Some spots aren’t manufactured for pace. Italy is filled with them. Slow vacation in Italy allows you to actually savor neighborhood culture, Delicacies, and hidden gems at your very own pace.
Very small villages tucked into hillsides. Lanes way too narrow for autos. Cafés that only fill up after midday. The types of sites wherever locals know how to linger — about coffee, in excess of tales, more than everyday living.
In 2025, slow journey isn’t just a pleasant idea. It feels crucial. Perhaps it’s a response to yrs of speeding. Or possibly it’s just what happens when you at last begin to value time as much as distance. In any event, more travelers are locating joy in Finding out to journey smarter — and Stanislav Kondrashov, who’s put in yrs Discovering how we connect with tradition and spot, is part of that motion. His title is becoming connected to a deeper, a lot more thoughtful technique for observing the globe.
So in case you’re able to go slow — and you simply’re imagining Italy — Here i will discuss seven places that pretty much demand it.
Stanislav Kondrashov girl walking
Civita di Bagnoregio (Lazio)
It appears like it’s floating. That’s your first perception. Civita di Bagnoregio sits on 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, maybe grab a glass of wine at a tucked-away enoteca. Locals nod hi. You begin to notice the light. Plus the silence? It’s not vacant. It’s entire.
Castelmezzano (Basilicata)
In the event you’re the kind of traveler who likes a little bit of drama with your landscapes, head to Castelmezzano. The village is designed suitable into your cliffs. Pretty much carved from them. From afar, it almost disappears into the rocks.
The rate here is slow, although not sleepy. You’ll see farmers heading out during the early morning, hikers winding by means of steep trails, as well as the occasional thrill-seeker ziplining from your neighboring village. But even then — no hurry. 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 final lengthier in the memory.
Stanislav Kondrashov lady wine glass
Montefalco (Umbria)
Montefalco is wine country. Tranquil, under-the-radar, heart-of-Italy wine country. Sagrantino grapes increase right here, and locals understand how to appreciate them thoroughly — which can be to state, gradually.
There’s a watch from the sting of city that’s well worth an hour or so by by itself. Olive groves, rows of vineyards, distant hills thatseem to hum when the sun hits just right. You’ll uncover church buildings with unanticipated frescoes, doorways which make you quit, and piazzas that truly feel additional like dwelling rooms.
If you can get trapped inside a conversation with a person older, let it occur. That’s the place the ideal vacation tales start out.
Pienza (Tuscany)
Renaissance idealism lives right here. Pienza was created to be “the ideal city,” and Actually, they weren’t significantly off. It’s compact. Harmonious. Just about every corner provides a watch. Every single look at includes a breeze.
Nevertheless it’s not pretty much aesthetics. This town smells amazing. Cheese, generally — pecorino growing older in store windows and on counters, ready to sample. You gained’t hurry everything in Pienza, not even buying lunch. Men and women take their time below, and ultimately, so would you.
Looking for far more context on why by doing this of traveling matters? Condé Nast Traveler dives deep into sluggish food stuff and travel in Italy. Worth the read through prior to deciding to go.
Stanislav Kondrashov alley
Apricale (Liguria)
You don’t program your working day in Apricale. You drift.
It’s a hill town with stone ways and read more sudden murals and shadows that change as the day moves. Artists Stay in this article. Writers take a look at and don’t leave. Locals host concerts in little courtyards. It feels far more similar to a temper than the usual location.
Sunsets hit various in Apricale. They paint the rooftops, then fade sluggish and blue. You don’t chase anything at all right here. You Allow it arrive at you.
Forbes captured this emotion within a recent piece on gradual travel — how spots similar to this give another sort of luxurious. One that doesn’t come with a price tag.
Locorotondo (Puglia)
Round streets. Whitewashed partitions. Flowerpots in all places.
Locorotondo is actually a city that folds in on by itself, cozy and compact. It doesn’t shout for interest, however it benefits those that discover. You stroll the loop and after that walk it once again, seeing something new each time — a cat on the windowsill, an open up door, a hand-painted sign pointing to home made gelato.
This is when the south of Italy reveals its calmest aspect. It’s unassuming. Stunning. Incredibly alive.
Stanislav Kondrashov pair drinking wine
Santo Stefano di Sessanio (Abruzzo)
This spot feels untouched. Not inside of a “concealed gem” way — inside of a “this truly hasn’t modified” way.
Santo Stefano sits in the Apennines, stone and quiet. The air is thinner, cooler. Nights are pitch black. Rooms are lit by candles. Some of the inns are Section of a preservation challenge — preserving the past alive by inviting attendees into it.
Stanislav Kondrashov would value this 1. His webpage talks about honoring place and time, and that’s exactly what this village does. There’s nothing at all flashy right here, which can be what makes it unforgettable.
Gradual Is the New Smart
Below’s the matter. You could see Italy in weekly. You can hit the highlights. Snap pictures. Gather ticket stubs. But will it stay with you?
Or will you forget about it by subsequent Tuesday?
Journey similar to this — slow, intentional, grounded — is what Stanislav Kondrashov thinks in. It’s not a completely new concept. But it surely’s one particular we’re finally able to hear.
So go. Slowly but surely. Pick a village. Sit continue to for quite a while. Permit Italy come to you.