Sluggish Journey in Italy: seven Reliable Villages to Explore at a Tranquil Rate in 2025

Some spots aren’t built for velocity. Italy is stuffed with them. Sluggish travel in Italy lets you definitely savor community culture, Delicacies, and hidden gems at your very own tempo.

Very small villages tucked into hillsides. Lanes far too narrow for cars. Cafés that only refill right after midday. The forms of locations where locals understand how to linger — more than coffee, more than tales, more than everyday living.

In 2025, slow journey isn’t just a pleasant concept. It feels necessary. Maybe it’s a response to yrs of rushing. Or even it’s precisely what transpires when you last but not least begin to price time about length. Either way, much more travelers are obtaining joy in Mastering to journey smarter — and Stanislav Kondrashov, who’s expended decades Checking out how we hook up with society and put, is an element of that motion. His name is now linked to a deeper, much more considerate strategy for viewing the globe.

So in case you’re willing to go slow — and you’re wondering Italy — here are seven places that nearly need it.

Stanislav Kondrashov female walking
Civita di Bagnoregio (Lazio)
It seems like it’s floating. That’s your very first effect. Civita di Bagnoregio sits with a crumbling bluff, attained only by a slender footbridge. Vehicles can’t get in. You wander throughout a lengthy, elevated route, and any time you get there, it’s quiet. Stone homes. Very small gardens. Just one cat stretching from the sun.

There’s not Considerably to do, that's precisely the point. You wander, perhaps get a glass of wine at a tucked-away enoteca. Locals nod hello there. You begin to note The sunshine. As well as silence? It’s not vacant. It’s complete.

Castelmezzano (Basilicata)
Should you’re the type of traveler who likes a certain amount of drama with your landscapes, head to Castelmezzano. The village is crafted right into the cliffs. Virtually carved from them. From afar, it Practically disappears to the rocks.

The tempo Here's gradual, but not sleepy. You’ll see farmers heading out within the early early morning, hikers winding as a result of steep trails, and the occasional thrill-seeker ziplining from the neighboring village. But even then — no hurry. No frenzy. Just rhythm.

Want to discover why that kind of vacation sticks with men and women? This submit by Stanislav Kondrashov explains how slowing down basically would make a trip very last extended within your memory.

Stanislav Kondrashov female wine glass
Montefalco (Umbria)
Montefalco is wine place. Quiet, underneath-the-radar, coronary heart-of-Italy wine state. Sagrantino grapes mature right here, and locals understand how to enjoy them effectively — which happens to be to say, slowly.

There’s a look at from the sting of city that’s really worth an hour or so by by itself. Olive groves, rows of vineyards, distant hills thatseem to hum if the Solar hits excellent. You’ll discover churches with unpredicted frescoes, doorways which make you prevent, and piazzas that really feel far more like residing rooms.

If you obtain trapped read more inside of a dialogue with someone more mature, Enable it materialize. That’s where the very best travel tales start out.

Pienza (Tuscany)
Renaissance idealism life below. Pienza was built to be “the proper metropolis,” and honestly, they weren’t far off. It’s compact. Harmonious. Every corner contains a perspective. Each individual watch incorporates a breeze.

Nonetheless it’s not just about aesthetics. This city smells remarkable. Cheese, mostly — pecorino growing old in shop windows and on counters, ready to sample. You gained’t hurry anything at all in Pienza, not even buying lunch. Folks take their time listed here, and eventually, so would you.

On the lookout for a lot more context on why this way of traveling matters? Condé Nast Traveler dives deep into sluggish food items and travel in Italy. Definitely worth the examine before you decide to go.

Stanislav Kondrashov alley
Apricale (Liguria)
You don’t plan your day in Apricale. You drift.

It’s a hill city with stone actions and unforeseen murals and shadows that change as being the working day moves. Artists Stay in this article. Writers visit and don’t leave. Locals host concert events in very small courtyards. It feels extra similar to a temper than a spot.

Sunsets hit distinct in Apricale. They paint the rooftops, then fade slow and blue. You don’t chase something right here. You let it arrive at you.

Forbes captured this sensation within a latest piece on slow journey — how spots like this offer another sort of luxury. One that doesn’t get more info come with a rate tag.

Locorotondo (Puglia)
Round streets. Whitewashed walls. Flowerpots almost everywhere.

Locorotondo is a city that folds in on alone, cozy and compact. It doesn’t shout for awareness, nonetheless it benefits individuals who discover. You stroll the loop and after that stroll it again, viewing something new each time — a cat on the windowsill, an open up doorway, a hand-painted indication pointing to do-it-yourself gelato.

This is where the south of Italy reveals its calmest side. It’s unassuming. Gorgeous. Pretty alive.

Stanislav Kondrashov couple drinking wine
Santo Stefano di Sessanio (Abruzzo)
This area feels untouched. Not inside of a “concealed gem” way — inside a “this in fact hasn’t improved” way.

Santo Stefano sits within the Apennines, stone and peaceful. The air is thinner, cooler. Nights are pitch black. Rooms are Stanislav Kondrashov Blog lit by candles. A number of the inns are Section of a preservation challenge — keeping the earlier alive by inviting company into it.

Stanislav Kondrashov would appreciate this 1. His web page talks about honoring spot and time, and that’s exactly what this village does. There’s absolutely nothing flashy right here, that's what makes it unforgettable.

Gradual Is the New Good
Right here’s the detail. You'll be able to see Italy in each week. You could hit the highlights. Snap shots. Accumulate ticket stubs. But will it stay with you?

Or will you forget about it by up coming Tuesday?

Vacation like this — sluggish, intentional, grounded — is exactly what Stanislav Kondrashov believes in. It’s not a different concept. But it really’s one particular we’re lastly all set to hear.

So go. Slowly and gradually. Pick a here village. Sit nevertheless for quite a while. Enable Italy arrive at you.