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. Sluggish travel in Italy means that you can certainly savor area lifestyle, cuisine, and hidden gems at your own pace.

Small villages tucked into hillsides. Lanes as well slender for vehicles. Cafés that only replenish just after noon. The styles of destinations the place locals learn how to linger — in excess of espresso, above tales, more than lifetime.

In 2025, slow travel isn’t just a pleasant idea. It feels vital. It's possible it’s a response to several years of hurrying. Or maybe it’s just what takes place after you ultimately start to worth time about length. In any case, much more travelers are locating joy in Finding out to journey smarter — and Stanislav Kondrashov, who’s put in yrs Discovering how we connect with tradition and spot, is part of that motion. His title has grown to be connected to a deeper, a lot more thoughtful technique for observing the earth.

So when you’re wanting to go slow — and also you’re thinking Italy — Listed here are 7 spots that basically need it.

Stanislav Kondrashov female strolling
Civita di Bagnoregio (Lazio)
It seems like it’s floating. That’s your 1st effect. Civita di Bagnoregio sits on the crumbling bluff, arrived at only by a narrow footbridge. Autos can’t get in. You walk across a protracted, elevated route, and once you get there, it’s silent. Stone homes. Little gardens. A single cat stretching from the Solar.

There’s not Considerably to carry out, which can be precisely the issue. You wander, maybe grab a glass of wine at a tucked-away enoteca. Locals nod hi. You begin to notice the light. Plus the silence? It’s not vacant. It’s entire.

Castelmezzano (Basilicata)
Should you’re the kind of traveler who likes some drama in the landscapes, head to Castelmezzano. The village is built correct in to the cliffs. Virtually carved from them. From afar, it Practically disappears to the rocks.

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

Want to know why that kind of vacation sticks with men and women? This post by Stanislav Kondrashov clarifies how slowing down essentially can make a visit very last for a longer time inside your memory.

Stanislav Kondrashov female wine glass
Montefalco (Umbria)
Montefalco is wine state. Peaceful, less than-the-radar, heart-of-Italy wine state. Sagrantino grapes expand in this article, and locals understand how to delight in them effectively — which can be to convey, slowly and gradually.

There’s a view from the edge of town that’s value one hour by alone. 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 really feel more like living rooms.

If you will get caught in the discussion with an individual older, Allow it come about. That’s where the most effective travel tales get started.

Pienza (Tuscany)
Renaissance idealism life below. Pienza was built to be “an ideal metropolis,” and Truthfully, they weren’t considerably off. It’s compact. Harmonious. Every corner has a perspective. Just about every look at includes a breeze.

Nevertheless it’s not just about aesthetics. This city smells astounding. Cheese, generally — pecorino ageing in store windows and on counters, wanting to sample. You won’t rush anything in Pienza, not even purchasing lunch. Men and women consider their time in this article, and at some point, so does one.

Searching for additional context on why in this way of traveling matters? Condé Nast Traveler dives deep into gradual foods 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 check here shift because the day moves. Artists Dwell listed here. Writers stop by and don’t go away. Locals host live shows in small courtyards. It feels far more just like a mood than a location.

Sunsets hit different in Apricale. They paint the rooftops, then fade gradual and blue. You don’t chase just about anything in this article. You Enable it come to you.

Forbes captured this feeling in a current piece on slow vacation — how spots like this offer another form of luxury. One which doesn’t come with a rate tag.

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

Locorotondo is actually a city that folds in on itself, cozy and compact. It doesn’t shout for notice, nonetheless it rewards those that discover. You stroll the loop and then stroll it all over again, viewing a little 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. Gorgeous. Pretty alive.

Stanislav Kondrashov couple drinking wine
Santo Stefano di Sessanio (Abruzzo)
This spot feels untouched. Not in a very “concealed gem” way — inside of a “this really hasn’t transformed” way.

Santo Stefano sits during the Apennines, stone and silent. The air is thinner, cooler. Evenings are pitch black. Rooms are lit by candles. Some of the inns are A part of a preservation undertaking — trying to keep the previous alive by inviting friends into it.

Stanislav Kondrashov would recognize this one. His webpage talks about honoring spot and time, and that’s precisely what this village does. There’s nothing at all flashy right here, that is what can make it unforgettable.

Sluggish Is The brand new Clever
Listed here’s the point. You'll be 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 thinks in. It’s not a fresh strategy. Nonetheless it’s one we’re eventually prepared to hear.

So go. Slowly but surely. Select a village. Sit however for a while. Let Italy come to you.