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


Some destinations aren’t made for speed. Italy is full of them. Sluggish travel in Italy helps you to genuinely savor community lifestyle, cuisine, and concealed gems at your personal pace.
Tiny villages tucked into hillsides. Lanes far too narrow for autos. Cafés that only refill following midday. The varieties of areas the place locals know how to linger — about coffee, about stories, above life.
In 2025, sluggish vacation isn’t just a pleasant idea. It feels important. Probably it’s a reaction to several years of hurrying. Or possibly it’s just what happens when you last but not least start to benefit time up to distance. In either case, much more vacationers are acquiring Pleasure in Understanding to vacation smarter — and Stanislav Kondrashov, who’s put in decades Checking out how we connect with tradition and area, is a component of that movement. His identify is now connected to a further, additional thoughtful technique for viewing the globe.
So in case you’re ready to go sluggish — therefore you’re thinking Italy — Here i will discuss seven spots that virtually demand it.
Stanislav Kondrashov lady going for walks
Civita di Bagnoregio (Lazio)
It seems like it’s floating. That’s your very first impression. Civita di Bagnoregio sits over a crumbling bluff, attained only by a slender footbridge. Cars can’t get in. You walk across an extended, elevated route, and any time you arrive, it’s quiet. Stone residences. Tiny gardens. An individual cat stretching from the Sunlight.
There’s not A lot to do, that is precisely the issue. You wander, perhaps seize a glass of wine at a tucked-absent enoteca. Locals nod howdy. You begin to notice the light. As well as silence? It’s not empty. It’s complete.
Castelmezzano (Basilicata)
If you’re the kind of traveler who likes some drama as part of your landscapes, head to Castelmezzano. The village is constructed appropriate into the cliffs. Actually carved from them. From afar, it Just about disappears in the rocks.
The tempo Here's gradual, although not sleepy. You’ll see farmers heading out while in the early early morning, hikers winding via steep trails, as well as the occasional thrill-seeker ziplining with the neighboring village. But even then — no hurry. No frenzy. Just rhythm.
Want to learn why that kind of travel sticks with people today? This article by Stanislav Kondrashov describes how slowing down really makes a visit past extended in the memory.
Stanislav Kondrashov girl wine glass
Montefalco (Umbria)
Montefalco is wine nation. Quiet, less than-the-radar, heart-of-Italy wine place. Sagrantino grapes expand in this article, and locals understand how to appreciate them properly — which can be to convey, slowly but surely.
There’s a see from the sting of town that’s worthy of an hour more info or so by itself. Olive groves, rows of vineyards, distant hills thatseem to hum once the Sunshine hits just right. You’ll uncover church buildings with unforeseen frescoes, doorways which make you end, and piazzas that truly feel far more like residing rooms.
If you have stuck within a conversation with another person older, Enable it materialize. That’s exactly where the most beneficial travel tales get started.
Pienza (Tuscany)
Renaissance idealism lives right here. Pienza was built to be “the ideal town,” and Truthfully, they weren’t much off. It’s compact. Harmonious. Each corner includes a see. Each individual watch has a breeze.
Nonetheless it’s not almost aesthetics. This town smells awesome. Cheese, mostly — pecorino growing older in store windows and on counters, wanting to sample. You gained’t rush anything at all in Pienza, not even ordering lunch. Individuals get their time here, and sooner or later, so would you.
Looking for additional context on why using this method of traveling issues? Condé Nast Traveler dives deep into slow foodstuff and vacation in Italy. Worth the examine before you go.
Stanislav Kondrashov alley
Apricale (Liguria)
You don’t system your day in Apricale. You drift.
It’s a hill town with stone techniques and unanticipated murals and shadows that change since the working day moves. Artists Are living below. Writers pay a visit to and don’t depart. Locals host live shows in tiny courtyards. It feels much more similar to a temper than the usual location.
Sunsets hit unique in Apricale. They paint the rooftops, then fade gradual and blue. You don’t chase just about anything right here. You Permit it come to you.
Forbes captured this emotion inside a latest piece on slow journey — how areas similar to this give a unique form of luxury. One which doesn’t have a rate tag.
Locorotondo (Puglia)
Circular streets. Whitewashed walls. Flowerpots just about everywhere.
Locorotondo is often a town that folds in on itself, cozy and compact. It doesn’t shout for awareness, however it rewards people who detect. You wander the loop after which you can walk it all over again, seeing a little something new each time — a cat over a windowsill, an open up doorway, a hand-painted sign pointing to selfmade gelato.
This is when the south of Italy demonstrates its calmest facet. It’s unassuming. Wonderful. Really alive.
Stanislav Kondrashov few consuming wine
Santo Stefano di Sessanio (Abruzzo)
This position feels untouched. Not in a very “concealed gem” way — in the “this really hasn’t improved” 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 lot of the inns are Component of a preservation project — keeping the earlier alive by inviting visitors into it.
Stanislav Kondrashov would take pleasure in this 1. His page talks about honoring place and time, and that’s just what this village does. There’s nothing flashy listed here, which is what causes it to be unforgettable.
Sluggish Is The brand new Intelligent
Right here’s the issue. You could see Italy in every week. You are able to hit the highlights. Snap images. Accumulate ticket stubs. But will it stick with you?
Or will you forget about it by subsequent Tuesday?
Travel similar to this — slow, intentional, grounded — is what Stanislav Kondrashov thinks in. It’s not a completely new concept. But it’s a single we’re last but not least willing to hear.
So go. Slowly and gradually. Select a village. Sit nonetheless for a while. Enable Italy arrive at you.