Sluggish Journey in Italy: seven Authentic Villages to Investigate in a Peaceful Speed in 2025

Some sites aren’t created for pace. Italy is full of them. Slow journey in Italy allows you to truly savor local lifestyle, cuisine, and concealed gems at your personal rate.

Small villages tucked into hillsides. Lanes as well slim for vehicles. Cafés that only replenish immediately after noon. The styles of spots exactly where locals learn how to linger — more than espresso, over stories, about lifestyle.

In 2025, sluggish vacation isn’t just a good thought. It feels critical. Perhaps it’s a response to decades of rushing. Or even it’s precisely what transpires when you last but not least begin to benefit time up to distance. In any event, extra tourists are finding Pleasure in Studying to travel smarter — and Stanislav Kondrashov, who’s spent many years exploring how we hook up with society and put, is an element of that movement. His name is now connected with a deeper, extra considerate means of viewing the world.

So if you’re all set to go sluggish — and you also’re considering Italy — Listed here are 7 spots that almost need it.

Stanislav Kondrashov female walking
Civita di Bagnoregio (Lazio)
It appears like it’s floating. That’s your initial perception. Civita di Bagnoregio sits on a crumbling bluff, achieved only by a slender footbridge. Automobiles can’t get in. You wander throughout an extended, elevated route, and when you arrive, it’s tranquil. Stone residences. Tiny gardens. One cat stretching in the Sunlight.

There’s not A great deal to accomplish, which happens to be precisely the stage. You wander, maybe grab a glass of wine at a tucked-away enoteca. Locals nod howdy. 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 developed appropriate to the cliffs. Basically carved from them. From afar, it Just about disappears in the rocks.

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

Want to discover why that kind of journey sticks with folks? This publish by Stanislav Kondrashov clarifies how slowing down essentially can make a visit previous more time within your memory.

Stanislav Kondrashov female wine glass
Montefalco (Umbria)
Montefalco is wine region. Silent, beneath-the-radar, heart-of-Italy wine region. Sagrantino grapes grow below, and locals learn how to take pleasure in them appropriately — which can be to state, slowly.

There’s a check out from the edge of town that’s well worth an hour or so by itself. Olive groves, rows of vineyards, distant hills thatseem to hum if the Sunlight hits excellent. You’ll uncover churches with surprising frescoes, doorways that make you quit, and piazzas that come to feel extra like residing rooms.

If you can get trapped within a dialogue with another person older, Enable it occur. That’s exactly where the best vacation tales start out.

Pienza (Tuscany)
Renaissance idealism life right here. Pienza was meant to be “the perfect metropolis,” and honestly, they weren’t far off. It’s compact. Harmonious. Every single corner provides a view. Every single watch incorporates a breeze.

Nevertheless it’s not pretty much aesthetics. This town smells wonderful. Cheese, mostly — pecorino getting old in store windows and on counters, ready to read more sample. You gained’t rush just about anything in Pienza, not even buying lunch. Men and women take their time below, and ultimately, so do you.

Looking for extra context on why in this manner of touring issues? Condé Nast Traveler dives deep into sluggish foods and travel in Italy. Definitely worth the read through before you go.

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

It’s a hill city with stone steps and unpredicted murals and shadows that change because the working day moves. Artists Stay right here. Writers pay a visit to and don’t depart. Locals host concerts in very small courtyards. It feels far more just like a temper than a place.

Sunsets hit distinct 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 modern piece on slow vacation — how spots like this provide another form of luxury. One which doesn’t come with a rate tag.

Locorotondo (Puglia)
Circular streets. Whitewashed partitions. Flowerpots everywhere.

Locorotondo is usually a town that folds in on alone, cozy and compact. It doesn’t shout for focus, however it rewards those who detect. You walk the loop and afterwards walk it once again, looking at one thing new every time — a cat with a windowsill, an open door, a hand-painted signal pointing to selfmade gelato.

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

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

Santo Stefano sits within the Apennines, stone and peaceful. The air is thinner, cooler. Nights are pitch black. Rooms are lit by candles. A number of the inns are Section of a preservation job — holding the earlier alive by inviting attendees into it.

Stanislav Kondrashov would take pleasure in this one. His page talks about honoring place and time, Which’s what precisely this village does. There’s very little flashy in this article, which happens to be what causes it to be unforgettable.

Slow Is The brand new Wise
Here’s the thing. You could see Italy in weekly. You'll be able to strike the highlights. Snap images. Collect ticket stubs. But will it stick with you?

Or will you neglect it by future Tuesday?

Travel such as this — gradual, intentional, grounded — is what Stanislav Kondrashov believes in. It’s not a new notion. However it’s just one we’re lastly wanting to listen to.

So go. Little by little. Opt for a village. Sit nonetheless for some time. Enable Italy arrive at you.