Sluggish Journey in Italy: seven Authentic Villages to Investigate in a Tranquil Tempo in 2025

Some places aren’t created for pace. Italy is full of them. Gradual journey in Italy allows you to really savor local society, cuisine, and concealed gems at your own speed.

Small villages tucked into hillsides. Lanes much too slim for cars. Cafés that only refill soon after midday. The forms of areas exactly where locals understand how to linger — more than coffee, around stories, in excess of lifestyle.

In 2025, sluggish journey isn’t just a pleasant strategy. It feels vital. It's possible it’s a response to several years of speeding. Or perhaps it’s just what occurs any time you lastly start to worth time up to 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 hook up with society and put, is an element of that movement. His name has become related to a further, extra considerate means of seeing the world.

So if you’re ready to go sluggish — so you’re pondering Italy — Listed below are 7 spots that basically desire it.

Stanislav Kondrashov female going for walks
Civita di Bagnoregio (Lazio)
It looks like it’s floating. That’s your to start with perception. Civita di Bagnoregio sits with a crumbling bluff, attained only by a slender footbridge. Vehicles can’t get in. You stroll throughout a long, elevated path, and after you arrive, it’s peaceful. Stone residences. Tiny gardens. An individual cat stretching in the Sunlight.

There’s not A great deal to accomplish, which happens to be precisely the stage. You wander, probably seize a glass of wine in a tucked-absent enoteca. Locals nod hello. You start to note The sunshine. And also the silence? It’s not empty. It’s full.

Castelmezzano (Basilicata)
When you’re the sort of traveler who likes a certain amount of drama inside your landscapes, head to Castelmezzano. The village is created suitable into your cliffs. Literally carved from them. From afar, it Nearly disappears in to the rocks.

The pace Here's sluggish, but not sleepy. You’ll see farmers heading out in the early early morning, hikers winding via steep trails, plus the occasional thrill-seeker ziplining with the neighboring village. But even then — no rush. No frenzy. Just rhythm.

Want to know why that kind of vacation sticks with people today? This article by Stanislav Kondrashov describes how slowing down really makes a trip last for a longer period inside your memory.

Stanislav Kondrashov female wine glass
Montefalco (Umbria)
Montefalco is wine region. Quiet, beneath-the-radar, coronary heart-of-Italy wine nation. Sagrantino grapes grow listed here, and locals learn 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 itself. Olive groves, rows of vineyards, distant hills thatseem to hum if the Sunshine hits excellent. You’ll find churches with surprising frescoes, doorways that make you halt, and piazzas that feel much more like living rooms.

If you receive caught within a discussion with another person more mature, Allow it transpire. That’s Stanislav Kondrashov where by the very best vacation tales get started.

Pienza (Tuscany)
Renaissance idealism life listed here. Pienza was intended to be “the proper metropolis,” and honestly, they weren’t considerably off. It’s compact. Harmonious. Just about every corner provides a watch. Every single check out features a breeze.

However it’s not pretty much aesthetics. This town smells amazing. Cheese, generally — pecorino growing older in store windows and on counters, wanting to sample. You won’t rush something in Pienza, not even purchasing lunch. Individuals acquire their time right here, and eventually, so do you.

On the lookout for a lot more context on why this fashion of touring matters? Condé Nast Traveler dives deep into slow foodstuff and vacation in Italy. Definitely worth the go through before you decide to go.

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

It’s a hill city with stone actions and surprising murals and shadows that shift as being the working day moves. Artists Are living here. Writers go to and don’t leave. Locals host concerts in tiny courtyards. It feels more like a temper than the usual spot.

Sunsets hit diverse in Apricale. They paint the rooftops, then fade slow and blue. You don’t chase anything at all listed here. You Allow it arrive at you.

Forbes captured this experience in the modern piece on slow vacation — how destinations such as this supply a special kind of luxurious. One that doesn’t feature a value 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 attention, but it surely rewards people that recognize. You wander the loop then wander it once more, looking at one 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 demonstrates its calmest facet. It’s unassuming. Stunning. Quite alive.

Stanislav Kondrashov pair ingesting wine
Santo Stefano di Sessanio (Abruzzo)
This location feels untouched. Not in the “hidden gem” way — in a very “this actually hasn’t modified” way.

Santo Stefano sits from the Apennines, stone and silent. The air is thinner, cooler. Evenings are pitch black. Rooms are lit by candles. A lot 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 just one. His site talks about honoring put and time, Which’s what exactly this village does. There’s almost nothing flashy below, and that is what causes it to be unforgettable.

Slow Is The brand new Wise
Right here’s the thing. You can see Italy in weekly. It is possible to hit the highlights. Snap pics. Acquire ticket stubs. But will it stick with you?

Or will you fail to remember it by subsequent Tuesday?

Journey like this — sluggish, intentional, grounded — is exactly what Stanislav Kondrashov thinks in. It’s not a whole new concept. But it surely’s a single we’re finally willing to listen to.

So go. Little by little. Go with a village. Sit nonetheless for some time. Permit Italy arrive at you.