maribor's central station. From there the best way to get around the city is north of the city center and heading west. In detail, you take Kopitarjeva ulica Street, then Razlagova ulica Street and Gosposvetska cesta Street straight ahead towards the west. You drive the first two streets until you can go no further and turn left into the next street mentioned. About 150 m after the supermarket on the western outskirts, turn left towards the harbor on Koblar’s Bay.

If you travel by train you then have to take a taxi from the train station to the water entrance. If you come to Maribor by bus, in many cases the journey ends at the central bus station. From here you walk down to the Drave in just a few minutes and start the tour directly in the city center. This shortens the tour length by three kilometers.

Parking

In Maribor you will find decent and free parking lots at the small port (also called Koblar's Bay) of the boat rental Mariborsky Flosarji. On the other hand, it is also possible to enter the water along the promenade in the center and park directly on one of the fee-based parking lots.

In Ptuj there are also enough fee-based parking spaces throughout the old town - also near the water.

On weekends, paid parking spaces in both cities are free from Saturday afternoon on.

Swimming

It is possible to swim in the Drava itself in the area of Maribor and Ptuj, but there are no official recommendations. We do not recommend swimming in the river along the route.

However, it is different in Ptuj, because Lake Ptuj (Ptujsko jezero) is an artificial lake, but its 420-hectare water area is not only ideal for swimming, but also for paddling, fishing and boating. It's also the country's largest lake, so it's popular.

In the thermal park of Terme Ptuj you can spend a relaxing wellness day or try the various water slides. Furthermore, there are different accommodation options in Terme Ptuj, ranging from a four-star hotel to bungalows.

Terme Ptuj
Pot v toplice 9, 2251 Ptuj
Phone +386 (0)2 512 22 00

Maribor Island Swimming Pool
Na Otok 40, 2000 Maribor
Phone +386 (0)51 310 604

Pristan Swimming Centre
Koroška cesta 33, 2000 Maribor
Phone +386 (0)51 310 604

Tour

From Koblar's Bay in Maribor along the Drava to the first pedestrian bridge in Ptuj.

Length

31.5 km

Time

5 - 6 hours

Start and landing

Start at the small harbor of the boat rental Mariborsky Flosarji. The port is also known as Koblar's Bay among residents.

Land at the pier in front of the Restaurant Ribic in Ptuj or at any other option further inland along the waterfront.

SUP rental

Bananaway
Podmilščakova 46, 1000 Ljubljana
Phone +386 (0)40 238 756
Attention: no rental, only guided tours after reservation!

Servis Gizo
Korčetova ulica 19, 2000 Maribor
Phone +386 (0)31 280 484

X Rent Maribor
Phone +38 (0)6 41 894 924

River paddling from town to town

This unique paddling tour can be quite a challange, especially since we unfortunately had to break off our first attempt prematurely due to adverse autumn weather conditions half a year earlier. The anticipation of the last few weeks was all the greater after we had finally set a date for a new attempt and the weather forecast predicted fabulous weather.

In Maribor you can basically get on the river along the entire bank in the old town. But since we want to stay on the water for as long as possible, we decide to go to the inn called Koblaryev Zaliv at the small harbor Koblar's Bay and to start this tour on the city's western outskirts. Here you will not only find enough free parking spaces, but also enough space for tour preparations. In the small canal the sympathetic rafts of Explore Maribor which take tourists for an entertaining ride along the Drava drop anchor.

Entertainment is guaranteed right at the start after our first paddle strokes, when the waiter on the raft that is just docking invites us to a Slovenian berry schnapps. This 31 km long river tour is also the first tour we start with a drink on the water. We accept this as a good omen and, after a short chat, paddle left into the Drava, which welcomes us with calm water but a slight counterwind breeze.

The first 2 km to the city center are unspectacular and we paddle past apartment blocks and small gardens. In the center, the promenade is full of tourists and locals enjoying the wonderful weather or spending lunchtime in the countless bars. Several high steel bridges over the Drava connect both parts of the city and, in combination with the old town, make for an interesting photo backdrop.

Despite the weather, we seem to be the only paddlers on the river and are slowly making our way towards the weir in the east of the city. The city center on the left (northern) bank is followed by old industrial sites and housing estates. In this respect it is understandable that the last bridge has a prohibition board for water sports enthusiasts, because the area is no longer very attractive.

The reason for this ban on water sports is, however, that you are now approaching the weir, which of course is always associated with certain dangers.

However, since we don't want to carry our board more than a kilometer to the weir, we decide to cross the bridge lying on our stomachs and to paddle all the way to the weir. We have to point out that this is prohibited and that you must be aware of any possible consequences if you continue paddling.

Paddling the drainage channel (HE Zlatoličje channel) to the right of the weir is also prohibited. This artificial canal runs south of the Drava and rejoins the river just before Ptuj.

