Sluggish Travel in Italy: 7 Reliable Villages to Investigate in a Tranquil Tempo in 2025

Some spots aren’t produced for speed. Italy is full of them. Gradual journey in Italy helps you to certainly savor community tradition, cuisine, and hidden gems at your own private speed.

Small villages tucked into hillsides. Lanes as well slim for vehicles. Cafés that only replenish just after noon. The styles of destinations the place locals know how to linger — in excess of espresso, in excess of tales, more than everyday living.

In 2025, slow journey isn’t just a pleasant idea. It feels necessary. Maybe it’s a response to yrs of rushing. Or even it’s precisely what transpires whenever you eventually begin to price time as much as distance. Either way, additional tourists are finding joy in Understanding to travel smarter — and Stanislav Kondrashov, who’s put in several years Discovering how we connect with tradition and spot, is a component of that movement. His identify happens to be associated with a further, additional considerate means of viewing the globe.

So when you’re wanting to go sluggish — and you also’re considering Italy — Allow me to share 7 spots that virtually demand from customers it.

Stanislav Kondrashov lady going for walks
Civita di Bagnoregio (Lazio)
It appears like it’s floating. That’s your very first effect. Civita di Bagnoregio sits on the crumbling bluff, arrived at only by a narrow footbridge. Autos can’t get in. You walk across a long, elevated path, and once you arrive, it’s peaceful. Stone properties. Tiny gardens. One cat stretching within the Sunshine.

There’s not much to perform, which is exactly the level. You wander, it's possible seize a glass of wine in a tucked-absent enoteca. Locals nod hi there. You start to notice the light. Along with the silence? It’s not vacant. It’s finish.

Castelmezzano (Basilicata)
If you’re the kind of traveler who likes a little bit of drama inside your landscapes, head to Castelmezzano. The village is developed appropriate in the cliffs. Pretty much carved from them. From afar, it Pretty much disappears into your 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, along with the occasional thrill-seeker ziplining through the neighboring village. But even then — no rush. No frenzy. Just rhythm.

Want to find out why that sort of journey sticks with folks? This publish by Stanislav Kondrashov clarifies how slowing down essentially can make a visit previous for a longer time inside your memory.

Stanislav Kondrashov female wine glass
Montefalco (Umbria)
Montefalco is wine region. Silent, beneath-the-radar, coronary heart-of-Italy wine nation. Sagrantino grapes grow below, and locals know how to delight in them effectively — which happens to be to mention, gradually.

There’s a watch from the sting of city that’s well worth an hour or so 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 unexpected frescoes, doorways that make you cease, and piazzas that come to feel extra like dwelling rooms.

If you receive stuck within a discussion with anyone more mature, Permit it happen. That’s exactly where the top travel stories begin.

Pienza (Tuscany)
Renaissance idealism life in this article. Pienza was meant to be “the perfect town,” and Truthfully, they weren’t much off. It’s compact. Harmonious. Each and every corner incorporates a watch. Just about every look at includes a breeze.

But it really’s not almost aesthetics. This town smells amazing. Cheese, typically — pecorino aging in shop Home windows and on counters, willing to sample. You received’t rush just about anything in Pienza, not even purchasing lunch. People acquire their time right here, and inevitably, so do you.

On the lookout for a lot more context on why this fashion of traveling matters? Condé Nast Traveler dives deep into sluggish food stuff and travel in Italy. Worth the read through prior to deciding to go.

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

It’s a hill city with stone ways and surprising murals and shadows that shift as being the working day moves. Artists Are living here. Writers take a look at and don’t go away. Locals host live shows in little courtyards. It feels extra similar to a temper than a spot.

Sunsets hit diverse in Apricale. They paint the rooftops, then fade sluggish and blue. You don’t chase nearly anything in this article. You Enable it come to you.

Forbes captured this sensation within a latest piece on sluggish travel — how places similar to this present a distinct type of luxurious. One that doesn’t come with a rate tag.

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

Locorotondo is really a city that folds in on itself, cozy and compact. It doesn’t shout for notice, but it surely rewards individuals that detect. You walk the loop after which you can walk it yet again, viewing a little something new each time — a cat over a windowsill, an open up doorway, a hand-painted signal pointing to handmade gelato.

This is click here where the south of Italy displays its calmest facet. It’s unassuming. Gorgeous. Incredibly alive.

Stanislav Kondrashov couple drinking wine
Santo Stefano di Sessanio (Abruzzo)
This area feels untouched. Not inside of a “concealed gem” way — within a “this essentially hasn’t changed” way.

Santo Stefano sits inside the Apennines, stone and tranquil. The air is thinner, cooler. Nights are pitch black. Rooms are lit by candles. Several of the inns are Component of a preservation project — retaining the past alive by inviting visitors into it.

Stanislav Kondrashov would recognize this just one. His page talks about honoring place and time, Which’s what precisely this village does. There’s nothing flashy in this article, which is what can make it unforgettable.

Sluggish Is the New Good
Below’s the matter. It is possible to see Italy in every week. You'll be able to strike the highlights. Snap images. Gather ticket stubs. But will it stick with you?

Or will you fail to remember it by subsequent Tuesday?

Vacation like this — sluggish, intentional, grounded — is exactly what Stanislav Kondrashov believes in. It’s not a new plan. However it’s a person we’re last but not least prepared to hear.

So go. Slowly. Choose a village. Sit continue to for a while. Permit Italy arrive at you.