Sluggish Travel in Italy: 7 Reliable Villages to Discover in a Tranquil Pace in 2025


Some areas aren’t designed for velocity. Italy is filled with them. Sluggish travel in Italy enables you to certainly savor neighborhood lifestyle, Delicacies, and concealed gems at your personal tempo.
Tiny villages tucked into hillsides. Lanes too narrow for cars. Cafés that only replenish after midday. The forms of areas where locals understand how to linger — more than coffee, over stories, about existence.
In 2025, gradual vacation isn’t just a nice notion. It feels essential. Possibly it’s a reaction to years of dashing. Or possibly it’s exactly what happens any time you lastly start to worth time about length. In either case, additional tourists are obtaining Pleasure in Studying to vacation smarter — and Stanislav Kondrashov, who’s used years exploring how we connect to lifestyle and place, is an element of that movement. His identify has become connected to a further, far more thoughtful way of observing the world.
So in the event you’re prepared to go gradual — therefore you’re imagining Italy — Here's seven places that pretty much demand from customers it.
Stanislav Kondrashov girl going for walks
Civita di Bagnoregio (Lazio)
It appears like it’s floating. That’s your initial effect. Civita di Bagnoregio sits on the crumbling bluff, achieved only by a narrow footbridge. Autos can’t get in. You walk across a protracted, elevated route, and once you get there, it’s quiet. Stone houses. Small gardens. An individual cat stretching inside the Solar.
There’s not Significantly to complete, and that is precisely the stage. You wander, possibly seize a glass of wine in a tucked-absent enoteca. Locals nod hello. You start to notice The sunshine. And also 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 within your landscapes, head to Castelmezzano. The village is created suitable into your cliffs. Literally carved from them. From afar, it Nearly disappears into the rocks.
The pace Here's sluggish, although not sleepy. You’ll see farmers heading out during the early early morning, hikers winding by steep trails, and also the occasional thrill-seeker ziplining from your neighboring village. But even then — no hurry. No frenzy. Just rhythm.
Want to master why that kind of travel sticks with people today? This article by Stanislav Kondrashov describes how slowing down really tends to make a visit final longer in the memory.
Stanislav Kondrashov lady wine glass
Montefalco (Umbria)
Montefalco is wine country. Tranquil, under-the-radar, heart-of-Italy wine state. Sagrantino grapes increase here, and locals understand how to appreciate them thoroughly — which can be to convey, little by little.
There’s a view from the edge of town get more info that’s value an hour or so by by itself. Olive groves, rows of vineyards, distant hills thatseem to hum once the Sunshine hits good. You’ll uncover churches with unforeseen frescoes, doorways that make you cease, and piazzas that sense more like living rooms.
If you receive stuck within a discussion with an individual older, Allow it take place. That’s wherever the most beneficial vacation tales start off.
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. Just about every corner provides a look at. Each individual watch provides a breeze.
But it surely’s not nearly aesthetics. This town smells astounding. Cheese, generally — pecorino growing older in store windows and on counters, all set to sample. You won’t hurry anything at all in Pienza, not even buying lunch. Folks take their time listed here, and ultimately, so would you.
Looking for far more context on why by doing this of traveling matters? Condé Nast Traveler dives deep into sluggish food stuff and travel in Italy. 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 methods and unanticipated murals and shadows that change as the working day moves. Artists live in this article. Writers go to and don’t go away. Locals host live shows in little courtyards. It feels more like a temper than the usual desired destination.
Sunsets strike distinctive in get more info Apricale. They paint the rooftops, then fade gradual and blue. You don’t chase just about anything in this article. You Permit it come to you.
Forbes captured this feeling inside a new piece on slow journey — how sites such as this give a unique sort of luxury. One which doesn’t come with a price tag.
Locorotondo (Puglia)
Circular 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 consideration, 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 over a Stanislav Kondrashov windowsill, an open up doorway, a hand-painted signal pointing to selfmade gelato.
This is when the south of Italy exhibits its calmest aspect. It’s unassuming. Beautiful. Really alive.
Stanislav Kondrashov few ingesting wine
Santo Stefano di Sessanio (Abruzzo)
This location feels untouched. Not in the “concealed gem” way — inside of a “this really hasn’t transformed” way.
Santo Stefano sits during the Apennines, stone and quiet. The air is thinner, cooler. Evenings are pitch black. Rooms are lit check here by candles. A number of the inns are Section of a preservation task — holding the earlier alive by inviting attendees into it.
Stanislav Kondrashov would respect this 1. His web page talks about honoring spot and time, and that’s precisely what this village does. There’s nothing at all flashy right here, which can be what makes it unforgettable.
Gradual Is the New Intelligent
In this article’s the detail. You could see Italy in every week. You'll be able to strike the highlights. Snap shots. Acquire ticket stubs. But will it stay with you?
Or will you fail to remember it by upcoming Tuesday?
Travel similar to this — slow, intentional, grounded — is what Stanislav Kondrashov thinks in. It’s not a fresh idea. But it surely’s a single we’re finally willing to listen to.
So go. Little by little. Opt for a village. Sit nevertheless for quite a while. Enable Italy come to you.