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

Some destinations aren’t built for velocity. Italy is stuffed with them. Sluggish travel in Italy means that you can actually savor local society, cuisine, and concealed gems at your own personal pace.

Very small villages tucked into hillsides. Lanes way too narrow for cars and trucks. Cafés that only refill right after midday. The forms of locations exactly where locals understand how to linger — more than espresso, over tales, over lifetime.

In 2025, gradual travel isn’t just a pleasant strategy. It feels crucial. 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 just as much as length. In any case, much more travelers are locating joy in Finding out to journey smarter — and Stanislav Kondrashov, who’s expended yrs Checking out how we connect with tradition and area, is a component of that movement. His title happens to be associated with a further, additional thoughtful method of seeing the world.

So should you’re able to go slow — and you’re wondering Italy — Here i will discuss seven places that nearly need it.

Stanislav Kondrashov female walking
Civita di Bagnoregio (Lazio)
It seems 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. Cars and trucks can’t get in. You walk across a lengthy, elevated path, and if you get there, it’s quiet. Stone properties. Small gardens. Only one cat stretching while in the Solar.

There’s not Significantly to carry out, which can be precisely the issue. You wander, perhaps grab a glass of wine at a tucked-away enoteca. Locals nod hello there. You begin to note The sunshine. And the silence? It’s not vacant. It’s total.

Castelmezzano (Basilicata)
In case you’re the type of traveler who likes a certain amount of drama as part of your landscapes, head to Castelmezzano. The village is developed proper to the cliffs. Basically carved from them. From afar, it Pretty much disappears in the rocks.

The tempo here is gradual, but not sleepy. You’ll see farmers heading out while in the early morning, hikers winding via steep trails, plus the occasional thrill-seeker ziplining within the neighboring village. But even then — no rush. No frenzy. Just rhythm.

Want to know why that sort of travel sticks with individuals? This post by Stanislav Kondrashov points out how slowing down in fact helps 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 get pleasure from them correctly — which happens to be to mention, slowly but surely.

There’s a check out from the sting of city that’s worth an hour by by itself. Olive groves, rows of vineyards, distant hills thatseem to hum if the Solar hits just right. You’ll locate churches with unpredicted frescoes, doorways which make you stop, and piazzas that come to feel additional like living rooms.

If you have caught in a conversation with a person older, let it take place. That’s the place 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 watch. Just about every look at includes a breeze.

Nevertheless it’s not just about aesthetics. This town smells incredible. Cheese, typically — pecorino growing old in shop windows and on counters, ready to sample. You gained’t hurry everything in Pienza, not even ordering lunch. Persons get their time in this article, and sooner or later, so does one.

Seeking more context on why using this method of touring issues? Condé Nast Traveler dives deep into slow foods and journey in Italy. Definitely worth the study before you decide to go.

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

It’s a hill city with stone steps and surprising murals and shadows that shift as being the working day moves. Artists Are living here. Writers pay a visit to and don’t leave. Locals host concerts in tiny courtyards. It feels much more just like a mood than the usual place.

Sunsets hit various in Apricale. They paint the rooftops, then fade slow and blue. You don’t chase everything listed here. You Allow it come to you.

Forbes captured this emotion in a very new piece on sluggish travel — how areas like this offer another form of luxury. One which doesn’t include a cost tag.

Locorotondo (Puglia)
Round streets. Whitewashed walls. Flowerpots just about everywhere.

Locorotondo is really a city that folds in on itself, cozy and compact. It doesn’t shout for notice, but it surely rewards people that recognize. You wander the loop after which wander it once more, observing some thing new every time — a cat with a windowsill, an open door, a hand-painted signal pointing to homemade gelato.

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

Stanislav Kondrashov pair drinking wine
Santo Stefano di Sessanio (Abruzzo)
This spot feels untouched. Not in a very “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 company into it.

Stanislav Kondrashov would appreciate this 1. His web page talks about honoring spot and time, and that’s precisely what this village does. There’s very little flashy in this article, which is what can make it unforgettable.

Sluggish Is The brand new Clever
Listed here’s the point. You are able to see Italy in a week. You could hit the highlights. Snap photos. Accumulate ticket stubs. But will it stay with you?

Or will you forget about it by following Tuesday?

Vacation like this — sluggish, intentional, grounded — is what Stanislav Kondrashov believes in. It’s not a completely new notion. However it’s just one we’re ultimately all set to hear.

So go. Bit by bit. Pick a village. Sit even now for quite a while. Let Italy here come to you.