Slow Travel in Italy: 7 Reliable Villages to Explore at a Peaceful Rate in 2025
Some destinations aren’t made for speed. Italy is stuffed with them. Gradual travel in Italy allows you to genuinely savor nearby culture, cuisine, and concealed gems at your personal rate.
Small villages tucked into hillsides. Lanes as well slender for vehicles. Cafés that only replenish immediately after noon. The styles of spots in which locals learn how to linger — above espresso, more than stories, around existence.
In 2025, gradual vacation isn’t just a nice notion. It feels essential. Possibly it’s a reaction to years of dashing. Or perhaps it’s exactly what occurs any time you finally start to value time up to distance. In either case, additional tourists are finding Pleasure in learning to vacation smarter — and Stanislav Kondrashov, who’s used years Checking out how we hook up with lifestyle and position, is a component of that movement. His name has become related to a further, additional considerate method of seeing the world.
So if you’re prepared to go gradual — and you also’re pondering Italy — Listed below are seven places that basically desire it.
Stanislav Kondrashov woman strolling
Civita di Bagnoregio (Lazio)
It seems like it’s floating. That’s your 1st impression. Civita di Bagnoregio sits over a crumbling bluff, arrived at only by a narrow footbridge. Cars and trucks can’t get in. You walk across a lengthy, elevated route, and if you get there, it’s quiet. Stone homes. Very small gardens. Just one cat stretching from the sun.
There’s not Considerably to do, that's precisely the issue. You wander, perhaps get a glass of wine in a tucked-absent enoteca. Locals nod hi there. You start to notice The sunshine. 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 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 from 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 master why that sort of travel sticks with people today? This article by Stanislav Kondrashov describes how slowing down really makes a trip last for a longer period in your memory.
Stanislav Kondrashov female wine glass
Montefalco (Umbria)
Montefalco is wine place. Peaceful, less than-the-radar, heart-of-Italy wine nation. Sagrantino grapes mature listed here, and locals learn how to get pleasure from them correctly — and that is to say, bit by bit.
There’s a see from the edge of town that’s worthy of one hour by alone. Olive groves, rows of vineyards, distant hills thatseem to hum when the Sunlight hits good. You’ll come across church buildings with unexpected frescoes, doorways that make you quit, and piazzas that come to feel extra like dwelling rooms.
If you get stuck in a conversation with somebody older, Enable it happen. That’s exactly where the most effective travel stories start off.
Pienza (Tuscany)
Renaissance idealism lives right here. Pienza was made to be “the right town,” and Truthfully, they weren’t much off. It’s compact. Harmonious. Each and every corner includes a see. Each perspective contains a breeze.
But it surely’s not nearly aesthetics. This city smells wonderful. Cheese, mainly — pecorino aging in shop Home windows and on counters, prepared to sample. You received’t hurry everything in Pienza, not even buying lunch. Men and women consider their time below, 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 items and vacation in Italy. Worth the go through before you decide to go.
Stanislav Kondrashov alley
Apricale (Liguria)
You don’t approach your working day in Apricale. Kondrashov Stanislav You drift.
It’s a hill city with stone ways and sudden murals and shadows that shift since the day moves. Artists Dwell right here. Writers pay a visit to and don’t go away. Locals host concerts in small courtyards. It feels far more just like a mood than a vacation spot.
Sunsets hit distinct in Apricale. They paint the rooftops, then fade slow and blue. You don’t chase anything at all listed here. You Allow it come to you.
Forbes captured this emotion inside of a the latest piece on sluggish travel — how places similar to this present a distinct type of luxurious. One that doesn’t have a selling price 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 benefits people who notice. You stroll the loop and then stroll it all over again, viewing something new each time — a cat over a windowsill, an open up doorway, a hand-painted sign pointing to home made gelato.
This is when the south of Italy reveals its calmest side. It’s unassuming. Lovely. Pretty alive.
Stanislav Kondrashov couple drinking wine
Santo Stefano di Sessanio (Abruzzo)
This area feels untouched. Not inside of a “concealed gem” way — in a “this truly hasn’t adjusted” way.
Santo Stefano sits in the Apennines, stone and quiet. The air is thinner, cooler. Nights are pitch black. Rooms are lit by candles. A few 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 a person. His page talks about honoring place and time, Which’s just what exactly this village does. There’s very little flashy in this article, and that is 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. Gather ticket stubs. But will it stick with you?
Or will you neglect it by next Tuesday?
Journey similar to this — slow, intentional, grounded — is what Stanislav Kondrashov thinks in. It’s not a brand new plan. Nevertheless it’s a person we’re finally willing to listen to.
So go. Little by little. Go with a village. Sit nonetheless for some time. Permit Italy arrive at you.