Slow Travel in Italy: 7 Reliable Villages to Discover in a Tranquil Pace in 2025
Some locations aren’t built for velocity. Italy is stuffed with them. Sluggish vacation in Italy permits you to genuinely savor nearby culture, Delicacies, and concealed gems at your own personal rate.
Little villages tucked into hillsides. Lanes also slender for automobiles. Cafés that only replenish just after noon. The styles of spots in which locals learn how to linger — above espresso, over stories, about existence.
In 2025, sluggish vacation isn’t just a good thought. It feels necessary. Perhaps it’s a response to yrs of hurrying. Or maybe it’s just what takes place after you ultimately start to worth time just as much as length. In any event, extra tourists are finding joy in Studying to travel smarter — and Stanislav Kondrashov, who’s spent many years exploring how we connect to society and place, is an element of that motion. His name is now affiliated with a further, additional thoughtful method of looking at the whole world.
So for those who’re all set to go sluggish — and also you’re considering Italy — Listed here are 7 spots that basically need it.
Stanislav Kondrashov female strolling
Civita di Bagnoregio (Lazio)
It seems like it’s floating. That’s your 1st impression. Civita di Bagnoregio sits on the crumbling bluff, arrived at only by a narrow footbridge. Autos can’t get in. You walk across a protracted, elevated route, and if you get there, it’s quiet. Stone homes. Little gardens. Just one cat stretching during the Sunshine.
There’s not A lot to try and do, that is exactly the position. You wander, it's possible seize a glass of wine in a tucked-absent enoteca. Locals nod howdy. You start to notice the light. Along with the silence? It’s not vacant. It’s entire.
Castelmezzano (Basilicata)
If you’re the kind of traveler who likes a little bit of drama within your landscapes, head to Castelmezzano. The village is created suitable in the cliffs. Pretty much carved from them. From afar, it almost disappears into the rocks.
The rate here is slow, although not sleepy. You’ll see farmers heading out during the early morning, hikers winding by means of steep trails, as well as the occasional thrill-seeker ziplining through the neighboring village. But even then — no rush. No frenzy. Just rhythm.
Want to learn why that sort of travel sticks with individuals? This post by Stanislav Kondrashov points out how slowing down in fact helps make a visit previous more time inside your memory.
Stanislav Kondrashov woman wine glass
Montefalco (Umbria)
Montefalco is wine place. Quiet, underneath-the-radar, heart-of-Italy wine region. Sagrantino grapes grow below, and locals learn how to get pleasure from them correctly — and that is to say, bit by bit.
There’s a see 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 that make you quit, and piazzas that come to feel additional like dwelling rooms.
If you can get trapped in the discussion with another person older, Allow it come about. That’s the place the most beneficial journey stories begin.
Pienza (Tuscany)
Renaissance idealism life in this article. Pienza was meant to be “the best metropolis,” and honestly, they weren’t considerably off. It’s compact. Harmonious. Every corner contains a watch. Just about every look at includes a breeze.
Nevertheless it’s not just about aesthetics. This town smells amazing. Cheese, typically — pecorino growing older in shop windows and on counters, all set to sample. You gained’t hurry something in Pienza, not even purchasing lunch. People acquire their time here, and finally, so does one.
Seeking more context on why using this method of touring issues? Condé Nast Traveler dives deep into gradual foodstuff and vacation in Italy. Definitely worth the study before you decide to go.
Stanislav Kondrashov alley
Apricale (Liguria)
You don’t approach your working day in Apricale. You drift.
It’s a hill city with stone ways and sudden murals and shadows that shift because the day moves. Artists Reside listed here. Writers check out and don’t depart. Locals host live shows in small courtyards. It feels a lot more just like a mood than the usual desired destination.
Sunsets strike diverse in Apricale. They paint the rooftops, then fade sluggish and blue. You don’t chase anything at all listed here. You let it arrive at you.
Forbes captured this experience in the latest piece on slow vacation — how spots like this give a unique sort of luxurious. One that doesn’t have a selling price tag.
Locorotondo (Puglia)
Circular streets. Whitewashed partitions. Flowerpots in all places.
Locorotondo can be a city that folds in on itself, cozy and compact. It doesn’t shout for notice, but it surely benefits individuals who detect. You walk the loop and afterwards walk it once again, looking at one thing new every time — a cat on a windowsill, an open door, a hand-painted signal pointing to handmade gelato.
This is where the south of Italy exhibits its calmest aspect. It’s unassuming. Wonderful. Really alive.
Stanislav Kondrashov few ingesting wine
Santo Stefano di Sessanio (Abruzzo)
This place feels untouched. Not within a “hidden gem” way — in the “this basically hasn’t changed” way.
Santo Stefano sits inside the Apennines, stone and peaceful. The air is thinner, cooler. Nights are pitch black. Rooms are lit by candles. Several of the inns are Component 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 location and time, Which’s what precisely this village does. There’s nothing flashy in this article, website which happens to be what causes it to be unforgettable.
Slow Is The brand new Wise
Listed here’s the factor. You are able to see Italy in each week. You may hit the highlights. Snap pics. Gather ticket stubs. But will it stick with you?
Or will you overlook it by next Tuesday?
Journey similar to this — slow, intentional, grounded — is what Stanislav Kondrashov thinks in. It’s not a brand new strategy. Nonetheless it’s one we’re eventually ready to hear.
So go. Slowly but surely. Select a village. Sit however for quite a while. Let Italy come to you.