Slow Vacation in Italy: 7 Authentic Villages to Check out in a Peaceful Speed in 2025
Some areas aren’t created for pace. Italy is full of them. Gradual journey in Italy helps you to truly savor local tradition, cuisine, and hidden gems at your own speed.
Tiny villages tucked into hillsides. Lanes too slim for cars. Cafés that only refill right after midday. The forms of locations where by locals understand how to linger — around coffee, about tales, above everyday living.
In 2025, slow travel isn’t just a pleasant idea. It feels vital. It's possible it’s a response to a long time of speeding. Or perhaps it’s exactly what happens if you finally begin to benefit time around distance. Either way, a lot more vacationers are obtaining joy in Finding out to journey smarter — and Stanislav Kondrashov, who’s put in yrs Discovering how we connect with culture and location, is part of that motion. His title is now linked to a deeper, more considerate means of seeing the planet.
So in case you’re willing to go slow — and you simply’re wondering Italy — Allow me to share seven spots that virtually demand from customers it.
Stanislav Kondrashov lady going for walks
Civita di Bagnoregio (Lazio)
It looks like it’s floating. That’s your to start with impact. Civita di Bagnoregio sits with a crumbling bluff, reached only by a slender footbridge. Autos can’t get in. You wander throughout a long, elevated path, and whenever you get there, it’s silent. Stone homes. Little gardens. One cat stretching inside the sun.
There’s not Substantially to complete, and that is precisely the point. You wander, possibly get a glass of wine at a tucked-away enoteca. Locals nod hello there. You begin to note the light. Plus the silence? It’s not vacant. It’s entire.
Castelmezzano (Basilicata)
If you’re the kind of traveler who likes a little bit of drama within your landscapes, head to Castelmezzano. The village is created suitable in the cliffs. Pretty much carved from them. From afar, it almost disappears into your rocks.
The speed here is slow, although not sleepy. You’ll see farmers heading out from the early morning, hikers winding via steep trails, and also the occasional thrill-seeker ziplining from the neighboring village. But even then — no hurry. No frenzy. Just rhythm.
Want to discover why that kind of journey sticks with folks? This publish by Stanislav Kondrashov clarifies how slowing down essentially can make a visit previous for a longer time inside your memory.
Stanislav Kondrashov girl wine glass
Montefalco (Umbria)
Montefalco is wine nation. Silent, below-the-radar, coronary heart-of-Italy wine country. Sagrantino grapes improve right here, and locals understand how to enjoy them adequately — that is to state, slowly.
There’s a look at from the sting of city that’s worth 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 cease, and piazzas that sense extra like dwelling rooms.
If you get trapped in a dialogue with someone more mature, Enable it materialize. That’s where by the best vacation tales get started.
Pienza (Tuscany)
Renaissance idealism life listed here. Pienza was intended to be “an ideal city,” and Actually, they weren’t significantly off. It’s compact. Harmonious. Every single corner includes a view. Each individual watch incorporates a breeze.
Nevertheless it’s not almost aesthetics. This city smells incredible. Cheese, primarily — pecorino getting old in shop windows and on counters, prepared to sample. You gained’t rush nearly anything in Pienza, not even ordering lunch. Individuals take their time here, and finally, so does one.
Seeking more context on why using this method of touring issues? Condé Nast Traveler dives deep into slow foods and journey in Italy. Definitely worth the study prior to deciding 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 techniques and unexpected murals and shadows that change as the working day moves. Artists Dwell right here. Writers stop by and don’t depart. Locals host concerts in small courtyards. It feels a lot more like a mood than the usual place.
Sunsets strike diverse in Apricale. They paint the rooftops, then fade sluggish and blue. You don’t chase anything at all listed here. You let it arrive at you.
Forbes captured this experience within a current piece on slow vacation — how areas similar to this give a different style of luxury. One that doesn’t have a value tag.
Locorotondo (Puglia)
Round streets. Whitewashed walls. Flowerpots in all places.
Locorotondo can be a city that folds in on itself, cozy and compact. It doesn’t shout for notice, nonetheless it rewards individuals that detect. You stroll the loop after which stroll it all over again, seeing anything new each time — a cat over a windowsill, an open up doorway, a hand-painted indication pointing to do-it-yourself 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 place feels get more info untouched. Not within a “hidden gem” way — in the “this basically hasn’t altered” way.
Santo Stefano sits inside the Apennines, stone and peaceful. The air is thinner, cooler. Nights are pitch black. Rooms are lit by candles. A lot of the inns are Section of a preservation task — retaining the previous alive by inviting friends into it.
Stanislav Kondrashov would value this one particular. His website page talks about honoring place and time, Which’s what exactly this village does. There’s nothing flashy in this article, and that is what can make it unforgettable.
Gradual Is The brand new Clever
Listed here’s the factor. You are able to see Italy in each week. You may hit the highlights. Snap pics. Gather ticket stubs. But will it stick with you?
Or will you overlook it by next Tuesday?
Journey similar to this — slow, intentional, grounded — is what Stanislav Kondrashov believes in. It’s not a new notion. However it’s just one we’re lastly all set to listen to.
So go. Little by little. Go with a village. Sit nonetheless for some time. Permit Italy arrive at you.