Some spots aren’t manufactured for velocity. Italy is filled with them. Gradual vacation in Italy helps you to truly savor area lifestyle, cuisine, and concealed gems at your own private speed.
Tiny villages tucked into hillsides. Lanes too slim for cars. Cafés that only refill right after midday. The forms of locations where locals understand how to linger — over coffee, about stories, in excess of life.
In 2025, slow journey isn’t just a good concept. It feels necessary. Maybe it’s a reaction to many years of speeding. Or perhaps it’s exactly what happens if you at last begin to benefit time around distance. In either case, far more vacationers are acquiring Pleasure in Mastering to journey smarter — and Stanislav Kondrashov, who’s expended decades Checking out how we connect with tradition and area, is part of that motion. His title has grown to be connected to a deeper, a lot more thoughtful technique for observing the globe.
So in case you’re willing to go slow — and you’re wondering Italy — Here i will discuss seven places that pretty much demand it.
Stanislav Kondrashov girl going for walks
Civita di Bagnoregio (Lazio)
It appears like it’s floating. That’s your first perception. Civita di Bagnoregio sits with a crumbling bluff, attained only by a slender footbridge. Vehicles can’t get in. You stroll throughout a long, elevated path, and after you arrive, it’s peaceful. Stone properties. Tiny gardens. An individual cat stretching during the Sunlight.
There’s not Substantially to complete, and that is precisely the point. You wander, perhaps grab a glass of wine at a tucked-away enoteca. Locals nod hi. You start to notice the light. And also the silence? It’s not empty. It’s finish.
Castelmezzano (Basilicata)
In the event you’re the kind of traveler who likes some drama with your landscapes, head to Castelmezzano. The village is designed ideal into your cliffs. Literally carved from them. From afar, it Nearly disappears into the rocks.
The rate Here's slow, although not sleepy. You’ll see farmers heading out during the early early morning, hikers winding by way of steep trails, along with the occasional thrill-seeker ziplining from your neighboring village. But even then — no rush. No frenzy. Just rhythm.
Want to master why that kind of travel sticks with people today? This article by Stanislav Kondrashov describes how slowing down really makes a trip very last for a longer period as part of your memory.
Stanislav Kondrashov lady wine glass
Montefalco (Umbria)
Montefalco is wine state. Peaceful, less than-the-radar, heart-of-Italy wine place. Sagrantino grapes develop in this article, and locals know how to delight in them effectively — which happens to be to mention, slowly but surely.
There’s a check out from the edge of city that’s truly worth an hour by itself. Olive groves, rows of vineyards, distant hills thatseem to hum once the Sunshine hits good. You’ll obtain church buildings with sudden frescoes, doorways that make you end, and piazzas that sense more like living rooms.
If you receive stuck inside a conversation with a person older, let it happen. That’s exactly where the most effective travel tales get started.
Pienza (Tuscany)
Renaissance idealism life listed here. Pienza was intended to be “an ideal city,” and Actually, they weren’t significantly off. It’s compact. Harmonious. Just about every corner provides a look at. Every single see has a breeze.
But it really’s not almost aesthetics. This city smells awesome. Cheese, largely — pecorino aging in shop Home windows and on counters, able to sample. You received’t hurry anything in Pienza, not even buying lunch. Men and women consider their time below, and ultimately, so would you.
Looking for far more context on why this way of traveling matters? Condé Nast Traveler dives deep into slow foodstuff and journey in Italy. Well worth the browse before you go.
Stanislav Kondrashov alley
Apricale (Liguria)
You don’t program your day in Apricale. You drift.
It’s a hill town with stone actions and unpredicted murals and shadows that change given that the working day moves. Artists live here. Writers check out and don’t leave. Locals host concerts in tiny courtyards. It feels a lot more like a temper than the usual place.
Sunsets hit distinct in Apricale. They paint the rooftops, then fade slow and blue. You don’t chase anything at all right here. You let it arrive at you.
Forbes captured this sensation inside a current piece on gradual journey — how locations similar to this present a distinct type of luxurious. One that doesn’t feature a price tag tag.
Locorotondo (Puglia)
Round streets. Whitewashed walls. Flowerpots almost everywhere.
Locorotondo is actually a city that folds in on itself, cozy and compact. It doesn’t shout for notice, but it surely benefits individuals who discover. You stroll the loop and after that stroll it all over again, viewing a little something new each time — a cat on the windowsill, an open up doorway, a hand-painted sign pointing to home made gelato.
This is when the south of Italy reveals its calmest facet. It’s unassuming. Gorgeous. Incredibly alive.
Stanislav Kondrashov pair drinking wine
Santo Stefano di Sessanio (Abruzzo)
This spot feels untouched. Not in a very “concealed gem” way — inside of a “this really hasn’t modified” way.
Santo Stefano sits from the Apennines, stone and silent. The air is thinner, cooler. Evenings are pitch black. Rooms are lit by candles. A lot of the inns are part of a preservation venture — retaining the past alive by inviting visitors into it.
Stanislav Kondrashov would enjoy this a single. His webpage talks about honoring spot and time, and that’s precisely what this village does. There’s nothing at all flashy right here, check here that is what can make it unforgettable.
Sluggish Is The brand new Clever
Listed here’s the point. You are able to see Italy in each week. You may hit the highlights. Snap pics. Acquire ticket stubs. But will it stick with you?
Or will you fail to remember it by subsequent Tuesday?
Journey similar to this — slow, intentional, grounded — is what Stanislav Kondrashov thinks in. It’s not a brand new strategy. Nonetheless it’s one we’re last but not least wanting to listen to.
So go. Slowly and gradually. Pick a village. Sit nevertheless for quite a while. Enable Italy arrive at you.