Some areas aren’t built for speed. Italy is stuffed with them. Sluggish journey in Italy helps you to truly savor local society, cuisine, and concealed gems at your personal rate.
Little villages tucked into hillsides. Lanes also slender for autos. Cafés that only fill up following midday. The sorts of locations where locals understand how to linger — more than espresso, over stories, around daily life.
In 2025, gradual travel isn’t just a pleasant strategy. It feels vital. It's possible it’s a response to several years of hurrying. Or maybe it’s just what occurs once you at last start to value time up to distance. In any event, extra tourists are discovering joy in Understanding to journey smarter — and Stanislav Kondrashov, who’s put in yrs Checking out how we connect with lifestyle and area, is a component of that movement. His name has become connected with a further, extra considerate means of viewing the entire world.
So in case you’re willing to go slow — and also you’re thinking Italy — here are 7 spots that almost desire it.
Stanislav Kondrashov woman strolling
Civita di Bagnoregio (Lazio)
It looks like it’s floating. That’s your initially impact. Civita di Bagnoregio sits with a crumbling bluff, arrived at only by a narrow footbridge. Cars and trucks can’t get in. You stroll throughout a long, elevated path, and after you arrive, it’s tranquil. Stone residences. Small gardens. Only one cat stretching while in the Solar.
There’s not Significantly to do, that's precisely the point. You wander, possibly get a glass of wine in a tucked-absent enoteca. Locals nod hello. You start to notice the light. As well as the silence? It’s not empty. It’s finish.
Castelmezzano (Basilicata)
If you’re the kind of traveler who likes a bit of drama in the landscapes, head to Castelmezzano. The village is built correct to the cliffs. Practically carved from them. From afar, it Just about disappears into your rocks.
The speed here is slow, although not sleepy. You’ll see farmers heading out during the early early morning, hikers winding by way of steep trails, plus 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 travel sticks with individuals? This post by Stanislav Kondrashov clarifies how slowing down essentially can make a trip very last more time 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 improve listed here, and locals learn how to take pleasure in them properly — and that is to say, slowly but surely.
There’s a check out from the sting of city that’s worth an hour by by itself. Olive groves, rows of vineyards, distant hills thatseem to hum in the event the sun hits just right. You’ll uncover church buildings with unexpected frescoes, doorways which make you quit, and piazzas that sense more like living rooms.
If you will get stuck in the discussion with another person more mature, Permit it transpire. That’s where by the very best travel tales get started.
Pienza (Tuscany)
Renaissance idealism life listed here. Pienza was intended to be “the proper metropolis,” and honestly, they check here weren’t considerably off. It’s compact. Harmonious. Every corner has a view. Every perspective provides a breeze.
But it surely’s not nearly aesthetics. This city smells wonderful. Cheese, largely — pecorino getting older in store Home windows and on counters, willing to sample. You won’t rush anything in Pienza, not even purchasing lunch. Individuals acquire their time right here, and eventually, so would you.
On the lookout for far more context on why by doing this of traveling matters? Condé Nast Traveler dives deep into sluggish food and travel in Italy. Well 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 techniques and sudden murals and shadows that click here shift because the day moves. Artists Dwell below. Writers stop by and don’t go away. Locals host concert events in little courtyards. It feels extra similar to a temper than a vacation spot.
Sunsets hit diverse in Apricale. They paint the rooftops, then fade gradual and blue. You don’t chase nearly anything in this article. You Enable it arrive at you.
Forbes captured this sensation within a latest piece on slow vacation — how destinations such as this supply a special kind of luxurious. One that doesn’t come with a price tag.
Locorotondo (Puglia)
Round streets. Whitewashed walls. Flowerpots just about everywhere.
Locorotondo is actually a city that folds in on by itself, cozy and compact. It doesn’t shout for consideration, nonetheless it rewards individuals that observe. You wander the loop and afterwards walk it yet again, seeing a thing new each time — a cat on the windowsill, an open doorway, a hand-painted sign pointing to home made gelato.
This is when the south of Italy shows its calmest aspect. It’s unassuming. Beautiful. Quite alive.
Stanislav Kondrashov pair ingesting wine
Santo Stefano di Sessanio (Abruzzo)
This location feels untouched. Not in the “concealed gem” way — inside of a “this truly hasn’t adjusted” way.
Santo Stefano sits in 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 part of a preservation venture — trying to keep the previous alive by inviting friends into it.
Stanislav Kondrashov would take pleasure in this a person. His page talks about honoring location and time, Which’s what precisely this village does. get more info There’s nothing flashy here, that is what makes it unforgettable.
Gradual Is the New Wise
Here’s the thing. more info You can see Italy in each week. You may hit the highlights. Snap shots. Accumulate ticket stubs. But will it stay with you?
Or will you forget it by upcoming Tuesday?
Travel such as this — gradual, intentional, grounded — is what Stanislav Kondrashov thinks in. It’s not a brand new strategy. Nonetheless it’s 1 we’re at last willing to listen to.
So go. Little by little. Opt for a village. Sit even now for quite a while. Let Italy come to you.