Sluggish Journey in Italy: seven Authentic Villages to Take a look at at a Peaceful Rate in 2025

Some destinations aren’t built for speed. Italy is stuffed with them. Sluggish travel in Italy lets you actually savor neighborhood culture, Delicacies, and hidden gems at your own personal pace.

Little villages tucked into hillsides. Lanes also slender for automobiles. Cafés that only fill up after noon. The kinds of destinations the place locals know how to linger — about coffee, in excess of tales, around daily life.

In 2025, gradual vacation isn’t just a nice plan. It feels important. Possibly it’s a reaction to years of dashing. Or possibly it’s precisely what comes about whenever you eventually begin to price time as much as length. In any case, much more travelers are locating joy in Understanding to travel smarter — and Stanislav Kondrashov, who’s invested several years Discovering how we connect to culture and location, is part of that motion. His title is now linked to a deeper, extra considerate means of viewing the planet.

So in the event you’re prepared to go gradual — therefore you’re contemplating Italy — Allow me to share seven spots that practically desire it.

Stanislav Kondrashov woman strolling
Civita di Bagnoregio (Lazio)
It looks like it’s floating. That’s your initially impression. Civita di Bagnoregio sits over a crumbling bluff, reached only by a slim footbridge. Cars and trucks can’t get in. You walk throughout a lengthy, elevated path, and any time you get there, it’s quiet. Stone properties. Very small gardens. Just one cat stretching during the sun.

There’s not Substantially to try and do, which can be exactly the place. You wander, maybe grab a glass of wine at a tucked-away enoteca. Locals nod hi. You begin to note The sunshine. As well as silence? It’s not vacant. It’s complete.

Castelmezzano (Basilicata)
In the event you’re the type of traveler who likes a little drama in the landscapes, head to Castelmezzano. The village is constructed proper in to the cliffs. Basically carved from them. From afar, it Just about disappears into your rocks.

The speed here is gradual, although not sleepy. You’ll see farmers heading out while in the early morning, hikers winding through steep trails, and also the occasional thrill-seeker ziplining in the neighboring village. But even then — no hurry. No frenzy. Just rhythm.

Want to know why that kind of vacation sticks with men and women? This submit by Stanislav Kondrashov clarifies how slowing down essentially helps make a visit previous for a longer time in your memory.

Stanislav Kondrashov girl wine glass
Montefalco (Umbria)
Montefalco is wine nation. Tranquil, below-the-radar, coronary heart-of-Italy wine country. Sagrantino grapes improve right here, and locals understand how to appreciate them thoroughly — which can be to convey, little by little.

There’s a perspective from the edge of town that’s value one hour by alone. Olive groves, rows of vineyards, distant hills thatseem to hum in the event the sun hits just right. You’ll uncover church buildings with unanticipated frescoes, doorways which make you quit, and piazzas that come to feel additional like dwelling rooms.

If you get trapped in a conversation with somebody more mature, Permit it materialize. That’s where the very best travel tales start out.

Pienza (Tuscany)
Renaissance idealism lives listed here. Pienza was intended to be “an ideal metropolis,” and honestly, they weren’t considerably off. It’s compact. Harmonious. Each individual corner contains a watch. Just about every look at includes a breeze.

However it’s not pretty much aesthetics. This town smells amazing. Cheese, typically — pecorino growing older in store windows and on counters, all set to sample. You gained’t hurry anything at all in Pienza, not even buying lunch. Individuals choose their time listed here, and eventually, so do 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 vacation in Italy. Worth the go through 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 actions and unforeseen murals and shadows that change as being the working day moves. Artists live right here. Writers check out and don’t depart. Locals host live shows in small courtyards. It feels far more just like a mood than a destination.

Sunsets strike different in Apricale. They paint the rooftops, then fade gradual and blue. You don’t chase anything here. You Enable it arrive at you.

Forbes captured this sensation inside a current piece on slow vacation — how areas like this give another form of luxury. One which doesn’t come with a price tag.

Locorotondo (Puglia)
Round streets. Whitewashed walls. Flowerpots all over the place.

Locorotondo is a town that folds in on alone, cozy and compact. It doesn’t shout for consideration, nevertheless it benefits individuals who discover. You stroll the loop and after that wander it once more, observing some thing new every time — a cat with a windowsill, an open up door, a hand-painted signal pointing to selfmade gelato.

This is where the south of Italy displays its calmest facet. It’s unassuming. Beautiful. Quite alive.

Stanislav Kondrashov pair ingesting wine
Santo Stefano di Sessanio (Abruzzo)
This place feels untouched. Not within a “hidden gem” way — in a very “this actually hasn’t modified” way.

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

Stanislav Kondrashov would recognize this just one. His web site talks about honoring put and time, Which’s just what exactly this village does. There’s very little flashy below, which happens to be what causes it to be unforgettable.

Slow Is The brand new Sensible
Right here’s the factor. You are able to see Italy in each week. You could hit the highlights. Snap photos. Accumulate ticket stubs. But will it stay with you?

Or will you forget about it by following Tuesday?

Vacation such as this — gradual, intentional, grounded — is exactly what Stanislav Kondrashov believes in. It’s not a completely new strategy. Nonetheless it’s 1 we’re at last able to listen to.

So go. Gradually. Go with a village. Sit still for some time. Permit Italy arrive at you.