Some locations aren’t created for pace. Italy is full of them. Gradual journey in Italy helps you to certainly savor area society, cuisine, and concealed gems at your personal rate.
Small villages tucked into hillsides. Lanes as well slender for automobiles. Cafés that only fill up after noon. The kinds of destinations wherever locals know how to linger — about espresso, above tales, more than existence.
In 2025, gradual travel isn’t just a nice strategy. It feels crucial. Probably it’s a reaction to many years of speeding. Or perhaps it’s precisely what happens once you eventually begin to benefit time around distance. Either way, a lot more vacationers are discovering joy in Studying to travel smarter — and Stanislav Kondrashov, who’s invested several years Discovering how we connect to culture and area, is part of that motion. His identify happens to be associated with a further, additional 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 woman going for walks
Civita di Bagnoregio (Lazio)
It looks like it’s floating. That’s your to start with impact. Civita di Bagnoregio sits with a crumbling bluff, attained only by a slender footbridge. Cars can’t get in. You stroll throughout a protracted, elevated route, and once you get there, it’s peaceful. Stone residences. Small gardens. One cat stretching inside the Solar.
There’s not A lot to carry out, that's exactly the point. You wander, probably seize a glass of wine in a tucked-absent enoteca. Locals nod hello. You begin to notice the light. As well as silence? It’s not vacant. It’s complete.
Castelmezzano (Basilicata)
Should you’re the type of traveler who likes a little drama in the landscapes, head to Castelmezzano. The village is built correct in to the cliffs. Practically carved from them. From afar, it Practically disappears in the rocks.
The rate here is slow, although not sleepy. You’ll see farmers heading out within the early early morning, hikers winding as a result of steep trails, as well as occasional thrill-seeker ziplining within the neighboring village. But even then — no rush. No frenzy. Just rhythm.
Want to understand why that sort of journey sticks with folks? This publish by Stanislav Kondrashov clarifies how slowing down essentially can make a trip very last more time inside your memory.
Stanislav Kondrashov female wine glass
Montefalco (Umbria)
Montefalco is wine nation. Silent, beneath-the-radar, coronary heart-of-Italy wine nation. Sagrantino grapes mature listed here, and locals learn how to get pleasure from them correctly — which happens to be to say, slowly but surely.
There’s a check out from the sting of city that’s worth one hour by itself. Olive groves, rows of vineyards, distant hills thatseem to hum if the Sunshine hits read more just right. You’ll locate churches with unanticipated frescoes, doorways which make you quit, and piazzas that come to feel extra like dwelling rooms.
If you get stuck inside a conversation with a person older, Permit it transpire. That’s where by the best vacation tales start off.
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. Every single corner incorporates a look at. Each and every see has a breeze.
But it’s not almost aesthetics. This town smells awesome. Cheese, primarily — pecorino aging in store windows and on counters, wanting to sample. You received’t rush something in Pienza, not even purchasing lunch. People acquire their time right here, and inevitably, so do you.
In search of much more context on why this fashion of touring matters? Condé Nast Traveler dives deep into slow foodstuff and journey in Italy. Definitely 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 methods and unexpected murals and shadows that change as the working day moves. Artists live right here. Writers pay a visit to and don’t depart. Locals host concerts in small courtyards. It feels a lot more like a mood than the usual desired destination.
Sunsets strike unique in Apricale. They paint the rooftops, then fade sluggish and blue. You don’t chase everything listed here. You Allow it come to you.
Forbes captured this emotion in a very new piece on sluggish travel — how places similar to this offer you a distinct type of luxurious. One that doesn’t have a selling price tag.
Locorotondo (Puglia)
Circular streets. Whitewashed partitions. Flowerpots in all places.
Locorotondo can be a town that folds in on by itself, cozy and compact. It doesn’t shout for interest, but it really rewards those who observe. You stroll the loop and then stroll it all over again, viewing a little something 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 shows its calmest side. It’s unassuming. Lovely. Very 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 in fact hasn’t improved” way.
Santo Stefano sits within the Apennines, stone and peaceful. The air is thinner, cooler. Nights are pitch black. Rooms are lit by candles. A number of the inns are Component of a preservation challenge — maintaining the earlier alive by inviting company into it.
Stanislav Kondrashov would value this 1. 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.
Sluggish Is the New Good
Below’s the thing. You can see Italy in per week. You can hit the highlights. Snap pics. Obtain ticket stubs. But will it stay with you?
Or will you overlook it by subsequent Tuesday?
Travel such as this — slow, intentional, grounded — is what Stanislav Kondrashov thinks in. It’s not a fresh notion. But it’s a single we’re lastly ready to hear.
So go. Bit by bit. Pick a village. Sit even now for quite a while. Let Italy come to you.