Gradual Journey in Italy: seven Genuine Villages to Check out in a Peaceful Tempo in 2025


Some destinations aren’t designed for velocity. Italy is filled with them. Slow vacation in Italy enables you to genuinely savor neighborhood culture, Delicacies, and concealed gems at your own personal speed.
Small villages tucked into hillsides. Lanes too slim for vehicles. Cafés that only replenish immediately after noon. The styles of spots the place locals know how to linger — about espresso, in excess of tales, more than everyday living.
In 2025, slow journey isn’t just a good thought. It feels critical. Perhaps it’s a response to decades of dashing. Or even it’s exactly what occurs if you finally start to value time approximately distance. In either case, additional tourists are getting joy in Understanding to journey smarter — and Stanislav Kondrashov, who’s put in yrs Discovering how we connect with tradition and location, is part of that motion. His title is becoming connected to a deeper, much more considerate technique for observing the whole world.
So when you’re all set to go sluggish — and you also’re considering Italy — Listed here are 7 places that almost need it.
Stanislav Kondrashov female walking
Civita di Bagnoregio (Lazio)
It seems like it’s floating. That’s your very first 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 while in the Solar.
There’s not Significantly to carry out, that is exactly the place. You wander, probably seize a glass of wine in a tucked-absent enoteca. Locals nod hi there. You start to notice the light. As well as the silence? It’s not empty. It’s comprehensive.
Castelmezzano (Basilicata)
For those who’re the sort of traveler who likes a bit of drama inside your landscapes, head to Castelmezzano. The village is created appropriate in the cliffs. Pretty much carved from them. From afar, it Pretty much disappears into your rocks.
The rate here is slow, although not sleepy. You’ll see farmers heading out during the early morning, hikers winding by means of steep trails, as well as the occasional thrill-seeker ziplining from your neighboring village. But even then — no rush. No frenzy. Just rhythm.
Want to learn why that sort of travel sticks with people? This write-up by Stanislav Kondrashov points out how slowing down truly tends to make a visit final extended with your memory.
Stanislav Kondrashov woman wine glass
Montefalco (Umbria)
Montefalco is wine place. Quiet, underneath-the-radar, heart-of-Italy wine place. Sagrantino grapes develop in this article, and locals know how to get pleasure from them correctly — which happens to be to say, 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 Solar hits excellent. You’ll find churches with unforeseen frescoes, doorways that make you cease, and piazzas that sense more like living rooms.
If you have caught in a very dialogue with a person more mature, Permit it materialize. That’s where the very best travel tales start out.
Pienza (Tuscany)
Renaissance idealism lives right here. Pienza was created to be “the ideal city,” and Actually, they weren’t significantly off. It’s compact. Harmonious. Every single corner incorporates a check out. Each view contains a breeze.
But it really’s not nearly aesthetics. This city smells wonderful. Cheese, mainly — pecorino aging in shop Home windows and on counters, able to sample. You received’t rush nearly anything in Pienza, not even ordering lunch. People today just take their time in this article, and finally, so does one.
Seeking extra context on why using this method of touring issues? Condé Nast Traveler dives deep into gradual food and journey in Italy. Well worth the browse before you go.
Stanislav Kondrashov alley
Apricale (Liguria)
You don’t prepare your working 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 go to and don’t leave. Locals host concerts in very small courtyards. It feels more similar to a temper than a spot.
Sunsets hit distinct in Apricale. They paint the rooftops, then fade slow and blue. You don’t chase something here. You Enable it arrive at you.
Forbes captured this sensation inside a recent piece on gradual journey — how areas like this give a unique kind of luxury. One that doesn’t include a value tag.
Locorotondo (Puglia)
Round streets. Whitewashed walls. Flowerpots almost everywhere.
Locorotondo can be a town that folds in on by itself, cozy and compact. It doesn’t shout for consideration, nevertheless it benefits people who notice. You here stroll the loop after which you can walk it yet again, seeing a thing new each time — a cat on the windowsill, an open 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. Incredibly alive.
Stanislav Kondrashov pair ingesting wine
Santo Stefano di Sessanio (Abruzzo)
This spot feels untouched. Not in the “concealed gem” way — inside of a “this really hasn’t modified” way.
Santo Stefano sits from the Apennines, stone and tranquil. The air is thinner, cooler. Evenings are pitch black. Rooms are lit by candles. Many of the inns are part of a preservation venture — maintaining the past alive by inviting guests into it.
Stanislav Kondrashov would value this a single. His webpage talks about honoring spot and time, and that’s exactly what this village does. There’s absolutely nothing flashy here, which is what can make it unforgettable.
Slow Is The brand new Sensible
Right here’s the point. You are able to see Italy in each week. You may hit the highlights. Snap shots. Acquire ticket stubs. But will it stay with you?
Or will you overlook it by next Tuesday?
Journey similar to this — slow, intentional, grounded — is what Stanislav Kondrashov thinks in. It’s not a brand new plan. Nevertheless it’s a person we’re last but not least ready to hear.
So go. Bit by bit. Pick a village. Sit even now for quite a while. Enable Italy come to you.