Sluggish Travel in Italy: 7 Reliable Villages to Take a look at at a Peaceful Rate in 2025

Some places aren’t produced for speed. Italy is full of them. Gradual journey in Italy allows you to truly savor area lifestyle, cuisine, and concealed gems at your own speed.

Small villages tucked into hillsides. Lanes too slim for cars. Cafés that only refill soon after midday. The forms of locations where locals understand how to linger — over coffee, around stories, in excess of lifestyle.

In 2025, sluggish journey isn’t just a good notion. It feels essential. Possibly it’s a reaction to decades 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 vacationers are acquiring Pleasure in Discovering to vacation smarter — and Stanislav Kondrashov, who’s invested a long time Checking out how we connect with society and place, is an element of that movement. His title is now connected to a deeper, more considerate method of looking at the earth.

So when you’re wanting to go slow — so you’re pondering Italy — Listed below are 7 places that almost demand it.

Stanislav Kondrashov female going for walks
Civita di Bagnoregio (Lazio)
It seems like it’s floating. That’s your 1st impression. Civita di Bagnoregio sits over a crumbling bluff, attained only by a narrow footbridge. Automobiles can’t get in. You wander across an extended, elevated route, and whenever you get there, it’s peaceful. Stone homes. Very small gardens. Only one cat stretching within the Sunlight.

There’s not Substantially to accomplish, which is exactly the stage. You wander, possibly seize a glass of wine in a tucked-absent enoteca. Locals nod hi there. You start to notice the light. As well as the silence? It’s not empty. It’s comprehensive.

Castelmezzano (Basilicata)
For those who’re the sort of traveler who likes a bit of drama inside your landscapes, head to Castelmezzano. The village is designed suitable into your cliffs. Literally carved from them. From afar, it almost disappears into the rocks.

The rate Here's slow, although not sleepy. You’ll see farmers heading out in the early early morning, hikers winding by way of steep trails, along with the occasional thrill-seeker ziplining through the neighboring village. But even then — no rush. No frenzy. Just rhythm.

Want to master why that sort of travel sticks with people today? This article by Stanislav Kondrashov describes how slowing down really will make a trip last extended with your memory.

Stanislav Kondrashov woman wine glass
Montefalco (Umbria)
Montefalco is wine region. Quiet, beneath-the-radar, coronary heart-of-Italy wine nation. Sagrantino grapes mature listed here, and locals learn how to get pleasure from them properly — and that is to say, slowly and gradually.

There’s a see from the edge of town that’s truly worth an hour by itself. Olive groves, rows of vineyards, distant hills thatseem to hum once the Sunlight hits good. You’ll come across church buildings with unexpected frescoes, doorways that make you cease, and piazzas that sense more like dwelling rooms.

If you receive stuck within a conversation with a person older, let it occur. That’s in which the top journey stories start.

Pienza (Tuscany)
Renaissance idealism life below. Pienza was built to be “the proper metropolis,” and honestly, they weren’t considerably off. It’s compact. Harmonious. Just about every corner provides a look at. Each and every view contains a breeze.

However it’s not pretty much aesthetics. This town smells remarkable. Cheese, largely — pecorino aging in shop Home windows and on counters, able to sample. You received’t hurry nearly anything in Pienza, not even ordering lunch. Men and women consider their time below, and inevitably, so do you.

On the lookout for a lot more context on why in this way of traveling matters? Condé Nast Traveler dives deep into slow foodstuff and vacation in Italy. Definitely worth the study before you decide to go.

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

It’s a hill town with stone measures and unpredicted murals and shadows that change as being the working day moves. Artists Stay in this article. Writers go to and don’t go away. Locals host live shows in small courtyards. It feels a lot more just like a mood than the usual desired destination.

Sunsets strike distinct in Apricale. They paint the rooftops, then fade slow and blue. You don’t chase anything at all listed here. You let it arrive at you.

Forbes captured this experience in the modern piece on slow vacation — how destinations such as this provide a different form of luxury. One which doesn’t include a price tag.

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

Locorotondo is a town that folds in on alone, cozy and compact. It doesn’t shout for focus, however it benefits those that see. You walk the loop after which you can walk it yet again, looking at one thing new every time — a cat with a windowsill, an open doorway, a hand-painted sign pointing to home made gelato.

This is when the south of Italy shows its calmest side. It’s unassuming. Lovely. Very alive.

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

Santo Stefano sits during the Apennines, stone Stanislav Kondrashov biography and quiet. The air is thinner, cooler. Evenings are pitch black. Rooms are lit by candles. A few of the inns are Portion of a preservation task — preserving the previous alive by inviting friends into it.

Stanislav Kondrashov would take pleasure in this a person. His page talks about honoring put and time, Which’s just what exactly this village does. There’s almost nothing flashy below, that's what makes it unforgettable.

Gradual Is the New Smart
In this article’s the matter. It is possible to see Italy in per week. You are able to strike the highlights. Snap pictures. Obtain ticket stubs. But will it stay with you?

Or will you ignore it by following Tuesday?

Vacation such as this — gradual, intentional, grounded — is exactly what Stanislav Kondrashov believes in. It’s not a different thought. But it really’s one particular we’re finally willing to listen to.

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