The Art of Slow Travel

Have you ever come home from a vacation feeling more exhausted than you were before you left? Many travelers live hectic, stressful lives, and the frantic pace only continues while they’re on a trip as they rush from one tourist attraction to another. But there’s a grassroots movement that has quietly emerged as a solution to tourist burnout: slow travel.

Imagine living for a week in a little French cottage, buying fresh vegetables from the farmer’s market every morning, sipping cafe au lait on your favorite sidewalk terrace, and taking leisurely day trips to neighboring villages and chateaus. Sound appealing? That’s the magic of slow travel, where the emphasis is less on manic sightseeing and more on taking in your surroundings at a relaxed pace. This is no “four cities in seven days” tour of Europe—instead, you’ll see new places and explore new cultures in a way that’s less stressful for you, more respectful of the locals and easier on the environment (and maybe on your budget as well).

Slow travel is an offshoot of the slow food movement, which began in Italy in the 1980s as a protest against the opening of a McDonald’s in Rome. The slow food movement aims to preserve regional cuisine, local farming, communal meals, and traditional food preparation methods. This cultural initiative has since burgeoned into a whole way of life known as the Slow Movement, which emphasizes connection—connection to food, connection to families, and, in the case of travel, connection to local people and culture.

Slow travel is not so much a particular mode of transportation as it is a mindset. Rather than attempting to squeeze as many sights or cities as possible into each trip, the slow traveler takes time to explore each destination thoroughly and to experience the local culture. Per the slow travel philosophy, it’s more important to get to know one small area well than it is to see only a little bit of many different areas—that way you’ll have something left to see on the next trip.

Slow travel can mean renting a cottage or apartment for a week at a time and exploring your immediate surroundings on foot or by car. It can mean taking a bike tour from one village to the next, or driving along back roads instead of taking the highway. It can mean crossing long distances by train instead of air so that you can see the scenery along the way. But no matter how you do it, the key is slowing down—and making the most of each moment of your vacation.

Traveling more slowly allows you to form a stronger connection to the place you’re visiting, and you’ll feel much less rushed. With a “slow” itinerary, you won’t experience the stress of attempting to knock out every site in your guidebook. Instead, you’ll stay in one place long enough to recognize your neighbors, shop in the local markets, and pick a favorite coffeehouse. Few societies move as quickly as Americans do, so slowing down in other countries not only allows you to escape your own stressful day-to-day life but also to slip naturally into the pace of another culture.

Another less obvious advantage of slow travel is that it’s generally much easier on the environment than other types of travel. While airplanes have been pinpointed as major contributors to global warming, trains are a much more eco-friendly alternative—as are bikes and, of course, your own two feet! And even traveling by car becomes less damaging to the environment when you’re only driving short distances.

Slow travel is often kinder to your budget as well. Staying in one place for a week or more at a time reduces your transportation costs, and vacation rentals are often more cost-efficient than hotels since they allow you to cook your own food instead of eating out for every meal. If you choose a home exchange instead, you’ll save even more.

One thing to keep in mind: While the pace of slow travel may be leisurely and laid-back, getting up close and personal with a new culture is much more challenging than just breezing through the major tourist sites. Part of the reward of slow travel is overcoming language barriers, differences in customs, and other potential stumbling blocks to make connections with the new people you meet.

Europe is the most popular destination for slow travelers because vacation rentals are plentiful, public transportation systems are efficient, historic attractions are relatively close together, and English is widely spoken.

However, slow travel is a mindset, not a destination—and with a little planning, you can do it almost anywhere.

Accommodations: Slow travelers generally stay in vacation rentals, which tend to be more cost-efficient than hotels for longer stays as well as more spacious and homey. Be sure to book your vacation rental well in advance and keep in mind that many properties must be booked from Saturday to Saturday. You can find vacation rentals on sites such as Airbnb, HomeAway, and TripAdvisor (SmarterTravel’s parent company).

Home exchanging is another good alternative for lengthy stays. Often your home exchange partner will leave an introduction to friends and neighbors, allowing you to immediately feel part of your new community. You may even get to use your exchange partner’s car while you’re in the area. One of the most popular sites for this type of lodging is HomeExchange.com.

Meals: In the spirit of slow food, try to seek out local ingredients and experience the regional cuisine of the place you’re visiting. Cooking for yourself? Join the locals at the fish market first thing in the morning to pick up a fresh catch for dinner that night, or pop by the bakery for a baguette right from the oven. If you’re eating out, patronize locally owned cafes and restaurants.

Transportation: Traveling by rail can be a relaxing and often luxurious way to see the countryside, particularly in places like Canada and Europe. Trains in both of these regions are comfortable and efficient, and a variety of rail passes are available to help you cut costs.

A road trip can also be considered slow travel if you take the back roads instead of the highways, and stop often to get a taste of local life.

Other “slow” alternatives include biking, river barging, walking, and even running.

While slow travel is an increasingly popular option for people looking to enrich their travel experiences, it’s not for everyone. For one thing, it can be very, well … slow. If packing a lot of sightseeing into each day makes you feel excited and energized, then you may find a more laid-back pace of life frustrating or dull. And while “there’s always another trip” is the unofficial motto of slow travel, I recognize that this isn’t the case for all travelers, particularly those on a tight budget. If you think this may be your one and only trip to Italy (or New Zealand or Morocco…), then you need to decide what’s most important to you: traditional sightseeing or an intimate cultural experience.

More from SmarterTravel:

• 7 Ways to Score Free Lodging
• Ditch the Hotel: 10 Cheaper Ways to Stay
• 10 Simple Ways to Blend in with the Locals

Follow Sarah Schlichter on Twitter @TravelEditor for more travel tips and inspiration.

Editor’s note: This story was originally published in 2017. It has been updated to reflect the most current information.