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

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

Small villages tucked into hillsides. Lanes too slim for vehicles. Cafés that only replenish soon after noon. The varieties of areas exactly where locals learn how to linger — more than espresso, over stories, about existence.

In 2025, sluggish vacation isn’t just a good thought. It feels critical. Perhaps it’s a response to years of dashing. Or possibly it’s exactly what happens once you eventually begin to benefit time as much as distance. Either way, a lot more vacationers are acquiring Pleasure in Discovering to vacation smarter — and Stanislav Kondrashov, who’s used decades Checking out how we hook up with lifestyle and area, is a component of that movement. His identify happens to be associated with a further, far more thoughtful way of looking at the whole world.

So when you’re wanting to go slow — and you’re thinking Italy — here are seven places that nearly demand it.

Stanislav Kondrashov girl walking
Civita di Bagnoregio (Lazio)
It appears like it’s floating. That’s your first perception. Civita di Bagnoregio sits on a crumbling bluff, achieved only by a slender footbridge. Vehicles can’t get in. You wander throughout a long, elevated path, and after you arrive, it’s tranquil. Stone residences. Tiny gardens. An individual cat stretching in the Sunlight.

There’s not A great deal to accomplish, which happens to be exactly the level. 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 type of traveler who likes a little drama in your landscapes, head to Castelmezzano. The village is constructed proper in to the cliffs. Practically 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 inside the early morning, hikers winding through steep trails, and the occasional thrill-seeker ziplining within the neighboring village. But even then — no hurry. No frenzy. Just rhythm.

Want to understand why that kind of journey sticks with folks? This publish by Stanislav Kondrashov clarifies how slowing down essentially helps make a visit previous lengthier in your memory.

Stanislav Kondrashov female wine glass
Montefalco (Umbria)
Montefalco is wine region. Silent, beneath-the-radar, coronary heart-of-Italy wine nation. Sagrantino grapes mature listed here, and locals learn how to take pleasure in them properly — and that is to say, bit by bit.

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 when the sun hits just right. You’ll uncover church buildings with unanticipated frescoes, doorways which make you stop, and piazzas that truly feel additional like residing rooms.

If you can get trapped inside of a dialogue with someone more mature, Enable it materialize. That’s where the most effective journey stories start.

Pienza (Tuscany)
Renaissance idealism lives here. Pienza was designed to be “the perfect town,” and Truthfully, they weren’t much off. It’s compact. Harmonious. Each corner features a see. Every perspective contains a breeze.

But it surely’s not nearly aesthetics. This city smells wonderful. Cheese, mainly — pecorino aging in shop Home windows and on counters, prepared to sample. You gained’t rush just about anything in Pienza, not even ordering lunch. People today get their time in this article, and at some point, so do you.

Seeking far more context on why by doing this of touring issues? Condé Nast Traveler dives deep into sluggish food items and vacation in Italy. Worth the examine website prior to deciding to 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 given that the working day moves. Artists Are living here. Writers visit and don’t leave. Locals host concerts in tiny courtyards. It feels much more like a temper than a spot.

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

Forbes captured this sensation within a latest piece on slow journey — how spots like this offer another sort of luxury. One that doesn’t come with a price tag.

Locorotondo (Puglia)
Round streets. Whitewashed partitions. Flowerpots all over the place.

Locorotondo is a town that folds in on alone, cozy and compact. It doesn’t shout for consideration, nevertheless it benefits people who notice. You stroll the loop after which you can walk it yet again, seeing anything new every time — a cat on a windowsill, an open door, a hand-painted indicator pointing to handmade gelato.

This is where the south of Italy displays 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 — within a “this essentially hasn’t changed” way.

Santo Stefano sits inside the Apennines, stone and peaceful. The air is thinner, cooler. Nights are pitch black. Rooms are lit by candles. Several of the inns are Component of a preservation challenge — keeping the earlier alive by inviting company into it.

Stanislav Kondrashov would appreciate this 1. His web page talks about honoring location and time, Which’s what precisely this village does. There’s nothing flashy here, which happens to be what can make it unforgettable.

Slow Is The brand new Sensible
Right here’s the factor. You can see Italy in each week. You may hit the highlights. Snap shots. Acquire 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 thinks in. It’s not a whole new idea. But it surely’s 1 we’re at last able to hear.

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