The weir has to be bypassed on the left, which is quite easy as a newly laid access road leads from the bank down to the main road. We take a short break and then march past the power plant with our boards. Directly next to the entrance to the plant, turn left into the bushes and there over a concrete wall almost one and a half meters high down to the water. We recommend proceeding very carefully here and taking every step consciously, as the entire terrain is difficult to cross, especially with longer boards. It is best to first look for the best footpath, then carefully pass the equipment from top to bottom.

The water under the weir is fairly calm and the water level here can be very low. This is how the nature adventure begins, the subsoil is rocky and several rocks stick out of the water on the left. It is best to start this natural part of the tour kneeling until you can no longer see any stones under the board. If in doubt, we suggest going on the water without fins and drifting about 1.5 km to the second bridge. When the water level is low, you can put on the fins again while standing in the river. Or you can turn the board over - fin upwards - and get over the shallows without any friction.

We will have to keep our eyes open for the next 25 kilometers and have to decide quickly how we can best cope with the light rapids that keep appearing. At times we feel like foreign bodies with our colorful boards, roaming in the untouched nature between wooded shores, overgrown sandbanks, swans and wild geese .

On the other hand, we also have the feeling of merging with this beautiful and wildly romantic landscape. We follow our instincts and the intelligence of the water, because most of the time its current pulls us in an ideal line over rock bottoms and rock formations. But this intuition only comes from experience on moving water and that's why we only recommend this tour for experienced paddlers.

On the left, individual houses or small settlements appear again and again and we glide through the Drava landscape park. We slowly notice that the Drava does not flow fasty all the time, quite the opposite: away from the countless shallow rapids, the water is almost flat and you have to paddle like on a lake to make significant progress. Because we didn't know that beforehand, the tour takes longer than originally thought due to the tame water. But that's not too bad, because we lose ourselves completely in doing and in the beautiful landscape anyway.

Since both river banks are wooded throughout, one has the impression of being away from any civilization, but a look at the map reveals to us that we repeatedly paddle past villages a little off the water and that many places can at least be approached by dirt roads. Approximately at kilometer 19, the referee's whistles sound on the right behind the wooded banks. At the local soccer field of Starše there is probably a league game going on.

Around kilometer 12 (from the entrance in Maribor) we cross the only bridge over the Drava where you could land and be picked up. After that, you would probably have to continue the tour to Ptuj, as you will find many landings, but these are often far away from inhabited areas or can only be reached via gravel and cycle paths along the bank. These are not ideal conditions for a premature termination of the tour.

Sometimes we see fishermen, families playing or people walking along the river banks or along the gravel banks. The entrances to these places are usually only forest and gravel paths and can become a problem for those unfamiliar with the area if you do not know how far you are allowed to drive a car

Some rapids can be heard hundreds of meters in advance and recognized by their gentle rushing noise. Over time you also get a feeling for anticipating the behavior of the water. With tense anticipation, we cross one bend and one gravel floodplain after the other and keep discovering new facets of the bank landscape. After about twenty kilometers it goes a little faster because the river develops more current and maybe because we unconsciously paddle faster to get to our destination soon.

With every turn, the tension increases and finally the Ptuj Castle becomes visible above the treetops a few kilometers in front of us. The fact that we are getting closer to the oldest municipality in Slovenia, which historically is located in Lower Styria, can also be seen from the fact that more and more fishermen are lining the banks. Now it's time to be careful and bypass their fishing lines so that they don't lose a good catch. Since the water is consistently deep for the last few kilometers, it is best to avoid the fishing lines towards the middle of the river.

The drainage canal, which led past the weir near Maribor, is again visible to the right above us. In the last right-hand bend of our adventure, we can already see it running into the Drava with a clear current, and we take this momentum to let ourselves be washed into the historic town.

In the early evening, after a nearly six-hour experience, we reach the picturesque small town of Ptuj with its narrow streets and pleasant promenade. Luckily, there's a boat dock right in front of our favorite eatery in town - in front of the Gostilna Ribič. That's a good thing, because we end this wonderful day at sunset and with good food and are already dreaming about tackling Lake Ptuj which is right next door.

If you don't have a private return opportunity on site, you can take the train or the bus, but that makes you way less flexible as the frequency of rides is reduced in this rural area.

Alternative: If you only want to paddle a shortened tour of about 12 km, you can climb up to the above mentioned bridge and either be picked up there, or take the next bus at the bus stop nearby. Other exits downstream would certainly be possible, but they are difficult or impossible to reach by car. Or the nearest bus stops can only be reached with a longer walk.

Difficulty

4

Gastronomy

3

Length

31.5 km

Time

5 - 6 hours

1 Bewertung für “Drau von Maribor nach Ptuj

  1. Erich Rossberger

    Man sollte genügend Zeit und gute Kondition mitbringen, denn die Tour ist doch etwas anstrengend, aber absolut zu empfehlen. Die Landschaft ist wunderschön und abwechslungsreich. Der Bericht sagt alles und liefert super hilfreiche Infos. Wir kommen im nächsten Jahr sicher wieder.

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