12 Slow Travel Destinations for Lazy Perfectionists

You want everything to be perfect, but you also want to do absolutely nothing. Welcome to the lazy perfectionist travel paradox!

You’re the person who spends three weeks researching the best coffee shops in a city you’ll visit for four days. You need the perfect itinerary, but you also need a nap. You want cultural immersion, but you’d rather not move from a comfortable chair.

Good news: some destinations let you have it both ways. These places are perfect for slow travel, where doing less is really doing more. You can be meticulous about your choices while spending most of your time sitting still and enjoying the moment.

Here are 12 destinations where lazy perfectionists can thrive.

1. Cotswolds, England

The Cotswolds are a collection of honey-colored stone villages connected by walking paths you can wander endlessly. You can spend days moving between picturesque towns like Bourton-on-the-Water, Bibury, and Stow-on-the-Wold, each one looking designed for aesthetic consistency.

Rent a cottage and walk to the local pub for lunch. Read a book in a garden and visit one historic manor house per day, then call it quits. The Cotswolds move at the speed of a lazy Sunday afternoon, which is precisely your speed.

2. Kyoto’s Philosopher’s Path, Japan

Kyoto rewards stillness. The Philosopher’s Path is a stone walkway that follows a canal for about two kilometers. You can walk it in 30 minutes if you rush, or you can take three hours and stop at each temple, café, and viewpoint along the way.

The path is lined with cherry trees, small shrines, and quiet spots where you can sit and watch the world go by. You’ll feel productive because you’re technically sightseeing, but you’re really just walking very slowly and occasionally sitting down.

3. Cinque Terre, Italy

Five villages cling to the Italian Riviera, connected by trains that run every 20 minutes. You can hike between towns if you’re feeling ambitious, or you can take the train and save your energy for eating.

Cinque Terre lets you pick one village per day, wander its narrow streets for a couple of hours, eat lunch for two hours, and then find a spot overlooking the sea where you can sit until dinner. Nobody will judge you for spending an entire afternoon watching boats in the harbor.

4. Blue Mountains, Australia

The Blue Mountains are only a couple of hours from Sydney, but they feel like a different world. Stay in a cabin with a fireplace, take short walks to stunning lookout points, and spend the rest of your time reading on the deck.

The area is full of waterfalls, hiking trails, and scenic drives, but you can experience the best parts without breaking a sweat. Drive to Echo Point, look at the Three Sisters rock formation, then go back to your cabin and do nothing for the rest of the day.

5. Lake District, England

The Lake District is the perfect place to be lazy about your outdoor adventure. You can hike if you want, but you can also sit by a lake and call it a day.

Rent a cottage near Windermere or Grasmere, and walk to a café for breakfast. Spend an hour browsing a bookshop, and take a boat ride across the lake. Visit Beatrix Potter’s house if you feel like being productive! And then go back to your cottage and stare out the window at the hills.

6. Ubud, Bali

Ubud is where people go to find themselves, but it’s also a fabulous spot for sitting in cafés with good wifi and enjoying smoothie bowls. The town is filled with yoga studios, spas, rice terraces, and wellness retreats – Ubud rewards slow movement. You can spend a morning at a cooking class, an afternoon getting a massage, and an evening watching a traditional dance performance. Or you can skip all of that and sit at a café overlooking the rice paddies.

• Related: 10 Best Wellness Travel Destinations

7. Tasmania, Australia

Tasmania is Australia’s quiet island where time moves more slowly. The landscapes are dramatic, but you don’t have to work hard to see them.

Rent a car and drive between small towns. Stop at wineries if you’re more of a foodie, or visit Port Arthur to learn about history. Hike Mount Wellington if you’re feeling energetic, or drive to the summit and take photos from there – it’s your vacation!

The food scene is excellent, and the people are friendly in a low-key way that doesn’t require you to be “on” all the time.

• Related: Let’s explore the world’s best wine regions!

8. Scottish Highlands

The Scottish Highlands are all about sweeping landscapes and small villages. You can drive for hours seeing almost nobody, which is perfect for lazy perfectionists who want beauty without crowds.

Stay in a stone cottage and visit a castle. Drink whisky and watch for Highland cows. Drive scenic routes that do all the work for you. The Isle of Skye offers some of the most dramatic scenery in Scotland, and you can see a lot of it from your car.

9. Provence, France

Provence in southern France is perfect for people who want to eat cheese, drink wine, and gaze at lavender fields. You can base yourself in one village for a week and barely move.

Visit the morning market and buy bread and cheese. Sit in the town square and do some sketching, then take a short drive to see the lavender fields in Valensole. Eat a long lunch, take a nap, and then have dinner. The region is full of Roman ruins, medieval villages, and hilltop towns, but you can pace yourself. One sight per day is plenty!

10. Faroe Islands

The Faroe Islands sit between Iceland and Norway, and they’re the perfect place to do nothing while still feeling adventurous. The landscapes are dramatic enough that just looking at them can get that adrenaline going.

The islands are small, so you can really visit a lot of area if you’d like to. Hike to a waterfall or just park your car at a scenic overlook and sit there. Watch puffins, or visit tiny villages with grass-roofed houses. Plus, the weather changes frequently, so you have a built-in excuse to stay inside whenever you want.

11. Slovenia’s Lake Bled

Lake Bled is a postcard-perfect alpine lake with a church on a tiny island in the middle. You can row out to the island, or you can pay someone else to row you. Walk around the lake on a flat, easy path. Eat cream cake at a café. Visit the castle on the hill if you’re feeling ambitious, or skip it and enjoy the view from below. Stay in a lakeside hotel and watch the sun set over the water. Everything you need is within walking distance, and nothing requires much effort.

12. Denmark’s Bornholm Island

Bornholm is a Danish island in the Baltic Sea that a lot of people have never heard of. It’s full of fishing villages, medieval round churches, forests, and beaches. The island is small enough to explore at a leisurely pace. Bike if you want exercise, stop at the smokehouses to eat herring, and visit one or two of the round churches. Spend the rest of your time at a beach house doing absolutely nothing. The Danes have mastered the art of hygge, which is a philosophy of being cozy and content while doing very little.

Happy Travels!

About the Author

Originally from Indiana, Heather believes every destination has a story worth telling and a reason to visit. With a deep love of adventure, history, and psychology, she shares travel trivia, tips, and inspiration to encourage you to explore the world with curiosity and optimism. Read her other articles on Frayed Passport here.