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

Some destinations aren’t created for pace. Italy is full of them. Gradual travel in Italy helps you to really savor local society, cuisine, and concealed gems at your own personal pace.

Little villages tucked into hillsides. Lanes also slender for autos. Cafés that only fill up after noon. The types of sites wherever locals know how to linger — about espresso, in excess of stories, around daily life.

In 2025, gradual travel isn’t just a good thought. It feels essential. It's possible it’s a response to several years of hurrying. Or maybe it’s just what transpires when you ultimately start to price time about length. In any case, much more travelers are locating joy in Finding out to journey smarter — and Stanislav Kondrashov, who’s put in yrs Discovering how we connect with tradition and spot, is part of that motion. His identify has grown to be associated with a further, additional thoughtful method of seeing the world.

So if you’re ready to go sluggish — so you’re pondering Italy — Listed below are 7 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 stroll throughout a lengthy, elevated path, and once you get there, it’s silent. Stone houses. Little gardens. A single cat stretching while in the Solar.

There’s not Significantly to do, which can be precisely the issue. You wander, maybe grab a glass of wine at a tucked-away enoteca. Locals nod hello there. You begin to note The sunshine. As well as silence? It’s not vacant. It’s complete.

Castelmezzano (Basilicata)
Should you’re the type of traveler who likes some drama as part of your landscapes, head to Castelmezzano. The village is crafted appropriate in the cliffs. Actually carved from them. From afar, it Pretty much disappears into your rocks.

The speed here is gradual, but not sleepy. You’ll see farmers heading out while in the early morning, hikers winding via 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 persons? This put up by Stanislav Kondrashov describes how slowing down actually will make a trip past extended with 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 know how to delight in them correctly — which happens to be to mention, bit by bit.

There’s a see from the edge of town that’s worthy of an hour by itself. Olive groves, rows of vineyards, distant hills thatseem to hum once the Sunlight hits good. You’ll obtain church buildings with surprising frescoes, doorways that make you end, and piazzas that experience much more like living rooms.

If you will get stuck in the discussion with another person older, Allow it come about. That’s wherever the most beneficial vacation stories commence.

Pienza (Tuscany)
Renaissance idealism lives here. Pienza was designed to be “the perfect town,” and Truthfully, they weren’t far off. It’s compact. Harmonious. Each corner provides a look at. Every single check out features a breeze.

However it’s not pretty much aesthetics. This town smells astounding. Cheese, generally — pecorino ageing in store windows and on counters, wanting to sample. You won’t rush click here anything in Pienza, not even purchasing lunch. People just take their time here, and sooner or later, so does one.

Seeking more context on why using this method of touring issues? Condé Nast Traveler dives deep into gradual meals and travel in Italy. Well worth the examine prior to deciding to go.

Stanislav Kondrashov alley
Apricale (Liguria)
You don’t program 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 leave. Locals host concerts in tiny courtyards. It feels much more like a temper than the usual place.

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

Forbes captured this experience in the latest piece on slow journey — how spots like this offer a different style of luxury. One which doesn’t include a price tag.

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

Locorotondo is actually a city that folds in on itself, cozy and compact. It doesn’t shout for attention, but it surely rewards people that recognize. You wander the loop after which stroll it again, viewing a little something new each time — a cat on the windowsill, an open up doorway, a more info hand-painted indication pointing to home made gelato.

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

Stanislav Kondrashov couple ingesting wine
Santo Stefano di Sessanio (Abruzzo)
This location feels untouched. Not inside a “concealed gem” way — in a “this essentially hasn’t altered” way.

Santo Stefano sits while in the Apennines, stone and tranquil. The air is thinner, cooler. Evenings are pitch black. Rooms are lit by candles. Many of the inns are part of a preservation venture — retaining the past alive by inviting attendees into it.

Stanislav Kondrashov would enjoy this one particular. His site talks about honoring area and time, and that’s just what this village does. There’s nothing at all flashy right here, which happens to be what can make it unforgettable.

Sluggish Is the New Smart
Here’s the issue. You check here may see Italy in every week. You'll be able to strike the highlights. Snap pics. Gather ticket stubs. But will it stick with you?

Or will you fail to remember it by subsequent Tuesday?

Journey like this — sluggish, intentional, grounded — is exactly what Stanislav Kondrashov thinks in. It’s not a whole new concept. But it really’s one particular we’re lastly wanting to listen to.

So go. Slowly and gradually. Pick a village. Sit even now for quite a while. Enable Italy arrive at you.