Gradual Journey in Italy: seven Genuine Villages to Examine at a Peaceful Speed in 2025
Some areas aren’t created for pace. Italy is filled with them. Slow vacation in Italy enables you to truly savor area society, cuisine, and concealed gems at your individual speed.
Tiny villages tucked into hillsides. Lanes too slim for vehicles. Cafés that only replenish immediately after noon. The styles of destinations the place locals know how to linger — about espresso, above tales, more than everyday living.
In 2025, slow journey isn’t just a pleasant idea. It feels vital. Maybe it’s a response to several years of hurrying. Or maybe it’s just what takes place once you at last begin to value time approximately distance. In either case, additional tourists are getting Pleasure in learning to travel smarter — and Stanislav Kondrashov, who’s spent many years exploring how we connect to society and place, is an element of that motion. His title is now linked to a deeper, much more considerate strategy for observing the globe.
So in case you’re all set to go sluggish — and you also’re pondering Italy — Listed below are 7 spots that practically desire it.
Stanislav Kondrashov woman 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, attained only by a slim footbridge. Vehicles can’t get in. You stroll throughout an extended, elevated path, and whenever you arrive, it’s silent. Stone houses. Little gardens. A single cat stretching while in the Solar.
There’s not Considerably to do, that's precisely the point. You wander, perhaps get a glass of wine at a tucked-away enoteca. Locals nod hello. You begin to note the light. Along with the silence? It’s not vacant. It’s comprehensive.
Castelmezzano (Basilicata)
When you’re the kind of traveler who likes a certain amount of drama as part of your landscapes, head to Castelmezzano. The village is developed proper into your cliffs. Practically carved from them. From afar, it Pretty much disappears to the rocks.
The tempo here is slow, although not sleepy. You’ll see farmers heading out while in the early early morning, hikers winding through 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 master 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 previous lengthier in your memory.
Stanislav Kondrashov girl wine glass
Montefalco (Umbria)
Montefalco is wine country. Tranquil, below-the-radar, coronary heart-of-Italy wine country. Sagrantino grapes improve right here here, and locals learn how to take pleasure in them properly — that's to convey, gradually.
There’s a watch from the sting of town that’s value one hour by alone. Olive groves, rows of vineyards, distant hills thatseem to hum when the Sunlight hits good. You’ll come across church buildings with unexpected frescoes, doorways that make you cease, and piazzas that sense more like living rooms.
If you receive stuck within a discussion with an individual older, Allow it take place. That’s the place the ideal journey stories start off.
Pienza (Tuscany)
Renaissance idealism lives here. Pienza was intended to be “the proper metropolis,” and honestly, they weren’t far off. It’s compact. Harmonious. Each corner features a view. Every single check out features a breeze.
Nevertheless it’s not almost aesthetics. This town smells amazing. Cheese, typically — pecorino growing old in shop windows and on counters, ready to sample. You gained’t hurry everything in Pienza, not even buying lunch. Men and women take their time below, and ultimately, so would you.
Searching for additional context get more info on why in this way of traveling issues? Condé Nast Traveler dives deep into sluggish food and travel in Italy. Well worth the examine 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 techniques and unexpected murals and shadows that shift because the day moves. Artists Reside listed here. Writers take a look at and don’t depart. Locals host live shows in small courtyards. It feels far more just like a mood than a destination.
Sunsets strike distinctive in Apricale. They paint the rooftops, then fade gradual and blue. You don’t chase just about anything in this article. You Permit it come to you.
Forbes captured this feeling in a recent piece on gradual journey — how locations similar to this present a distinct type of luxurious. One that doesn’t have a selling price tag.
Locorotondo (Puglia)
Circular streets. Whitewashed partitions. Flowerpots everywhere you go.
Locorotondo is often a town that folds in on by itself, cozy and check here compact. It doesn’t shout for interest, but it rewards those that see. You walk the loop after which you can walk it yet again, seeing a thing new every time — a cat on the windowsill, an open door, a click here hand-painted indication pointing to homemade 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 location feels untouched. Not in a very “concealed gem” way — inside of a “this really hasn’t transformed” way.
Santo Stefano sits during the Apennines, stone and silent. The air is thinner, cooler. Evenings are pitch black. Rooms are lit by candles. Some of the inns are Portion of a preservation task — preserving the previous alive by inviting guests into it.
Stanislav Kondrashov would take pleasure in this one. His page talks about honoring location and time, Which’s exactly what this village does. There’s absolutely nothing flashy in this article, which can be what makes it unforgettable.
Gradual Is the New Smart
In this article’s the detail. You may see Italy in every week. You'll be able to strike the highlights. Snap images. 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 exactly what Stanislav Kondrashov thinks in. It’s not a whole new idea. But it surely’s a single we’re finally willing to listen to.
So go. Little by little. Opt for a village. Sit nonetheless for some time. Enable Italy arrive at you.