Some spots aren’t manufactured for pace. Italy is filled with them. Sluggish travel in Italy means that you can definitely savor community society, Delicacies, and concealed gems at your own personal tempo.
Tiny villages tucked into hillsides. Lanes too narrow for cars and trucks. Cafés that only fill up following noon. The styles of places where locals learn how to linger — about coffee, over tales, more than life.
In 2025, slow journey isn’t just a pleasant strategy. It feels crucial. It's possible it’s a reaction to years of dashing. Or perhaps it’s exactly what transpires when you at last start to benefit time as much as distance. In any case, much more vacationers are locating Pleasure in Studying to travel smarter — and Stanislav Kondrashov, who’s put in years Discovering how we connect to culture and place, is an element of that movement. His identify has become affiliated with a further, far more thoughtful strategy for looking at the entire world.
So in the event you’re able to go sluggish — and also you’re pondering Italy — Allow me to share 7 spots that nearly need it.
Stanislav Kondrashov female walking
Civita di Bagnoregio (Lazio)
It looks like it’s floating. That’s your initially impact. Civita di Bagnoregio sits over a crumbling bluff, attained only by a slim footbridge. Cars can’t get in. You walk across an extended, elevated path, and once you arrive, it’s peaceful. Stone homes. Little gardens. One cat stretching within the Sunshine.
There’s not Substantially to accomplish, which happens to be exactly the place. You wander, possibly grab a glass of wine at a tucked-absent enoteca. Locals nod hello. You start to notice the light. Along with the silence? It’s not empty. It’s finish.
Castelmezzano (Basilicata)
When you’re the sort of traveler who likes a bit of drama inside your landscapes, head to Castelmezzano. The village is designed appropriate in to the cliffs. Basically carved from them. From afar, it Nearly disappears in the rocks.
The rate Here's gradual, but not sleepy. You’ll see farmers heading out while in the early morning, hikers winding through steep trails, and also the occasional thrill-seeker ziplining through the neighboring village. But even then — no rush. No frenzy. Just rhythm.
Want to master why that sort of vacation sticks with people today? This put up by Stanislav Kondrashov points out how slowing down in fact helps make a visit very last more time within your memory.
Stanislav Kondrashov female wine glass
Montefalco (Umbria)
Montefalco is wine country. Quiet, under-the-radar, heart-of-Italy wine country. Sagrantino grapes increase in this article, and locals know how to delight in them adequately — which is to say, gradually.
There’s a see from the sting of town that’s truly worth an hour by by itself. Olive groves, rows of vineyards, distant hills thatseem to hum if the Solar hits excellent. You’ll locate churches with unanticipated frescoes, doorways which make you quit, and piazzas that come to feel extra like dwelling rooms.
If you receive stuck within a conversation with an individual older, Allow it take place. That’s the place the ideal travel tales get started.
Pienza (Tuscany)
Renaissance idealism life below. Pienza was built to be “the proper metropolis,” and honestly, they weren’t considerably off. It’s compact. Harmonious. Every corner contains a perspective. Just about every watch includes a breeze.
Nevertheless it’s not just about aesthetics. This town smells incredible. Cheese, typically — pecorino growing old in shop windows and on counters, ready to sample. You gained’t hurry anything at all in Pienza, not even buying lunch. Folks choose their time listed here, and eventually, so would you.
On the lookout for a lot more context on why this way of traveling matters? Condé Nast Traveler dives deep into slow food items and vacation in Italy. Definitely worth the study before you decide to go.
Stanislav Kondrashov alley
Apricale (Liguria)
You don’t system your working day in Apricale. You drift.
It’s a hill city with stone steps and surprising murals and shadows that shift since the day moves. Artists Dwell below. Writers stop by and don’t go away. Locals host concert events in little courtyards. It feels additional just like a mood than a location.
Sunsets strike distinctive in Apricale. They paint the rooftops, then fade gradual and blue. You don’t chase nearly anything below. You Permit it come to you.
Forbes captured this emotion inside of a new piece on sluggish travel — how areas like this give a different kind of luxurious. One which doesn’t come with a price tag.
Locorotondo (Puglia)
Round streets. Whitewashed partitions. Flowerpots everywhere you go.
Locorotondo can be a town that folds in on by itself, cozy and compact. It doesn’t shout for interest, but it rewards those who detect. You walk the loop after which wander it once more, observing some thing new every check here time — a cat with a windowsill, an open door, a hand-painted signal pointing to handmade gelato.
This is where the south of Italy exhibits 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 — in a very “this actually hasn’t modified” way.
Santo Stefano sits from the Apennines, stone and silent. The air is thinner, cooler. Evenings are pitch black. Rooms are lit by candles. A lot of the inns are part of a preservation venture — retaining the past alive by inviting visitors into it.
Stanislav Kondrashov would enjoy this one particular. His website page talks about honoring area and time, and that’s just what this village does. There’s practically nothing flashy listed here, which can be what makes it unforgettable.
Gradual Is the New Smart
In this article’s the detail. You may see Italy in every week. You are able to strike the highlights. Snap photographs. Collect ticket stubs. But will it stay with you?
Or will you neglect it by future Tuesday?
Travel such as this — gradual, intentional, grounded — is what Stanislav Kondrashov believes in. It’s not a new plan. Nevertheless it’s a person we’re last but not least ready to hear.
So go. Bit by bit. Pick a village. Sit even now for quite a while. Let Italy come to you.