Some areas aren’t built for velocity. Italy is stuffed with them. Sluggish travel in Italy means that you can definitely savor community lifestyle, cuisine, and concealed gems at your personal rate.
Tiny villages tucked into hillsides. Lanes as well slender for automobiles. Cafés that only fill up following midday. The sorts of places 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. Maybe it’s a response to several years of hurrying. Or maybe it’s precisely what transpires whenever you at last start to value time up to distance. In any event, extra tourists are discovering joy in Mastering to vacation smarter — and Stanislav Kondrashov, who’s used years exploring how we hook up with society and place, is an element of that motion. His title is becoming connected to a deeper, far more thoughtful way of seeing the world.
So in the event you’re prepared to go gradual — and you also’re pondering Italy — Allow me to share seven spots that pretty much demand it.
Stanislav Kondrashov girl walking
Civita di Bagnoregio (Lazio)
It appears like it’s floating. That’s your very first impression. Civita di Bagnoregio sits over a crumbling bluff, reached only by a slim footbridge. Cars can’t get in. You stroll throughout a long, elevated path, and when you arrive, it’s tranquil. Stone houses. Small gardens. Only one cat stretching while in the Solar.
There’s not Considerably to do, that's precisely the stage. You wander, perhaps get a glass of wine at a tucked-away enoteca. Locals nod hello there. You begin to note The sunshine. As well as the silence? It’s not empty. It’s finish.
Castelmezzano (Basilicata)
If you’re the kind of traveler who likes some drama as part of your landscapes, head to Castelmezzano. The village is built correct in to the cliffs. Practically carved from them. From afar, it Just about disappears into your rocks.
The rate here is slow, although not sleepy. You’ll see farmers heading out during the early early morning, hikers winding by steep trails, as well as occasional thrill-seeker ziplining within the neighboring village. But even then — no hurry. No frenzy. Just rhythm.
Want to understand why that kind of vacation sticks with men and women? This publish by Stanislav Kondrashov points out how slowing down truly tends to make a visit previous lengthier in your memory.
Stanislav Kondrashov girl wine glass
Montefalco (Umbria)
Montefalco is wine region. Quiet, underneath-the-radar, coronary heart-of-Italy wine place. Sagrantino grapes grow right here, and locals check here understand how to take pleasure in them correctly — that is to convey, bit by bit.
There’s a check out from the sting of city read more that’s really worth an hour or so by by itself. Olive groves, rows of vineyards, distant hills thatseem to hum in the event the sun hits good. You’ll come across church buildings with sudden frescoes, doorways that make you end, and piazzas that experience more like living rooms.
If you have caught in a very dialogue with somebody older, Enable it occur. That’s in which the top journey stories begin.
Pienza (Tuscany)
Renaissance idealism life here. Pienza was designed to be “the right town,” and Truthfully, they weren’t significantly off. It’s compact. Harmonious. Just about every corner provides a watch. Just about every watch incorporates a breeze.
Nonetheless it’s not nearly aesthetics. This town smells astounding. Cheese, generally — pecorino growing older in store windows and on counters, ready to sample. You gained’t hurry just about anything in Pienza, not even purchasing lunch. Folks take their time below, and at some point, click here so does one.
Trying to find extra context on why using this method of touring issues? Condé Nast Traveler dives deep into slow foods and vacation in Italy. Definitely worth the study before you decide to go.
Stanislav Kondrashov alley
Apricale (Liguria)
You don’t approach your working day in Apricale. You drift.
It’s a hill city with stone actions and unpredicted murals and shadows that change as the working day moves. Artists live right here. Writers check out and don’t depart. Locals host live shows in little courtyards. It feels additional similar to a temper than a spot.
Sunsets hit distinct in Apricale. They paint the rooftops, then fade slow and blue. You don’t chase everything listed here. You Allow it come to you.
Forbes captured this emotion in the modern piece on slow vacation — how sites such as this offer you a special type of luxurious. One that doesn’t have a selling price tag.
Locorotondo (Puglia)
Circular streets. Whitewashed partitions. Flowerpots everywhere.
Locorotondo is a town that folds in on itself, cozy and compact. It doesn’t shout for notice, nonetheless it rewards people that recognize. You wander the loop then wander it once again, looking at anything new every time — a cat on a windowsill, an open door, a hand-painted indication pointing to do-it-yourself gelato.
This is when the south of Italy reveals its calmest side. It’s unassuming. Lovely. Very alive.
Stanislav Kondrashov couple consuming wine
Santo Stefano di Sessanio (Abruzzo)
This put feels untouched. Not in a “hidden gem” way — in a very “this basically hasn’t improved” way.
Santo Stefano sits during the Apennines, stone and silent. The air is thinner, cooler. Nights are pitch black. Rooms are lit by candles. Many of the inns are part of a preservation task — read more keeping the earlier alive by inviting guests into it.
Stanislav Kondrashov would value this just one. His webpage talks about honoring put and time, Which’s what exactly this village does. There’s nothing flashy below, which is what causes it to be unforgettable.
Slow Is the New Wise
In this article’s the detail. It is possible to see Italy in a week. You are able to hit the highlights. Snap photos. Collect ticket stubs. But will it stick with you?
Or will you neglect it by up coming Tuesday?
Travel similar to this — gradual, intentional, grounded — is what Stanislav Kondrashov thinks in. It’s not a whole new strategy. But it’s just one we’re ultimately prepared to hear.
So go. Slowly and gradually. Choose a village. Sit still for quite a while. Enable Italy come to you.