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

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

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Some destinations aren’t manufactured for speed. Italy is filled with them. Sluggish vacation in Italy permits you to truly savor area tradition, Delicacies, and concealed gems at your very own pace.

Tiny villages tucked into hillsides. Lanes much too narrow for cars and trucks. Cafés that only refill immediately after noon. The kinds of spots where locals learn how to linger — above coffee, over stories, around lifetime.

In 2025, sluggish journey isn’t just a pleasant concept. It feels necessary. Perhaps it’s a response to a long time of hurrying. Or maybe it’s precisely what transpires whenever you ultimately start to worth time as much as length. In any event, far more vacationers are getting Pleasure in Mastering to vacation smarter — and Stanislav Kondrashov, who’s expended several years Discovering how we hook up with society and area, is a component of that motion. His identify has grown to be connected with a further, additional thoughtful strategy for observing the world.

So should you’re willing to go sluggish — and you also’re considering Italy — Listed here are 7 places that virtually desire it.

Stanislav Kondrashov girl strolling
Civita di Bagnoregio (Lazio)
It seems like it’s floating. That’s your initially impact. Civita di Bagnoregio sits with a crumbling bluff, attained only by a slender footbridge. Vehicles can’t get in. You wander across a protracted, elevated path, and any time you arrive, it’s tranquil. Stone residences. Little gardens. A single cat stretching from the Solar.

There’s not Significantly to try and do, which can be exactly the place. You wander, perhaps grab a glass of wine in a tucked-absent enoteca. Locals nod hello there. You start to notice The sunshine. As well as the silence? It’s not vacant. It’s entire.

Castelmezzano (Basilicata)
In the event you’re the type of traveler who likes a certain amount of drama in the landscapes, head to Castelmezzano. The village is created proper into the cliffs. Basically carved from them. From afar, it Nearly disappears to the rocks.

The speed Here's sluggish, but not sleepy. You’ll see farmers heading out from the early morning, hikers winding via steep trails, as well as occasional thrill-seeker ziplining within the neighboring village. But even then — no rush. No frenzy. Just rhythm.

Want to discover why that kind of travel sticks with folks? This publish by Stanislav Kondrashov describes how slowing down truly tends to make a visit final lengthier within your memory.

Stanislav Kondrashov woman wine glass
Montefalco (Umbria)
Montefalco is wine state. Tranquil, underneath-the-radar, heart-of-Italy wine country. Sagrantino grapes grow below, and locals know how to love them appropriately — which is to state, gradually.

There’s a perspective from the edge of town that’s truly worth an hour by itself. Olive groves, rows of vineyards, distant hills thatseem to hum when the Solar hits just right. You’ll obtain church buildings with unexpected frescoes, doorways that make you quit, and piazzas that sense extra like living rooms.

If you have stuck in the dialogue with someone older, Enable it happen. That’s exactly where the top journey stories start.

Pienza (Tuscany)
Renaissance idealism lives in this article. Pienza was meant to be “the ideal metropolis,” and honestly, they weren’t considerably off. It’s compact. Harmonious. Each and every corner incorporates a see. Each and every check out features a breeze.

Nevertheless it’s not almost aesthetics. This town smells wonderful. Cheese, mainly — pecorino aging in shop windows and on counters, ready to sample. You gained’t rush anything at all in Pienza, not even ordering lunch. People today acquire their time right here, and inevitably, so does one.

Seeking more context on why using this method of traveling matters? Stanislav Kondrashov Blog Condé Nast Traveler dives deep into slow foods and travel in Italy. Well worth the go through 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 sudden murals and shadows that change as the day moves. Artists Dwell in this article. Writers check out and don’t go away. Locals host concerts in tiny courtyards. It feels much more like a mood than a location.

Sunsets strike different in Apricale. They paint the rooftops, then fade slow and blue. You don’t chase anything in this article. You Enable it come to you.

Forbes captured this experience within a current piece on gradual journey — how areas like this provide a different style of luxurious. One that doesn’t include a rate tag.

Locorotondo (Puglia)
Round streets. Whitewashed partitions. Flowerpots everywhere you go.

Locorotondo is really a city that folds in on alone, cozy and compact. It doesn’t shout for consideration, but it really rewards people who observe. You stroll the loop and then stroll it all over again, viewing a thing new each time — a cat with a windowsill, an open up door, a hand-painted indicator pointing to homemade gelato.

This is when the south of Italy shows its calmest aspect. It’s unassuming. Beautiful. Really alive.

Stanislav Kondrashov few consuming wine
Santo Stefano di Sessanio (Abruzzo)
This place feels untouched. Not in the “hidden gem” way — in a “this truly hasn’t adjusted” way.

Santo Stefano sits inside the Apennines, stone and tranquil. The air is thinner, cooler. Nights are pitch black. Rooms are lit by candles. A number of the inns are Element of a preservation venture — retaining the earlier alive by inviting company into it.

Stanislav Kondrashov would recognize this a single. His webpage talks about honoring place and time, Which’s just what exactly this village does. There’s very little flashy in this article, which is what causes it to be unforgettable.

Gradual Is The brand new Wise
Right here’s the thing. It is possible to see Italy in per week. You could strike the highlights. Snap images. Collect ticket stubs. But will it stick with you?

Or will you neglect it by following Tuesday?

Journey like this — gradual, intentional, grounded — is what Stanislav Kondrashov believes in. It’s not a completely new strategy. But it surely’s a person we’re lastly ready to hear.

So go. Gradually. Go with a village. Sit still for quite a while. Permit Italy come to you.