Slow Travel

Slow Travel - Spend a week in a vacation rental and see what is near you. Slow down, immerse yourself in the local culture and avoid the fast pace of rushing from one guidebook "must-see" to the next. A great way to travel! Read more about Slow Travel, explore our community, submit a review or share your trip or travel article with us.

News

Slow Tidings - Our Monthly Newsletter

Catch up with SlowTrav in our April issue of Slow Tidings, our monthly newsletter. Feel free to read past issues too!

We're on Facebook

Yes, along with Twitter, you can now follow our updates on Facebook, visit the SlowTrav page and Like us!

SlowTrav Sent Me Here!

Thanks again for all the amazing photos and stories you shared with us in our "Slow Trav Sent Me Here" contest, and for your votes in deciding the final outcome.

The Grand Prize winner, out of so many wonderful entries, is the photo of Slot Canyon in Page, Arizona, from Barbara (and Art).

Congratulations to the winner, who will receive an Amazon gift certificate. All the finalists receive free one-year premium memberships with Slow Trav.

We Our Heroes!

Periodically on Slow Travel Talk we like to acknowledge those who have contributed in special ways to our site - those the moderators feel have added valuable information and expertise, and who have made this a more interesting and valuable resource for our members.

This year, we would like to honor two such members:

GAC, who can be counted on to provide current and accurate information about public transportation in Italy - from trains to planes to buses to ferries, ensuring our readers are well prepared for travel.
Americana in Parigi, a repeat hero, who is always ready to share tips on where to stay, where to eat, where to shop, what to see, and more, in France and throughout Southern Europe - and Asia and more.

So our thanks to these two special Slow Travel members. Danke, merci, gracias, grazie, and THANKS.

Slow Travel Feature Photo of the Month

This photo is a runner-up in our SlowTrav Sent Me Here contest. It's from jgk and features Lerici, Italy.

See more travel photos posted by Slow Travelers.

Media Mentions

National Geographic Travel listed The Luberon Experience, owned and operated by our member Kaydee, as one of 2012's Tours of a Lifetime! Take a look at other tours by the Kaydee's company, European Experiences.

Living Better at 50 published an artcile from our member, Palma, Bringing Italy Home, where she extols the Italophiles she met through SlowTrav!

The Wall Street Journal Magazine published an article, Easy Rider, highlighting the different meanings of Slow Travel, our founder and one of our members are quoted.

How to Use this Website

If you can't find the information here or have a specific travel question, ask and meet other Slow Travelers in our forums.

Slow Travelers stay in vacation rentals around the world - apartments, villas, houses, cottages, cabins, condos that you rent by the week. Other terms used for these types of rentals are self-catering, tourist rentals, holiday rentals, holiday cottages, agritourism (Italy), Gites (France). Basing yourself in a vacation rental makes for a different, slower vacation. You stay longer in one place and get to know one area in depth. The extra time in a place lets you find a favorite coffee shop, get your groceries at the local stores, go to the weekly market - the things you would do if you lived there. Read more...

How to Use this Website: The Slow Travel website is a community of people who like to travel and experience new places. There are over 14,000 pages of great information to help you plan your trip!

First read the Europe Trip Planning section.
Over 8,500 reviews for vacation rentals, hotels and restaurant reviews, and over 650 trip reports (travelogues or journals) for each country. New reviews, trip reports and articles are added every week.
Postcards (short essays about travel).

Done with your trip? Come back and submit your own trip reports or reviews! You are also welcome to share your knowledge of any area or aspect of traveling by submitting a travel note!

Vacation rentals, hotels and travel information for Italy, France, England, Europe, North America. Plan your trip and learn more about Slow Travel.

Classified Listings

Classified Listings: Vacation rental agencies, listings by owner, hotels, B&Bs, travel consultants, tour guides, cooking schools, and more.

Who's Blogging Now

Many Slow Travelers are abroad or have just returned! Marcia is entertaining us with tales from Italy: Happy Trails to Us while Cindy and Eden are in Paris: Baked Alaska and Eden's Wanderings and Wonderings.

Traveling to Italy? Don't forget to check out Italy Transportation Strikes, an up to date list of all upcoming strikes affecting public transportation in Italy. Don't leave home without reading.

Our SlowTrav cooks are at it again! This time the challenge is seven home cooks. Fifty two weeks. Sharing one special weekly ingredient. With the Flavor Bible for reference, they will create 360 unique, fresh and seasonal dishes. Blogging every day, Flavors!

... more blogs

What's New?

Recent: Vacation Rental Reviews - Trip Reports

Recent Travel Articles

- France: Beautiful Bountiful Burgundy

- General Travel: Planning for Your Pets

- Italy: Where the Locals Go, Il Baluardo

- Window on Italy: An Unexpected Message

- Italy: Learning Italian at Lucca Italian School

- On the Land in Umbria: Road Trip to Cilento

- Italy: Rome to Naples via Train

... more of what's new

Favorite Webcams & Videos

Sorrento Webcam: Many of us are addicted to this fabulous webcam

Where the Hell is Matt? A wonderful video about the joy of travel

... more favorite webcams

Recommended Books

Europe on a Dime

Chow!Venice

Recent Forum Discussions

RSS feed - read more

Social Networks

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