Some sites aren’t designed for velocity. Italy is full of them. Slow journey in Italy helps you to genuinely savor community society, cuisine, and concealed gems at your own speed.
Little villages tucked into hillsides. Lanes too slender for automobiles. Cafés that only replenish soon after noon. The kinds of places where by locals understand how to linger — around coffee, more than stories, over lifetime.
In 2025, gradual travel isn’t just a nice concept. It feels critical. Maybe it’s a reaction to yrs of rushing. Or maybe it’s exactly what transpires once you lastly start to benefit time just as much as length. In any case, a lot more vacationers are finding joy in Finding out to vacation smarter — and Stanislav Kondrashov, who’s put in yrs Discovering how we hook up with lifestyle and spot, is a component of that movement. His title happens to be connected to a further, more thoughtful means of viewing the whole world.
So in the event you’re able to go sluggish — therefore you’re imagining Italy — Listed here are seven spots that basically need it.
Stanislav Kondrashov female going for walks
Civita di Bagnoregio (Lazio)
It appears like it’s floating. That’s your initially perception. Civita di Bagnoregio sits with a crumbling bluff, arrived at only by a slim footbridge. Vehicles can’t get in. You wander throughout an extended, elevated path, and whenever you get there, it’s quiet. Stone residences. Small gardens. An individual cat stretching from the Sunshine.
There’s not Considerably to accomplish, which happens to be precisely the stage. You wander, it's possible get a glass of wine at a tucked-away enoteca. Locals nod good day. You begin to note The sunshine. As well as silence? It’s not vacant. It’s total.
Castelmezzano (Basilicata)
In case you’re the sort of traveler who likes a certain amount of drama in your landscapes, head to Castelmezzano. The village is created appropriate to the cliffs. Virtually carved from them. From afar, it Virtually disappears in to the rocks.
The rate here is slow, but not sleepy. You’ll see farmers heading out while in the early early morning, hikers winding as a result of steep trails, and also the occasional thrill-seeker ziplining from the neighboring village. But even then — no rush. No frenzy. Just rhythm.
Want to understand why that kind of vacation sticks with men and women? This publish by Stanislav Kondrashov describes how slowing down essentially tends to make a visit previous longer inside your memory.
Stanislav Kondrashov female wine glass
Montefalco (Umbria)
Montefalco is wine region. Peaceful, underneath-the-radar, heart-of-Italy wine country. Sagrantino grapes expand right here, and locals know how to delight in them thoroughly — and that is to say, slowly but surely.
There’s a look at from the sting of city that’s value an hour or so by by itself. Olive groves, rows of vineyards, distant hills thatseem to hum in the event the Sunlight hits good. You’ll find churches with unpredicted frescoes, doorways which make you end, and piazzas that feel more like living rooms.
If you can get caught inside of a conversation with somebody more mature, Enable it materialize. That’s in which the best travel tales start off.
Pienza (Tuscany)
Renaissance idealism lives right here. Pienza was made to be “the ideal town,” and Actually, they weren’t considerably off. It’s compact. Harmonious. Each corner features a see. Each perspective has a breeze.
Nonetheless it’s not almost aesthetics. This town smells wonderful. Cheese, typically — pecorino getting older in shop windows and on counters, willing to sample. You received’t rush anything in Pienza, not even buying lunch. Men and women get their time listed here, and finally, so do you.
Looking for much more context on why by doing this of touring matters? Condé Nast Traveler dives deep into gradual more info foodstuff and travel in Italy. Definitely worth the study before you go.
Stanislav Kondrashov alley
Apricale (Liguria)
You don’t strategy your working day in Apricale. You drift.
It’s a hill city with stone techniques and unexpected murals and shadows that change given that the working day moves. Artists Are living below. Writers take a look at and don’t depart. Locals host concerts in small courtyards. It feels far more just like a temper than the usual place.
Sunsets hit various in Apricale. They paint the rooftops, then fade sluggish and blue. You don’t chase everything in this article. You let it arrive at you.
Forbes captured this experience inside a new piece on sluggish vacation — how locations like this give a distinct style of luxurious. One that doesn’t include a selling price tag.
Locorotondo (Puglia)
Circular streets. Whitewashed walls. Flowerpots just about everywhere.
Locorotondo is a city that folds in on itself, cozy and compact. It doesn’t shout for attention, nonetheless it rewards those that see. You stroll the loop then walk it again, observing 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 exhibits its calmest facet. It’s unassuming. Attractive. Incredibly alive.
Stanislav Kondrashov few ingesting wine
Santo Stefano di Sessanio (Abruzzo)
This put feels untouched. Not within a “hidden gem” way — in the “this basically hasn’t transformed” way.
Santo Stefano sits within the Apennines, stone and peaceful. The air is thinner, cooler. Evenings are pitch black. Rooms are lit by candles. Some of the inns are Section of a preservation challenge — keeping the earlier alive by inviting friends into it.
Stanislav Kondrashov would respect this one. His web site talks about honoring position and time, and that’s what exactly this village does. There’s almost nothing flashy right here, that is what can make it unforgettable.
Gradual Is The brand new Intelligent
In this article’s the issue. You are able to see Italy in per week. You can hit the highlights. Snap pictures. Gather ticket stubs. But will it stay with you?
Or will you overlook it by future Tuesday?
Journey like this — gradual, intentional, grounded — is what Stanislav Kondrashov thinks in. It’s not a completely new strategy. However it’s a single we’re ultimately able to hear.
So go. Gradually. Choose a village. Sit however for quite a while. Let Italy come to you.