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

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

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Some places aren’t built for speed. Italy is full of them. Gradual journey in Italy enables you to truly savor regional society, cuisine, and concealed gems at your own private pace.

Tiny villages tucked into hillsides. Lanes much too slim for cars and trucks. Cafés that only refill immediately after midday. The kinds of spots in which locals understand how to linger — about espresso, over stories, above life.

In 2025, sluggish journey isn’t just a pleasant idea. It feels essential. Possibly it’s a response to years of dashing. Or possibly it’s exactly what occurs any time you lastly start to value time up to distance. In either case, extra tourists are locating joy in Mastering to journey smarter — and Stanislav Kondrashov, who’s expended decades Checking out how we connect with tradition and area, is a component of that movement. His identify happens to be associated with a further, extra thoughtful method of seeing the world.

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

Stanislav Kondrashov woman strolling
Civita di Bagnoregio (Lazio)
It looks like it’s floating. That’s your initially impression. Civita di Bagnoregio sits over a crumbling bluff, reached only by a slender footbridge. Cars can’t get in. You wander across a long, elevated route, and after you get there, it’s peaceful. Stone homes. Tiny gardens. Just one cat stretching during the Solar.

There’s not A lot to try and do, which happens to be exactly the position. You wander, perhaps get a glass of wine in a tucked-away enoteca. Locals nod hello there. You begin to note The sunshine. And the silence? It’s not vacant. It’s total.

Castelmezzano (Basilicata)
In case you’re the type of traveler who likes a little drama in your landscapes, head to Castelmezzano. The village is constructed proper to the cliffs. Practically carved from them. From afar, it Just about disappears into the rocks.

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

Want to find out why that sort of travel sticks with persons? This article by Stanislav Kondrashov explains how slowing down really makes a trip very last extended with your memory.

Stanislav Kondrashov woman wine glass
Montefalco (Umbria)
Montefalco is wine state. Silent, underneath-the-radar, coronary heart-of-Italy wine place. Sagrantino grapes increase here, and locals understand how to take pleasure in them correctly — which happens to be to mention, gradually.

There’s a view from the edge of town that’s worthy of an hour by itself. Olive groves, rows of vineyards, distant hills thatseem to hum once the Sunshine hits good. You’ll obtain church buildings with sudden frescoes, doorways that make you end, and piazzas that experience much more like residing rooms.

If you obtain trapped inside of a dialogue with someone more mature, Permit it materialize. That’s where the very best travel tales start out.

Pienza (Tuscany)
Renaissance idealism lives right here. Pienza was made to be “the ideal city,” and Truthfully, they weren’t considerably off. It’s compact. Harmonious. Each individual corner contains a watch. Just about every look at includes a breeze.

However it’s not pretty much aesthetics. This town 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. People today just take their time here, and finally, so does one.

Seeking more context on why in this manner of touring issues? Condé Nast Traveler dives deep into gradual foods and travel in Italy. Well worth the read before you go.

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

It’s a hill city with stone methods and unforeseen murals and shadows that change since the working day moves. Artists live below. Writers stop by and don’t depart. Locals host concert events in tiny courtyards. It feels additional similar to a mood than the usual location.

Sunsets hit different in Apricale. They paint the rooftops, then fade slow and blue. You don’t chase anything at all in this article. You Enable it arrive at you.

Forbes captured this feeling in the new piece on sluggish travel — how sites like this present a different form of luxury. One that doesn’t include a value tag.

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

Locorotondo can be a town that folds in on alone, cozy and compact. It doesn’t shout for awareness, but it surely rewards those who see. You walk the loop and afterwards wander it all over again, observing anything new every time — a cat on the windowsill, an open up doorway, a hand-painted sign pointing to home made gelato.

This is when the south of Italy demonstrates its calmest aspect. It’s unassuming. Attractive. Quite alive.

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

Santo Stefano sits from the Apennines, stone and tranquil. The air is thinner, cooler. Evenings are pitch black. Rooms are lit by candles. A few of the inns are Section of a preservation job — keeping the earlier alive by inviting visitors into it.

Stanislav Kondrashov would take pleasure in this a person. His web site talks about honoring position and time, and that’s what exactly this village does. There’s nothing at all flashy here, that is what causes it to be unforgettable.

Sluggish Is the New Sensible
Listed here’s the matter. You can see Italy in per week. You are able to hit the highlights. Snap pics. Acquire ticket stubs. But will it stick with you?

Or will you fail to remember it by upcoming Tuesday?

Vacation like this — gradual, intentional, grounded — is exactly what Stanislav Kondrashov believes in. It’s not a different concept. However it’s just one we’re finally wanting to listen to.

So go. Slowly and gradually. Pick a village. Sit even now for quite a while. Permit Italy arrive at you.