A guest on one of our Puglia cycling tours told us something that has stayed with us.
In previous years, he had always ridden hard, focusing on keeping pace with the fastest cyclists in the group. But on this tour, he made a conscious decision to do things differently.
Instead of focusing on his performance, he chose to settle in the back of the group. As a result, he noticed things he would normally have missed: animals in nearby fields, ancient sculptured olive trees lining quiet country roads, and everyday scenes unfolding in the villages we passed through. At the end of the tour, he told us it was one of his most enjoyable cycling experiences.
That conversation reinforced something we have come to believe after many years of cycling and living in Italy: slow travel isn’t about how fast you’re moving. It’s about how present you are.
If you’ve been on a couple of cycling tours before, or you’re interested in experiencing Italy a little differently, you might be wondering what slow travel actually means.
What is slow travel?
The concept of slow travel is closely linked to the broader philosophy of slow living. Like slow living, slow travel traces its roots back to Italy and the Slow Food movement, founded in 1989 by Italian activist Carlo Petrini.
What began as a response to fast food and fast-paced modern life evolved into a wider movement. It encourages people to slow down, be present, and engage more meaningfully with the world around them.
What does slow travel mean for cycling?
When it comes to cycling, slow travel isn’t necessarily about moving slowly or covering fewer kilometres.
For us, slow travel is a mindset. And it can happen both on and off the bike.
On the bike, it’s about riding at a comfortable pace and taking in the sights, scenes and sounds that unfold around you, rather than riding at a pace beyond where you’re comfortable, and with your head down.
Off the bike, it’s about embracing the Italian way of life: slowing down over a meal, wandering through a village, or simply taking the time to appreciate where you are.
Why Cycling in Italy is Perfect for Slow Travel
Cycling in italy is one of the perfect ways to experience slow travel. Not only because Italy is where it originated, but because it is naturally part of the culture.
1. It’s Part of Italy’s Culture
Living six months of the year in Italy and six months in Australia, one of the biggest differences we notice is Italy’s slower pace of life, particularly in the smaller villages and countryside. Life in Italy teaches you to slow down, take in and learn from the everyday. Italians generally accept that things take time. There is a cultural appreciation for enjoying the moment and being present.
You see this reflected in the rituals that are a part of everyday Italian life:
- Slow mornings, where work generally starts a little later.
- Time taken for lunch, where workers enjoy nearly two hours for lunch each day.
- The aperitivo, a pause between work, the day and dinner.
- The after-dinner passeggiata, where people go for a gentle walk to talk and digest.
From a cycling perspective, there’s much more tolerance between cars, motorbikes, and cyclists on the roads. We’ve found you generally feel safer as a result.
Each year as we travel and live between both countries, there’s a very real adjustment period for us to the pace of life and how each day unfolds – and it takes us some weeks to really settle into life in each country.
1. A Bike Allows You to Be Present
In Italy, there are picture perfect scenes nearly everywhere you look. The beauty of experiencing them by bike is that they aren’t just fleeting glimpses. Instead, these landscapes you become fully immersed in – taking in the sights, sounds and atmosphere.
What we’ve noticed over the years is that the riders who allow themselves to be present are often the ones who remember the details most vividly. They’re the ones who notice the changing colours of the landscape, the character of the villages they pass through, and the countless small moments that make travelling through Italy on a bike so memorable.
3. Italy Rewards Those Who Take Their Time
Italy has an extraordinary ability to reward those who take their time.
One moment you’re riding past a tiny medieval stone village perched on a Tuscan hilltop. Next, you’re pedalling beside ancient temples that have stood in Sicily for more than two thousand years. In spring, roads are framed by wildflowers in every colour imaginable. In autumn, the Tuscan countryside transforms into a patchwork of harvested fields, golden vineyards and rolling hills.
On a bike, you can experience these landscapes at a pace that allows you to truly absorb them.
Another slow travel experience is Colle di Fauniera in Piedmont, one of Damian’s favourite climbs. Unlike some of Italy’s other famous mountain climbs in Italy, this mountain is much quieter. It’s in this quiet that you can truly take in the scenes around you.
As Damian describes it, “the slow travel experience of climbing Fauniera is about how tiny, yet how alive you feel when you’re in such a majestic, grand, quiet and mesmerising landscape”.
For us, this is part of the magic of cycling in Italy.
4. You Can Decide on Your Approach
On our tours, we encourage riders to cycle at a pace that feels right for them.
Some riders enjoy pushing themselves on a challenging climb or on an open stretch of road, while others prefer to settle into a comfortable rhythm and take in the scenery and sounds around them. Neither approach is right or wrong. Both love the experience, they simply engage with it differently – and we support both types of riders. What matters is that you’re enjoying the experience in a way that feels meaningful to you.
We’ve also found that a rider’s approach can evolve as a tour unfolds.
Some guests arrive focused on their performance and a little anxious about how they’ll compare to other riders. But by day three or four, many realise that our tours aren’t about keeping up with anyone else. They’re about riding at your pace and enjoying the experience in the way that suits you best.
For some guests, that shift can happen over multiple tours. Many of our guests, particularly those returning for their second or third tour, tell us they’ve consciously chosen to embrace a slow travel mindset or a tour that is a little less challenging. Rather than feeling the need to ride flat-out or be challenged to their maximum level, they choose to ride at a level or on a tour that feels comfortable and allows them to fully enjoy the experience.
5. The Off The Bike Experiences
Slow travel doesn’t end when the ride does. For many guests, it’s just as much about the experiences off the bike: sharing regional food and wine, exploring small villages, learning about local traditions, and spending time in the piazza or by the pool with like-minded travellers.
The longer we spend cycling in Italy, the more convinced we become that slow travel has very little to do with speed: it’s about being present. And Italy has a remarkable way of rewarding those who want to take a moment to soak it all in. That’s why we think cycling in Italy is one of the best ways to travel.
If you want to learn more about our upcoming tours, see our Cycling Tour Calendar. Otherwise, if you need any help finding the tour for you, feel free to send us a WhatsApp message.
