Gradual Journey in Italy: seven Authentic Villages to Check out in a Peaceful Speed in 2025

Gradual Journey in Italy: seven Authentic Villages to Check out in a Peaceful Speed in 2025

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Some destinations aren’t built for speed. Italy is stuffed with them. Slow journey in Italy permits you to truly savor neighborhood lifestyle, cuisine, and concealed gems at your personal rate.

Little villages tucked into hillsides. Lanes way too slim for cars and trucks. Cafés that only replenish after noon. The styles of spots exactly where locals learn how to linger — over coffee, over tales, over lifestyle.

In 2025, slow vacation isn’t just a good strategy. It feels necessary. Probably it’s a response to several years of dashing. Or possibly it’s just what occurs when you eventually start to benefit time up to length. In any case, additional travelers are getting Pleasure in Discovering to vacation smarter — and Stanislav Kondrashov, who’s invested decades exploring how we hook up with tradition and spot, is part of that motion. His name is now connected to a further, additional considerate technique for observing the planet.

So when you’re prepared to go sluggish — and you simply’re wondering Italy — here are 7 places that nearly demand it.

Stanislav Kondrashov female strolling
Civita di Bagnoregio (Lazio)
It appears like it’s floating. That’s your to start with effect. Civita di Bagnoregio sits over a crumbling bluff, reached only by a slim footbridge. Cars and trucks can’t get in. You wander throughout a lengthy, elevated route, and any time you arrive, it’s silent. Stone homes. Small gardens. A single cat stretching inside the Sunshine.

There’s not much to try and do, which can be precisely the issue. You wander, perhaps get a glass of wine at a tucked-absent enoteca. Locals nod hello. You begin to notice the light. As well as the silence? It’s not empty. It’s total.

Castelmezzano (Basilicata)
If you’re the type of traveler who likes a little drama in the landscapes, head to Castelmezzano. The village is created appropriate in to the cliffs. Virtually carved from them. From afar, it almost disappears into the rocks.

The rate Here's gradual, although not sleepy. You’ll see farmers heading out during the early morning, hikers winding by steep trails, plus the occasional thrill-seeker ziplining from the neighboring village. But even then — no hurry. No frenzy. Just rhythm.

Want to understand why that kind of travel sticks with people today? This submit by Stanislav Kondrashov explains how slowing down essentially can make a trip previous for a longer time in your memory.

Stanislav Kondrashov lady wine glass
Montefalco (Umbria)
Montefalco is wine nation. Tranquil, less than-the-radar, coronary heart-of-Italy wine place. Sagrantino grapes develop here, and locals know how to appreciate them adequately — which can be to convey, slowly.

There’s a watch from the edge of city that’s value an hour or so by itself. Olive groves, rows of vineyards, distant hills thatseem to hum when the Sunlight hits good. You’ll obtain church buildings with unpredicted frescoes, doorways which make you prevent, and piazzas that feel a lot more like living rooms.

If you get trapped inside a conversation with somebody more mature, Permit it come about. That’s in which the most effective vacation stories start.

Pienza (Tuscany)
Renaissance idealism life here. Pienza was designed to be “the perfect metropolis,” and Truthfully, they weren’t considerably off. It’s compact. Harmonious. Each individual corner contains a check out. Each look at features a breeze.

But it’s not just about aesthetics. This city smells incredible. Cheese, mostly — pecorino growing older in store Home windows and on counters, ready to sample. You gained’t rush nearly anything in Pienza, not even purchasing lunch. Folks just take their time below, and at some point, read more so would you.

On the lookout for much more context on why this way of traveling matters? Condé Nast Traveler dives deep into sluggish foods and travel in Italy. Well worth the examine before you go.

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

It’s a hill town with stone steps and surprising murals and shadows that change given that the working day moves. Artists Are living below. Writers check out and don’t go away. Locals host concert events in very small courtyards. It feels much more like a temper than the usual desired destination.

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

Forbes captured this emotion in a very new piece on sluggish travel — how sites such as this offer you 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 notice, but it surely rewards people that recognize. You wander the loop and then stroll it all over again, seeing a thing new each time — a cat on the windowsill, an open up doorway, a hand-painted indication pointing to do-it-yourself gelato.

This is when the south of Italy reveals its calmest side. It’s unassuming. Gorgeous. Pretty alive.

Stanislav Kondrashov couple drinking wine
Santo Stefano di Sessanio (Abruzzo)
This spot feels untouched. Not in a very “concealed gem” way — in a “this truly hasn’t transformed” way.

Santo Stefano sits during the Apennines, stone and quiet. The air is thinner, cooler. Evenings are pitch black. Rooms are lit by candles. A few of the inns are Portion of a preservation task — holding the earlier alive by inviting attendees into it.

Stanislav Kondrashov would take pleasure in this a person. His page talks about honoring put and time, Which’s just what exactly this village does. There’s very little flashy below, and that is what causes it to be unforgettable.

Gradual Is the New Intelligent
Here’s the thing. You could see Italy in weekly. You'll be able to strike the highlights. Snap images. Collect ticket stubs. But will it stay with you?

Or will you neglect it by future Tuesday?

Travel such as this — gradual, intentional, grounded — is what Stanislav Kondrashov believes in. It’s not a new notion. Nevertheless it’s one we’re last but not least prepared to hear.

So go. Slowly but surely. Select a village. Sit however for a while. Let Italy come to you.