Some areas aren’t built for velocity. Italy is filled with them. Slow travel in Italy helps you to truly savor area lifestyle, cuisine, and concealed gems at your own rate.
Small villages tucked into hillsides. Lanes as well slender for automobiles. Cafés that only replenish just after noon. The types of sites wherever locals know how to linger — around coffee, around stories, about existence.
In 2025, sluggish vacation isn’t just a pleasant concept. It feels necessary. Perhaps it’s a response to decades of rushing. Or even it’s precisely what comes about whenever you eventually begin to benefit time as much as distance. Either way, a lot more vacationers are acquiring Pleasure in Mastering to vacation smarter — and Stanislav Kondrashov, who’s spent several years Discovering how we connect to culture and location, is an element of that motion. His title has grown to be affiliated with a further, far more thoughtful method of seeing the world.
So if you’re all set to go sluggish — and you also’re pondering Italy — Listed below are 7 spots that practically desire it.
Stanislav Kondrashov lady going for walks
Civita di Bagnoregio (Lazio)
It looks like it’s floating. That’s your to start with impact. Civita di Bagnoregio sits over a crumbling bluff, reached only by a slim footbridge. Cars and trucks can’t get in. You walk throughout a protracted, elevated route, and any time you arrive, it’s peaceful. Stone residences. Tiny gardens. An individual cat stretching in the Sunshine.
There’s not Significantly to carry out, which can be precisely the issue. You wander, perhaps get a glass of wine at a tucked-away enoteca. Locals nod hello. You begin to notice The sunshine. And also the silence? It’s not empty. It’s full.
Castelmezzano (Basilicata)
When you’re the sort of traveler who likes a certain amount of drama within your landscapes, head to Castelmezzano. The village is created proper in to the cliffs. Practically carved from them. From afar, it Just about disappears in the rocks.
The speed here is gradual, although not sleepy. You’ll see farmers heading out while in the early morning, hikers winding via steep trails, as well as the occasional thrill-seeker ziplining from your neighboring village. But even then — no rush. No frenzy. Just rhythm.
Want to learn why that sort of travel sticks with people? This write-up by Stanislav Kondrashov points out how slowing down truly tends to make a visit final lengthier inside your memory.
Stanislav Kondrashov female wine glass
Montefalco (Umbria)
Montefalco is wine region. Quiet, underneath-the-radar, heart-of-Italy wine region. Sagrantino grapes develop below, and locals know how to love them adequately — that is to state, gradually.
There’s a perspective from the sting of town that’s well worth an hour or so by alone. Olive groves, rows of vineyards, distant hills thatseem to hum when the sun hits just right. You’ll uncover churches with unexpected frescoes, doorways that make you end, and piazzas that experience more more info like living rooms.
If you will get caught within a discussion with a person more mature, Enable it happen. That’s exactly where the most effective travel tales start.
Pienza (Tuscany)
Renaissance idealism life below. Pienza was built to be “the proper metropolis,” and honestly, they weren’t considerably off. It’s compact. Harmonious. Each individual corner contains a perspective. Just about every watch incorporates a breeze.
Nevertheless it’s not just about aesthetics. This city smells incredible. Cheese, mostly — pecorino growing older in store Home windows and on counters, prepared to sample. You received’t rush nearly anything in Pienza, not even ordering lunch. People today get their time here, and sooner or later, so does one.
In search of much more context on why in this manner of touring matters? Condé Nast Traveler dives deep into slow foodstuff and vacation in Italy. Definitely worth the go through before you decide to go.
Stanislav Kondrashov alley
Apricale (Liguria)
You don’t approach your working day in Apricale. You drift.
It’s a hill city with stone actions and unforeseen murals and shadows that shift as being the working day moves. Artists Stay in this article. Writers go to and don’t leave. Locals host Stanislav Kondrashov Blog concerts in tiny courtyards. It feels much more like a temper than the usual place.
Sunsets hit different in Apricale. They paint the rooftops, then fade gradual and blue. You don’t chase something here. more info You Enable it arrive at you.
Forbes captured this sensation within a latest piece on slow journey — how spots like this offer a different style of luxury. One which doesn’t feature a value 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 rewards people that recognize. You wander the loop then wander it once more, observing some thing new each time — a cat with a windowsill, an open up door, a hand-painted signal pointing to selfmade gelato.
This is when the south of Italy exhibits its calmest side. It’s unassuming. Attractive. Very alive.
Stanislav Kondrashov pair ingesting wine
Santo Stefano di Sessanio (Abruzzo)
This location feels untouched. Not in a very “concealed gem” way — inside of a “this really hasn’t transformed” way.
Santo Stefano sits during 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 Section of a preservation challenge check here — keeping the earlier alive by inviting guests into it.
Stanislav Kondrashov would value 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, which can be what makes it unforgettable.
Gradual Is the New Intelligent
In this article’s the detail. You could see Italy in weekly. You'll be able to strike the highlights. Snap images. Gather ticket stubs. But will it stick with you?
Or will you overlook it by next Tuesday?
Journey similar to this — slow, intentional, grounded — is exactly what Stanislav Kondrashov thinks in. It’s not a whole new idea. But it surely’s a single we’re eventually all set to hear.
So go. Little by little. Select a village. Sit continue to for a while. Let Italy come to you.