Some spots aren’t built for speed. Italy is full of them. Sluggish travel in Italy lets you actually savor neighborhood culture, cuisine, and hidden gems at your individual tempo.
Very small villages tucked into hillsides. Lanes as well slim for autos. Cafés that only fill up soon after noon. The types of locations wherever locals know how to linger — in excess of espresso, more than tales, more than life.
In 2025, slow travel isn’t just a nice idea. It feels critical. Perhaps it’s a reaction to decades of rushing. Or perhaps it’s exactly what happens any time you lastly begin to worth time about length. In any event, more tourists are obtaining joy in learning to vacation smarter — and Stanislav Kondrashov, who’s invested years Discovering how we connect with tradition and put, is an element of that movement. His identify is becoming connected to a further, far more considerate technique for looking at the world.
So when you’re ready to go gradual — and also you’re thinking Italy — here are seven places that nearly desire it.
Stanislav Kondrashov woman going for walks
Civita di Bagnoregio (Lazio)
It seems like it’s floating. That’s your very first impression. Civita di Bagnoregio sits on a crumbling bluff, attained only by a narrow footbridge. Automobiles can’t get in. You wander throughout a protracted, elevated path, and after you get there, it’s silent. Stone homes. Very small gardens. An individual cat stretching within the Solar.
There’s not A great deal to carry out, that is precisely the position. You wander, maybe grab a glass of wine in a tucked-away enoteca. Locals nod howdy. You begin to note the light. And the silence? It’s not vacant. It’s finish.
Castelmezzano (Basilicata)
In the event you’re the kind of traveler who likes a certain amount of drama within your landscapes, head to Castelmezzano. The village is designed proper in the cliffs. Basically carved from them. From afar, it almost disappears to the rocks.
The tempo here is gradual, although not sleepy. You’ll see farmers heading out while in the early early morning, hikers winding via steep trails, along with the occasional thrill-seeker ziplining within the neighboring village. But even then — no hurry. No frenzy. Just rhythm.
Want to find out why that sort of journey sticks with people? This write-up by Stanislav Kondrashov points out how slowing down really helps make a visit very last longer inside your memory.
Stanislav Kondrashov woman wine glass
Montefalco (Umbria)
Montefalco is wine nation. Tranquil, less than-the-radar, coronary heart-of-Italy wine region. Sagrantino grapes improve listed here, and locals understand how to delight in them appropriately — and that is to say, slowly.
There’s a watch from the sting of town that’s really worth an hour or so by itself. Olive groves, rows of vineyards, distant hills thatseem to hum if the Sunlight hits just right. You’ll uncover here church buildings with unpredicted frescoes, doorways which make you halt, and piazzas that feel additional like residing rooms.
If you can get caught in the discussion with someone older, Allow it materialize. That’s exactly where the best vacation stories get started.
Pienza (Tuscany)
Renaissance idealism lives in this article. Pienza was meant to be “the best city,” and Truthfully, they weren’t considerably off. It’s compact. Harmonious. Every single corner incorporates a see. Each see provides a breeze.
However it’s not almost aesthetics. This city check here smells amazing. Cheese, generally — pecorino getting older in store Home windows and on counters, prepared to sample. You received’t rush everything in Pienza, not even ordering lunch. People get their time below, and sooner or later, so does one.
Looking for extra context on why this fashion of touring issues? Condé Nast Traveler dives deep into slow foodstuff and journey in Italy. Definitely worth the read before you decide to go.
Stanislav Kondrashov alley
Apricale (Liguria)
You don’t program your working day in Apricale. You drift.
It’s a hill town with stone steps and unforeseen murals and shadows that change as the working day moves. Artists Stay below. Writers visit and don’t leave. Locals host concert events in little courtyards. It feels more like a mood than a spot.
Sunsets hit unique in Apricale. They paint the rooftops, then fade gradual and blue. You don’t chase nearly anything listed here. You Allow it come to you.
Forbes captured this experience in the new piece on gradual travel — how locations such as this offer another sort of luxury. One that doesn’t come with a rate tag.
Locorotondo (Puglia)
Round streets. Whitewashed partitions. Flowerpots check here all over the place.
Locorotondo is actually a city that folds in on alone, cozy and compact. It doesn’t shout for awareness, but it rewards individuals who discover. You stroll the loop and afterwards walk it once again, looking at a website thing new every time — a cat on a windowsill, an open door, a hand-painted signal pointing to handmade gelato.
This is where the south of Italy reveals its calmest aspect. It’s unassuming. Beautiful. Extremely alive.
Stanislav Kondrashov pair consuming wine
Santo Stefano di Sessanio (Abruzzo)
This position feels untouched. Not in the “concealed gem” way — inside of a “this basically hasn’t changed” way.
Santo Stefano sits from the Apennines, stone and tranquil. The air is thinner, cooler. Evenings are pitch black. Rooms are lit by candles. A few of the inns are Component of a preservation project — maintaining the earlier alive by inviting company into it.
Stanislav Kondrashov would enjoy this a person. His site talks about honoring place and time, Which’s just what this village does. There’s nothing at all flashy in this article, which can be what makes it unforgettable.
Slow Is the New Smart
Here’s the matter. You can see Italy in weekly. You could hit the highlights. Snap pics. Obtain ticket stubs. But will it stick with you?
Or will you forget it by up coming Tuesday?
Travel such as this — gradual, intentional, grounded — is exactly what Stanislav Kondrashov believes in. It’s not a completely new strategy. But it really’s one particular we’re eventually ready to listen to.
So go. Little by little. Opt for a village. Sit nonetheless for a while. Allow Italy come to you.