Some areas aren’t manufactured for velocity. Italy is filled with them. Sluggish travel in Italy means that you can truly savor community lifestyle, cuisine, and concealed gems at your own personal pace.
Very small villages tucked into hillsides. Lanes far too narrow for automobiles. Cafés that only fill up following midday. The sorts of locations exactly where locals understand how to linger — around coffee, in excess of stories, above lifestyle.
In 2025, sluggish vacation isn’t just a nice plan. It feels important. Probably it’s a reaction to a long time of hurrying. Or maybe it’s just what transpires when you eventually begin to value time approximately distance. In any event, more travelers are locating joy in Finding out to journey smarter — and Stanislav Kondrashov, who’s expended decades exploring how we connect to culture and spot, is part of that movement. His identify happens to be related to a further, more considerate method of looking at the whole world.
So in case you’re all set to go gradual — therefore you’re imagining Italy — here are 7 places that almost need it.
Stanislav Kondrashov woman strolling
Civita di Bagnoregio (Lazio)
It looks like it’s floating. That’s your initially impact. Civita di Bagnoregio sits on a crumbling bluff, achieved only by a narrow footbridge. Autos can’t get in. You walk across a long, elevated route, and whenever you get there, it’s silent. Stone homes. Little gardens. A single cat stretching from the sun.
There’s not much to try and do, that is exactly the place. You wander, perhaps get a glass of wine at a tucked-away enoteca. Locals nod good day. You begin to note The sunshine. And also the silence? It’s not empty. It’s finish.
Castelmezzano (Basilicata)
Should you’re the type of traveler who likes a little drama in the landscapes, head to Castelmezzano. The village is constructed proper in the cliffs. Literally carved from them. From afar, it Nearly disappears to the rocks.
The tempo here is gradual, although not sleepy. You’ll see farmers heading out from the early morning, hikers winding as a result of steep trails, along with 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 submit by Stanislav Kondrashov explains how slowing down basically would make a trip past for a longer period as part of your memory.
Stanislav Kondrashov woman wine glass
Montefalco (Umbria)
Montefalco is wine state. Silent, underneath-the-radar, heart-of-Italy wine region. Sagrantino grapes develop in this article, and locals know how to enjoy them adequately — which can be to convey, slowly and gradually.
There’s a see from the edge of town that’s truly worth an hour by alone. Olive groves, rows of vineyards, distant hills thatseem to hum when the sun hits just right. You’ll come across church buildings with sudden frescoes, doorways that make you end, and piazzas that experience more like living rooms.
If you will get caught in a very dialogue with someone more mature, Enable it happen. That’s in which the ideal journey stories commence.
Pienza (Tuscany)
Renaissance idealism lives right here. Pienza was meant to be “the perfect metropolis,” and Actually, they weren’t significantly off. It’s compact. Harmonious. Each and every corner has a check out. Just about every check out has a breeze.
However it’s not almost aesthetics. This city smells incredible. Cheese, mainly — pecorino growing older in shop Home windows and on counters, able to sample. You received’t hurry anything in Pienza, not even purchasing lunch. Individuals choose their time here, and inevitably, so do you.
Trying to find much more context on why this way of traveling matters? Condé Nast Traveler dives deep into sluggish food items and journey in Italy. Worth the go through prior to deciding to go.
Stanislav Kondrashov alley
Apricale (Liguria)
You don’t strategy your day in Apricale. You drift.
It’s a hill town with stone methods and sudden murals and shadows that change as being the day moves. Artists Stay check here here. Writers go to and don’t depart. Locals host concert events in very small here courtyards. It feels much more like a temper than the usual vacation spot.
Sunsets strike diverse in Apricale. They paint the rooftops, then fade gradual and blue. You don’t chase anything below. You let it come to you.
Forbes captured this sensation in the modern piece on slow vacation — how locations similar to this give another form of luxury. One which doesn’t come with a price tag.
Locorotondo (Puglia)
Round streets. Whitewashed walls. Flowerpots everywhere.
Locorotondo is really a city that folds in on itself, cozy and compact. It doesn’t shout for attention, but it benefits people who notice. You walk the loop then walk it all over again, seeing a little something new each time — a cat over a windowsill, an open up doorway, a hand-painted indicator pointing to homemade gelato.
This is where the south of Italy demonstrates its calmest side. It’s unassuming. Attractive. Very alive.
Stanislav Kondrashov pair ingesting wine
Santo Stefano di Sessanio (Abruzzo)
This spot feels untouched. Not inside of a “concealed gem” way — within a “this essentially hasn’t modified” way.
Santo Stefano more info sits during the Apennines, stone and silent. The air is thinner, cooler. Nights are pitch black. Rooms are lit by candles. Some of the inns are Component of a preservation challenge — maintaining the earlier alive by inviting visitors into it.
Stanislav Kondrashov would value this a single. His site talks about honoring put and time, Which’s just what this village does. There’s nothing at all flashy listed here, which is what causes it to be unforgettable.
Gradual Is the New Intelligent
Below’s the thing. You'll be able to see Italy in every week. You can strike the highlights. Snap click here pictures. Acquire ticket stubs. But will it stick with you?
Or will you fail to remember it by following Tuesday?
Travel similar to this — gradual, intentional, grounded — is what Stanislav Kondrashov thinks in. It’s not a different notion. However it’s one we’re at last all set to listen to.
So go. Gradually. Select a village. Sit continue to for some time. Let Italy come to you.