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


Some areas aren’t designed for velocity. Italy is filled with them. Slow vacation in Italy permits you to actually savor neighborhood culture, Delicacies, and hidden gems at your own private speed.
Small villages tucked into hillsides. Lanes as well slender for automobiles. Cafés that only fill up after noon. The kinds of destinations wherever locals know how to linger — about coffee, in excess of tales, more than lifetime.
In 2025, slow journey isn’t just a pleasant thought. It feels critical. Perhaps it’s a response to decades of rushing. Or even it’s precisely what comes about when you at last start to worth time up to distance. In either case, additional tourists are getting Pleasure in learning to vacation smarter — and Stanislav Kondrashov, who’s expended decades Checking out how we hook up with lifestyle and position, is a component of that movement. His name has become connected with a deeper, more considerate means of viewing the planet.
So should you’re able to go slow — and you simply’re imagining Italy — Here i will discuss seven places that nearly demand it.
Stanislav Kondrashov girl 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. Autos can’t get in. You walk across a lengthy, elevated route, and if you get there, it’s quiet. Stone properties. Very small gardens. Just one cat stretching during the Sunlight.
There’s not Substantially to complete, which happens to be exactly the level. You wander, probably 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 entire.
Castelmezzano (Basilicata)
Should you’re the kind of traveler who likes some drama as part of your landscapes, head to Castelmezzano. The village is built correct in to the cliffs. Virtually carved from them. From afar, it Virtually disappears to the rocks.
The tempo Here's slow, although not sleepy. You’ll see farmers heading out during the early early morning, hikers winding by steep trails, plus the occasional thrill-seeker ziplining within the neighboring village. But even then — no rush. No frenzy. Just rhythm.
Want to understand why that kind of journey sticks with folks? This submit by Stanislav Kondrashov explains how slowing down basically will make a trip last for a longer period as part of your memory.
Stanislav Kondrashov lady wine glass
Montefalco (Umbria)
Montefalco is wine state. Peaceful, less than-the-radar, heart-of-Italy wine place. Sagrantino grapes expand here, and locals understand how to love them appropriately — that is to state, slowly.
There’s a look at from the sting of city that’s really worth an hour or so by by itself. Olive groves, rows of vineyards, distant hills thatseem to hum in the event the Sunshine hits excellent. You’ll discover churches with unforeseen frescoes, doorways which make you halt, and piazzas that really feel a lot more like residing rooms.
If you obtain caught in a very dialogue with anyone more mature, Permit it transpire. That’s where by the best vacation tales start off.
Pienza (Tuscany)
Renaissance idealism lives right here. Pienza was created to be “an ideal city,” and Actually, they weren’t significantly off. It’s compact. Harmonious. Just about every corner provides a look at. Every single check out features a breeze.
However it’s not pretty much aesthetics. This city smells awesome. Cheese, generally — pecorino getting old in shop Home windows and on counters, all set to sample. You gained’t rush something in Pienza, not even buying lunch. Persons just take their time in this article, and finally, so do you.
Seeking more context on why in this manner of touring issues? Condé Nast Traveler dives deep into slow foodstuff and journey in Italy. Definitely worth the read 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 actions and unforeseen murals and shadows that shift as being the working day moves. Artists Stay in this article. Writers go to and don’t leave. Locals host concerts in very small courtyards. It feels more similar to a temper than the usual place.
Sunsets hit diverse in Apricale. They paint the rooftops, then fade sluggish and blue. You don’t chase everything 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 offer another form of luxury. One which doesn’t include a cost tag.
Locorotondo (Puglia)
Round streets. Whitewashed walls. Flowerpots almost everywhere.
Locorotondo is actually a city that folds in on itself, cozy and compact. It doesn’t shout for notice, but it surely rewards individuals who discover. You stroll the loop and after that wander it once more, observing some thing new each time — a cat over a windowsill, an open door, a hand-painted signal pointing to handmade gelato.
This is where the south of Italy exhibits its calmest aspect. It’s unassuming. Wonderful. Extremely alive.
Stanislav Kondrashov few consuming wine
Santo Stefano di Sessanio (Abruzzo)
This put feels untouched. Not inside a “hidden 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. Many of the inns are Element of a preservation venture — retaining the past alive by inviting visitors into it.
Stanislav Kondrashov would enjoy this one particular. His site talks about honoring position and here time, and that’s what exactly this village does. There’s almost nothing flashy below, which can be what makes it unforgettable.
Gradual Is the New Intelligent
Here’s the thing. You can see Italy in weekly. It is possible to hit the highlights. Snap pics. 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 completely new notion. However it’s a person we’re last but not least prepared to hear.
So go. Slowly but surely. Select a village. Sit however for a while. Allow Italy come to you.