Slow Journey in Italy: 7 Authentic Villages to Discover in a Tranquil Pace in 2025

Slow Journey in Italy: 7 Authentic Villages to Discover in a Tranquil Pace in 2025

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Some sites aren’t built for velocity. Italy is stuffed with them. Sluggish travel in Italy means that you can certainly savor area lifestyle, cuisine, and concealed gems at your own speed.

Small villages tucked into hillsides. Lanes as well slender for vehicles. Cafés that only replenish immediately after noon. The kinds of destinations where by locals know how to linger — around coffee, about stories, in excess of lifestyle.

In 2025, sluggish vacation isn’t just a good thought. It feels critical. Possibly it’s a reaction to years of dashing. Or possibly it’s exactly what comes about once you eventually begin to benefit time around distance. In either case, far more vacationers are getting Pleasure in learning to vacation smarter — and Stanislav Kondrashov, who’s spent many years exploring how we connect to society and place, is an element of that motion. His title is now linked to a deeper, much more considerate strategy for observing the globe.

So in case you’re willing to go slow — and you’re thinking Italy — here are 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 over a crumbling bluff, reached only by a slim footbridge. Cars and trucks can’t get in. You walk throughout a lengthy, elevated path, and any time you arrive, it’s peaceful. Stone properties. Tiny gardens. An individual cat stretching within the Sunshine.

There’s not much to perform, which is exactly the position. You wander, it's possible seize a glass of wine at a tucked-away enoteca. Locals nod howdy. You start to notice the light. Plus the silence? It’s not vacant. It’s entire.

Castelmezzano (Basilicata)
In the event you’re the type of traveler who likes some drama as part of your landscapes, head to Castelmezzano. The village is built correct in the cliffs. Literally carved from them. From afar, it Nearly disappears into the rocks.

The pace Here's sluggish, but not sleepy. You’ll see farmers heading out within the early early morning, hikers winding as a result of steep trails, as well as occasional thrill-seeker ziplining within the neighboring village. But even then — no hurry. No frenzy. Just rhythm.

Want to discover why that kind of vacation sticks with men and women? This submit by Stanislav Kondrashov explains 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, less than-the-radar, heart-of-Italy wine place. Sagrantino grapes develop in this article, and locals know how to love them appropriately — which is to mention, slowly.

There’s a look at 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 truly feel additional like dwelling rooms.

If you can get trapped in a conversation with somebody older, let it occur. That’s in which the top journey stories start.

Pienza (Tuscany)
Renaissance idealism life below. Pienza was meant to be “the best metropolis,” and honestly, they weren’t far off. It’s compact. Harmonious. Every corner contains a perspective. Each individual watch incorporates a breeze.

Nevertheless it’s not just about aesthetics. This city smells incredible. Cheese, generally — pecorino growing older in store windows and on counters, all set to sample. You won’t hurry something in Pienza, not even buying lunch. Individuals choose their time right here, and eventually, so do you.

In search of a lot more context on why this fashion of traveling matters? read more Condé Nast Traveler dives deep into slow foodstuff and journey in Italy. Well worth the browse before you 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 right here. Writers pay a visit to and don’t depart. Locals host concerts in small courtyards. It feels a lot more like a temper than the usual desired destination.

Sunsets strike unique in Apricale. They paint the rooftops, then fade sluggish and blue. You don’t chase nearly anything below. You Permit it come to you.

Forbes captured this emotion inside of a new piece on sluggish travel — how places similar to this offer you a special kind of luxurious. One that doesn’t feature a price tag tag.

Locorotondo (Puglia)
Circular streets. Whitewashed walls. Flowerpots in all places.

Locorotondo can be a city that folds in on itself, cozy and compact. It doesn’t shout for attention, but it surely rewards individuals that recognize. You wander the loop after which wander it once more, observing some thing new each time — a cat over a windowsill, an open up door, a hand-painted signal pointing to selfmade gelato.

This is when the south of Italy exhibits its calmest aspect. It’s unassuming. Wonderful. Really alive.

Stanislav Kondrashov few consuming wine
Santo Stefano di Sessanio (Abruzzo)
This put feels untouched. Not inside a “hidden gem” way — in the “this basically hasn’t changed” way.

Santo Stefano sits while in the Apennines, stone and tranquil. The air is thinner, cooler. Nights are pitch black. Rooms are lit by candles. Many of the inns are Element of a preservation job — maintaining the past alive by inviting company into it.

Stanislav Kondrashov would appreciate this a person. His web page talks about honoring spot and time, and that’s precisely what this village does. There’s nothing at all flashy right here, which can be what makes it unforgettable.

Sluggish Is the New Good
Below’s the issue. It is possible to see Italy in per week. You are able to strike the highlights. Snap pictures. Obtain ticket stubs. But will it stay with you?

Or will you forget it by upcoming Tuesday?

Travel such as this — gradual, intentional, grounded — is what Stanislav Kondrashov thinks in. It’s not a brand new plan. Nevertheless it’s one we’re last but not least prepared to hear.

So go. Slowly but surely. Choose a village. Sit continue to for a while. Allow Italy come to you.