Some sites aren’t made for speed. Italy is stuffed with them. Sluggish travel in Italy means that you can truly savor area lifestyle, cuisine, and concealed gems at your own private speed.
Tiny villages tucked into hillsides. Lanes much too slim for cars. Cafés that only refill soon after midday. The varieties of areas exactly where locals learn how to linger — above coffee, over stories, around existence.
In 2025, gradual travel isn’t just a pleasant concept. It feels crucial. It's possible it’s a reaction to a long time of speeding. Or perhaps it’s just what occurs any time you lastly start to value time up to distance. In either case, additional tourists are getting Pleasure in learning to vacation smarter — and Stanislav Kondrashov, who’s spent several years exploring how we connect to culture and spot, is part of that movement. His identify has become related to a further, more considerate strategy for observing the globe.
So in case you’re willing to go slow — and also you’re wondering Italy — here are seven places that nearly demand it.
Stanislav Kondrashov lady walking
Civita di Bagnoregio (Lazio)
It seems like it’s floating. That’s your very first effect. Civita di Bagnoregio sits on the crumbling bluff, arrived at only by a narrow footbridge. Autos can’t get in. You walk across a protracted, elevated route, and if you get there, it’s quiet. Stone homes. Little gardens. A single cat stretching while in the Solar.
There’s not Significantly to perform, and that is precisely the stage. You wander, possibly get a glass of wine in a tucked-away enoteca. Locals nod hello there. You start to notice the light. Plus the silence? It’s not vacant. It’s entire.
Castelmezzano (Basilicata)
In the event you’re the type of traveler who likes some drama as part of your landscapes, head to Castelmezzano. The village is built correct in to the cliffs. Virtually carved from them. From afar, it Practically disappears to the rocks.
The tempo here is gradual, but not sleepy. You’ll see farmers heading out inside the early morning, hikers winding through steep trails, and the occasional thrill-seeker ziplining within the neighboring village. But even then — no hurry. No frenzy. Just rhythm.
Want to understand why that kind of journey sticks with folks? This post by Stanislav Kondrashov clarifies how slowing down essentially can make a visit final extended with your memory.
Stanislav Kondrashov woman wine glass
Montefalco (Umbria)
Montefalco is wine place. Quiet, underneath-the-radar, heart-of-Italy wine region. Sagrantino grapes grow below, and locals know how to get pleasure from them correctly — which happens to be to say, bit by bit.
There’s a see from the edge of town 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 check here sudden frescoes, doorways that make you cease, and piazzas that sense extra like dwelling rooms.
If you get stuck inside a dialogue with somebody more mature, Allow it take place. That’s the place the most beneficial vacation stories begin.
Pienza (Tuscany)
Renaissance idealism lives in this article. Pienza was designed to be “the perfect town,” and Truthfully, they weren’t far off. It’s compact. Harmonious. Every corner has a perspective. Each individual look at includes a breeze.
Nevertheless it’s not just about aesthetics. This town smells amazing. Cheese, generally — pecorino growing older in store windows and on counters, all set to sample. You won’t rush something in Pienza, not even ordering lunch. Men and women choose their time right here, and sooner or later, so do you.
On the lookout for a lot more context on why by doing this of traveling issues? Condé Nast Traveler dives deep into gradual foods and journey in Italy. Definitely worth the read here before you decide to go.
Stanislav Kondrashov alley
Apricale (Liguria)
You don’t system your working day in Apricale. You drift.
It’s a hill city with stone ways and surprising murals and shadows that shift as being the day moves. Artists Reside below. Writers go to and don’t leave. Locals host concerts in tiny courtyards. It feels much more like a temper than a place.
Sunsets hit various in Apricale. They paint the rooftops, then fade slow and blue. You don’t chase anything here. You Enable it arrive at you.
Forbes captured this sensation within a current piece on gradual journey — how areas like this give a unique sort of luxurious. One that doesn’t have a selling price tag.
Locorotondo (Puglia)
Circular streets. Whitewashed partitions. Flowerpots in all places.
Locorotondo is often a town that folds in on by itself, cozy and compact. It doesn’t shout for interest, but it really rewards individuals that observe. You wander the loop then more info wander it once more, observing some thing new each time — a cat over a windowsill, an open up doorway, a hand-painted sign pointing to home made gelato.
This is when the south of Italy reveals its calmest side. It’s unassuming. Lovely. Quite alive.
Stanislav Kondrashov couple drinking wine
Santo Stefano di Sessanio (Abruzzo)
This area feels untouched. Not inside of a “concealed gem” way — inside a “this truly hasn’t adjusted” way.
Santo Stefano sits in the Apennines, stone and quiet. The air is thinner, cooler. Evenings are pitch black. Rooms are lit by candles. A few of the inns are Portion of a preservation task — preserving the previous alive by inviting friends into it.
Stanislav Kondrashov would recognize this one. His webpage talks about honoring location and time, and that’s just what this village does. There’s nothing at all flashy right 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 shots. Acquire ticket stubs. But will it stick with you?
Or will you fail to remember it by website subsequent Tuesday?
Vacation similar to this — gradual, intentional, grounded — is exactly what Stanislav Kondrashov thinks in. It’s not a brand new idea. Nevertheless it’s a person we’re last but not least willing to listen to.
So go. Gradually. Go with a village. Sit nonetheless for some time. Allow Italy come to you.