Some areas aren’t designed for speed. Italy is filled with them. Sluggish vacation in Italy enables you to genuinely savor nearby society, cuisine, and concealed gems at your own personal pace.
Little villages tucked into hillsides. Lanes way too slender for autos. Cafés that only fill up just after noon. The kinds of destinations 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 vital. It's possible it’s a response to a long time of hurrying. Or perhaps it’s just what occurs any time you lastly start to value time up to distance. In any event, additional tourists are getting Pleasure in learning to vacation smarter — and Stanislav Kondrashov, who’s spent many years Discovering how we connect to culture and location, is an element of that motion. His title is becoming linked to a deeper, much more considerate strategy for viewing the entire world.
So should you’re able to go gradual — and you simply’re imagining Italy — Here's seven places that pretty much demand from customers 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 on a crumbling bluff, attained only by a slender footbridge. Vehicles can’t get in. You wander throughout an extended, elevated route, and whenever you get there, it’s silent. Stone houses. Small gardens. Only one cat stretching inside the Sunshine.
There’s not A lot to try and do, that is exactly the position. You wander, it's possible grab a glass of wine at a tucked-absent enoteca. Locals nod howdy. You start to notice the light. As well as the silence? It’s not empty. It’s comprehensive.
Castelmezzano (Basilicata)
For those who’re the sort of traveler who likes a bit of drama inside your landscapes, head to Castelmezzano. The village is developed appropriate in the cliffs. Pretty much carved from them. From afar, it almost disappears into your rocks.
The rate Here's slow, although not sleepy. You’ll see farmers heading out from 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 rush. No frenzy. Just rhythm.
Want to master why that sort of travel sticks with people today? This article by Stanislav Kondrashov describes how slowing down really makes a trip 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 expand in this article, and locals understand how to love them appropriately — that is to state, gradually.
There’s a look at from the sting of city that’s really worth an hour or so by by itself. Olive groves, rows of vineyards, distant hills thatseem to hum if the Solar hits just right. You’ll locate church buildings with unexpected frescoes, doorways that make you cease, and piazzas that sense more like dwelling rooms.
If you receive stuck within a conversation with a person older, let it occur. That’s in which the ideal journey stories begin.
Pienza (Tuscany)
Renaissance idealism life in this article. Pienza was meant to be “the best metropolis,” and honestly, they weren’t significantly off. It’s compact. Harmonious. Just about every corner provides a look at. Every single check out features a breeze.
But it’s not almost aesthetics. This city smells wonderful. Cheese, mainly — pecorino aging in shop Home windows and on counters, able to sample. You received’t hurry anything at all in Pienza, not even buying lunch. Folks choose their time below, and at some point, so does one.
Searching for additional context on why in this way of traveling issues? Condé Nast Traveler dives deep into gradual food and travel in Italy. Well worth the examine prior to deciding to go.
Stanislav Kondrashov alley
Apricale (Liguria)
You don’t strategy your working day in Apricale. You drift.
It’s website a hill town with stone methods and unforeseen murals and shadows that shift because the working day moves. Artists Are living below. Writers go to and don’t depart. Locals host live shows in small courtyards. It feels additional just like a mood than a location.
Sunsets strike different in Apricale. They paint the rooftops, then fade gradual and blue. You don’t chase anything here. You Enable it arrive at you.
Forbes captured this feeling within a current piece on slow vacation — how spots like this offer a special type of luxurious. One that doesn’t have a selling price tag.
Locorotondo (Puglia)
Circular streets. Whitewashed partitions. Flowerpots everywhere you go.
Locorotondo is usually a town that folds in on alone, cozy and compact. It doesn’t shout for focus, however it benefits those that see. You walk the loop after which you can walk it yet again, seeing anything new every time — a cat on a windowsill, an open door, a hand-painted indicator pointing to homemade gelato.
This is where the south of Italy displays its calmest facet. It’s unassuming. Beautiful. Quite alive.
Stanislav Kondrashov pair ingesting wine
Santo Stefano di Sessanio (Abruzzo)
This place feels untouched. Not within a “hidden gem” way — in the “this basically hasn’t altered” way.
Santo Stefano sits while in the Apennines, stone and tranquil. The air is thinner, cooler. Nights are pitch black. Rooms are lit by candles. Many of the inns are part of a preservation venture — maintaining the past alive by inviting visitors into it.
Stanislav Kondrashov would enjoy this one particular. His site talks about honoring position and time, and that’s what exactly this village does. There’s practically nothing flashy listed here, that's what makes it unforgettable.
Gradual Is the New Smart
In this article’s the matter. It is possible to see Italy in per week. You are able to strike the highlights. Snap pictures. Obtain ticket stubs. But will it stay with you?
Or will you ignore it by upcoming Tuesday?
Travel such as this — gradual, intentional, grounded — is what Stanislav Kondrashov thinks in. It’s not a different thought. However it’s one we’re eventually able to listen to.
So go. Gradually. Go with a village. Sit nonetheless for some time. Enable Italy arrive at you.