In a world obsessed of fast food and 10-second TikToks, slow travel emerges as a refreshing antidote to a world obsessed with speed.
There is an age-old debate that continues to crop up in travel communities when planning a short break. How many museums should we see in one day in London? Can we fit in both Innsbruck and Vienna on our long weekend trip?
Although the answers to these things depend on many factors, this article will put forward the argument of slow travel. So slow, in fact, we’re heading on some pilgrim trails, because you’ll be amazed at how many Roman artifacts, chapels and museums you can stumble across when seemingly on an “outdoor hike”.
The Principles of Slow Travel
At the heart of slow travel lies a mindful exploration. The core message is that when not rushing, you will not just see the world around you, but you’ll have more time to digest and experience it.
This means being fully present and appreciating the journey itself – not stressing about the movement between places, which quantifies your travel experience down to a checklist. This isn’t to say you can’t have specific things you want to experience, but give yourself time to enjoy it.
Another part of this ethos is the idea of being sustainable. Walking holidays, such as heading on 8-day trails with Orbis Ways along the Camino de Santiago network, is inherently sustainable as you’re on foot. Pushed even further, we can even argue that it’s less harmful than, say, using a metro in Rome 10 times a day to catch all the sites. Why? Because the metro is a part of their daily life to get to work, and we’re overcrowding it. Is it morally wrong? No. Are metros awesome? Yes.
But we should still celebrate walking the Via degli Dei (The Way of the Gods) from Bologna to Florence, where you’ll see many Roman leftovers, as being an essentially zero-impact way of traveling on local Italians. Well, not zero, you will likely be staying in eco-friendly rural homes along the way, supporting local produce and markets, and can even add to conservation efforts by reporting your sightings along the way. This isn’t to shame other ways of traveling but to point out that it couldn’t be any more sustainable.
Benefits of Slow Travel
Putting aside being mindful of the local communities and focusing on ourselves for a moment, the benefits of slow travel are plentiful. First and foremost, it’s far less stressful to have one goal of walking from A to B, than to juggle 6 different landmarks sequentially in an unknown city. You can feel that there are more hours in the day this way, not just because time will be slower, but because you’ll feel rejuvenated when you wake up.
Many of us are also disconnected from the small pleasures of daily life. Even when in a metropolis, sitting for an hour with just one coffee in a Parisian café can be profound. Watching the world go by, spotting patterns in behavior, absorbing the energy of the place. Deciding to take the morning off seeing things, and instead just aimlessly strolling until you get lost can lead to some great experiences.
Having this quiet time can also leave breathing space for self-reflection. It’s not just watching the world as a separate entity, but seeing how you fit into it, and what you really feel. Following someone else’s itinerary can make you feel like a passenger in your own car, going through the motions, but you’re not sure why. This is a drastically different experience to walking on a solitary country road in northern Scotland for four hours, and then a surprise country pub is sprung on you, where they’re serving food straight from the farm next door. As you go to sit at your table, you see the picture frames of past landlords, antique maps of the surrounding area, and an 1800s fox hunting horn. This is the museum!
Practical Tips for Embracing Slow Travel
The number one tip for slow travel is to organize a Camino de Santiago trail either yourself, or through a company like Orbis Ways. These will take the stresses of booking your accommodation from you, allowing you to slow down even more, with less logistical concerns. The other Camino de Santiago hikers that you will meet are also like-minded in how they’re either on a spiritual experience, nature-led, or simply want an adventure.
However, there’s nothing wrong with just winging it to some extent (though don’t be reckless in rural areas). When in a city, don’t be afraid of getting lost and asking for recommendations. You can organize a landmark sighting or two in either the morning or afternoon, but try to leave the other free. Always leave early too, giving you room to sit down at a bakery that catches your eye or time to ask the local theater what shows are on tonight. Ask yourself why are you in this city? Because if it’s just “to see it”, then there’s no better way than leisurely walking around aimlessly.
For more rural routes, try to do what you can on foot. Check that there are walking paths and pack enough water/food to ensure you can keep yourself going for most of the day. That way, you minimize rushing to keep yourself fed. The goal is to get rid of as many unnecessary logistical problems as possible.
Conclusion
There is absolutely no shame in trying to see 10 different “must see’s” in one day when booking a trip. But, at the end of the day, ask yourself if you really remember them, or if it was all a bit of a blur, because many people get overwhelmed when overdoing it in a single day. What is surprising, though, is just how many cultural experiences you will come across when walking between cities.
The slower travel ethos is also about sustainability, where we cut down on car dependency and popular city destination residents some breathing room. By prioritizing depth over speed, you should also remember much more of your travels, too.
