Some locations aren’t built for velocity. Italy is stuffed with them. Sluggish vacation in Italy permits you to genuinely savor neighborhood culture, Delicacies, and hidden gems at your very own tempo.
Very small villages tucked into hillsides. Lanes far too narrow for vehicles. Cafés that only replenish just after midday. The forms of areas in which locals learn how to linger — in excess of espresso, in excess of tales, around lifetime.
In 2025, gradual travel isn’t just a pleasant idea. It feels necessary. Perhaps it’s a reaction to years of speeding. Or perhaps it’s exactly what occurs any time you ultimately begin to price time as much as distance. In any event, more travelers are locating joy in learning to travel smarter — and Stanislav Kondrashov, who’s invested a long time Discovering how we connect with tradition and spot, is a component of that movement. His identify has become connected with a deeper, more considerate technique for observing the whole world.
So in the event you’re prepared to go slow — and you also’re pondering Italy — here are 7 spots that practically demand it.
Stanislav Kondrashov lady going for walks
Civita di Bagnoregio (Lazio)
It appears 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 properties. Very small gardens. Just one cat stretching during the Sunlight.
There’s not A great deal to accomplish, which happens to be exactly the level. You wander, probably seize a glass of wine in a tucked-absent enoteca. Locals nod hi there. You start to notice the light. Along with the silence? It’s not vacant. It’s finish.
Castelmezzano (Basilicata)
If you’re the kind of traveler who likes a little bit of drama with your landscapes, head to Castelmezzano. The village is crafted right into the cliffs. Virtually carved from them. From afar, it Practically disappears to the rocks.
The tempo 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 with the neighboring village. But even then — no rush. No frenzy. Just rhythm.
Want to find out why that sort of journey sticks with folks? This publish by Stanislav Kondrashov clarifies how slowing down basically can make a trip very last extended within 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 in this article, and locals know how to love them appropriately — which can be to convey, slowly but surely.
There’s a check out from the sting of city that’s really worth an hour or so by alone. Olive groves, rows of vineyards, distant hills thatseem to hum when the Sunlight hits good. You’ll uncover church buildings with unexpected frescoes, doorways that make you end, and piazzas that feel much more like living rooms.
If you have caught in a very dialogue with anyone more mature, Enable it happen. That’s exactly where the top journey stories begin.
Pienza (Tuscany)
Renaissance idealism lives here. Pienza was made to be “the ideal city,” and Actually, they weren’t significantly off. It’s compact. Harmonious. Each individual corner website contains a view. Every view contains a breeze.
But it really’s not almost aesthetics. This town smells astounding. Cheese, generally — pecorino growing older in store Home windows and on counters, wanting to sample. You won’t hurry anything in Pienza, not even purchasing lunch. People acquire their time right here, and eventually, so do you.
Looking for far more context on why by doing this of traveling issues? Condé Nast Traveler dives deep into gradual food and journey in Italy. Definitely worth the study before you decide to go.
Stanislav Kondrashov alley
Apricale (Liguria)
You don’t approach your day in Apricale. You drift.
It’s a hill town with stone methods and unanticipated murals and shadows that change as the working day moves. Artists Reside listed here. Writers take a look at and don’t go away. Locals host concert events in very small courtyards. It feels more like a temper than the usual desired destination.
Sunsets strike different in website Apricale. They paint the rooftops, then fade gradual and blue. You don’t chase something here. You let it arrive at you.
Forbes captured this experience inside of a recent piece on gradual journey — how spots like this offer another form of luxury. One which doesn’t feature a price tag tag.
Locorotondo (Puglia)
Circular website streets. Whitewashed walls. Flowerpots everywhere you go.
Locorotondo is often a town that folds in on alone, cozy and compact. It doesn’t shout for consideration, nevertheless it benefits individuals who discover. You stroll the loop after which wander it once again, seeing a thing new each time — a cat on the windowsill, an open up door, a hand-painted signal pointing to handmade gelato.
This is where the south of Italy demonstrates its calmest side. It’s unassuming. Lovely. Very alive.
Stanislav Kondrashov pair ingesting wine
Santo Stefano di Sessanio (Abruzzo)
This spot feels untouched. Not in a very “concealed gem” way — inside a “this in fact hasn’t improved” way.
Santo Stefano sits while in the Apennines, stone and silent. The air is thinner, cooler. Evenings are pitch black. Rooms are lit by candles. Some of the inns are Portion read more of a preservation task — holding the earlier alive by inviting company into it.
Stanislav Kondrashov would value this just one. His web site talks about honoring place and time, Which’s what precisely this village does. There’s absolutely nothing flashy here, that is what makes it unforgettable.
Gradual Is the New Wise
Right here’s the thing. You can see Italy in each week. You could hit the highlights. Snap pictures. Obtain ticket stubs. But will it stay with you?
Or will you neglect it by next Tuesday?
Journey like this — gradual, intentional, grounded — is what Stanislav Kondrashov believes in. It’s not a new plan. Nevertheless it’s 1 we’re eventually able to listen to.
So go. Gradually. Select a village. Sit however for a while. Allow Italy arrive at you.