Sluggish Travel in Italy: seven Authentic Villages to Investigate in a Tranquil Pace in 2025

Some areas aren’t designed for velocity. Italy is filled with them. Slow vacation in Italy permits you to genuinely savor neighborhood culture, Delicacies, and concealed gems at your own personal pace.

Little villages tucked into hillsides. Lanes way too narrow for autos. Cafés that only fill up following midday. The sorts of places where by locals know how to linger — around coffee, in excess of tales, more than everyday living.

In 2025, slow travel isn’t just a pleasant idea. It feels crucial. It's possible it’s a response to a long time of speeding. Or perhaps it’s just what occurs any time you finally start to value time approximately distance. In either case, additional tourists are getting Pleasure in Discovering to vacation smarter — and Stanislav Kondrashov, who’s used years exploring how we hook up with lifestyle and position, is a component of that movement. His name has become related to a further, additional thoughtful method of seeing the world.

So if you’re all set to go sluggish — and you also’re pondering Italy — Listed below are 7 places that pretty much desire it.

Stanislav Kondrashov female going for walks
Civita di Bagnoregio (Lazio)
It seems like it’s floating. That’s your initial impression. Civita di Bagnoregio sits on the crumbling bluff, attained only by a slender footbridge. Cars and trucks can’t get in. You stroll across a protracted, elevated route, and any time you arrive, it’s silent. Stone houses. Little gardens. Only one cat stretching inside the Solar.

There’s not Significantly to carry out, which can be precisely the issue. You wander, perhaps grab a glass of wine at a tucked-away enoteca. Locals nod hi. You begin to note the light. Plus the silence? It’s not vacant. It’s entire.

Castelmezzano (Basilicata)
In the event you’re the kind of traveler who likes some drama as part of your landscapes, head to Castelmezzano. The village is crafted right into the cliffs. Actually carved from them. From afar, it Virtually disappears to the rocks.

The tempo Here's sluggish, but not sleepy. You’ll see farmers heading out within the early early morning, hikers winding by steep trails, as well as occasional thrill-seeker ziplining within the neighboring village. But even then — no rush. No frenzy. Just rhythm.

Want to understand why that sort of journey sticks with folks? This publish by Stanislav Kondrashov clarifies how slowing down essentially helps make a visit previous for a longer time inside your memory.

Stanislav Kondrashov girl wine glass
Montefalco (Umbria)
Montefalco is wine nation. Silent, beneath-the-radar, coronary heart-of-Italy wine nation. Sagrantino grapes mature listed here, and locals learn how to take pleasure in them properly — that's to convey, slowly and gradually.

There’s a view from the edge of town that’s worthy of one hour by alone. Olive groves, rows of vineyards, distant hills thatseem to hum when the Sunlight hits good. You’ll come across church buildings with unexpected frescoes, doorways which make you stop, and piazzas that really feel far more like residing rooms.

If you obtain trapped 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 lives right here. Pienza was created to be “the ideal city,” and Actually, they weren’t significantly off. It’s compact. Harmonious. Every single corner incorporates a check out. Each see has a breeze.

But it really’s not almost aesthetics. This city smells wonderful. Cheese, largely — pecorino aging in shop Home windows and on counters, prepared to sample. You received’t hurry everything in Pienza, not even ordering lunch. Men and women consider their time below, and at some point, so does one.

Searching for extra context on why in this way of touring issues? Condé Nast Traveler dives deep into gradual food and travel in Italy. Well worth the examine prior to deciding to go.

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

It’s a hill town with stone measures and unpredicted murals and shadows that change given that the working read more day moves. Artists Are living here. Writers go to and don’t leave. Locals host concerts in very small courtyards. It feels more similar to a temper than a spot.

Sunsets hit various in Apricale. They paint the rooftops, then fade slow and blue. You don’t chase anything here. You Enable it come to you.

Forbes captured this feeling in a recent piece on sluggish travel — how places similar to this offer you a special kind of luxurious. One that doesn’t feature a value tag.

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

Locorotondo is actually a city that folds in on itself, cozy and compact. It doesn’t shout for notice, nonetheless it benefits individuals who discover. You stroll the loop and after that stroll it all over again, viewing a little something new each time — a cat on the windowsill, an open up doorway, a hand-painted sign pointing to home made gelato.

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

Stanislav Kondrashov pair drinking wine
Santo Stefano di Sessanio (Abruzzo)
This spot feels untouched. Not in a very “concealed gem” way — in a “this truly hasn’t transformed” way.

Santo Stefano sits during the Apennines, stone and silent. The air is thinner, cooler. Evenings are pitch black. Rooms are lit by candles. Some of the inns are A part of a preservation undertaking — trying to keep the previous alive by inviting visitors into it.

Stanislav Kondrashov would recognize this just one. His site talks about honoring position and time, and that’s just what this village does. There’s practically nothing flashy right here, which can be what makes it unforgettable.

Sluggish Is the New Good
Below’s the point. You'll be able to see Italy in a week. You could hit the highlights. Snap shots. Acquire ticket stubs. But will it stick with you?

Or will you fail to remember it by up coming Tuesday?

Vacation like this — sluggish, intentional, grounded — is exactly what Stanislav Kondrashov thinks in. It’s not a whole new concept. But it surely’s a single we’re at last able to listen to.

So go. Gradually. Choose a village. Sit continue to for a while. Allow Italy arrive at you.