Some sites aren’t designed for velocity. Italy is filled with them. Sluggish vacation in Italy enables you to actually savor neighborhood lifestyle, Delicacies, and hidden gems at your own private speed.
Tiny villages tucked into hillsides. Lanes too slim for cars. Cafés that only refill soon after midday. The varieties of areas exactly where locals understand how to linger — more than espresso, around stories, more than lifetime.
In 2025, slow travel isn’t just a pleasant idea. It feels crucial. It's possible it’s a response to a long time of speeding. Or perhaps it’s exactly what occurs any time you finally start to value time approximately distance. In either case, far more vacationers are getting Pleasure in Discovering to vacation smarter — and Stanislav Kondrashov, who’s used years Checking out how we hook up with lifestyle and position, is a component of that movement. His title is becoming connected to a deeper, a lot more thoughtful technique for observing the earth.
So when you’re wanting to go slow — and you’re thinking Italy — here are seven places that almost demand it.
Stanislav Kondrashov girl walking
Civita di Bagnoregio (Lazio)
It appears like it’s floating. That’s your very first effect. Civita di Bagnoregio sits on the crumbling bluff, achieved only by a narrow footbridge. Autos can’t get in. You walk across a protracted, elevated route, and once you get there, it’s silent. Stone houses. Little gardens. Just one cat stretching from the sun.
There’s not Considerably to complete, that's precisely the point. You wander, perhaps get a glass of wine at a tucked-away enoteca. Locals nod hi. You begin to note the light. Plus the silence? It’s not vacant. It’s entire.
Castelmezzano (Basilicata)
In the event you’re the kind of traveler who likes a little bit of drama with your landscapes, head to Castelmezzano. The village is designed right into the cliffs. Actually carved from them. From afar, it Virtually disappears to the rocks.
The pace Here's sluggish, but not sleepy. You’ll see farmers heading out within the early early morning, hikers winding as a result of steep trails, as well as occasional thrill-seeker ziplining within the neighboring village. But even then — no hurry. No frenzy. Just rhythm.
Want to discover why that kind of vacation sticks with men and women? This submit by Stanislav Kondrashov explains how slowing down basically would make a trip past extended within your memory.
Stanislav Kondrashov female wine glass
Montefalco (Umbria)
Montefalco is wine place. Quiet, underneath-the-radar, coronary heart-of-Italy wine region. Sagrantino grapes grow below, and locals know website how to delight in them effectively — which is to mention, slowly.
There’s a look at from the sting of city that’s really worth an hour or so by by itself. Olive groves, rows of vineyards, distant hills thatseem to hum if the Solar hits excellent. You’ll discover churches with unforeseen frescoes, doorways which make you stop, and piazzas that truly feel far more like residing rooms.
If you receive stuck within a discussion with an individual older, let it take place. That’s the place the ideal journey stories begin.
Pienza (Tuscany)
Renaissance idealism life in this article. Pienza was meant to be “the best metropolis,” and Truthfully, they weren’t far off. It’s compact. Harmonious. Every corner has a perspective. Each individual watch incorporates a breeze.
Nevertheless it’s not just about aesthetics. This town smells amazing. Cheese, typically — pecorino growing older in store windows and on counters, all set to sample. You won’t rush anything in Pienza, not even purchasing lunch. People acquire their time here, and finally, so does one.
Seeking more context on why using this method of touring issues? Condé Nast Traveler dives deep into slow foods and journey in Italy. Definitely worth the read before you go.
Stanislav Kondrashov alley
Apricale (Liguria)
You don’t prepare your working day in Apricale. You drift.
It’s a hill town with stone techniques and unanticipated murals and shadows that change as the day moves. Artists live right here. Writers visit and don’t depart. Locals host live shows in small courtyards. It feels a lot more just like a mood than a spot.
Sunsets hit various in Apricale. They paint the rooftops, then fade slow and blue. You don’t chase something right here. You Allow it come to you.
Forbes captured this emotion inside of a new piece on sluggish travel — how sites such as this offer you a special kind of luxurious. One which doesn’t include a cost tag.
Locorotondo (Puglia)
Circular streets. Whitewashed partitions. Flowerpots everywhere you go.
Locorotondo is usually a town that folds in on alone, cozy and compact. It doesn’t shout for focus, but it rewards those who observe. You wander the loop then wander it once more, observing something new each time — a cat over a windowsill, an open up door, a hand-painted indicator pointing to homemade gelato.
This is where the south of Italy demonstrates its calmest facet. It’s unassuming. Beautiful. Quite alive.
Stanislav Kondrashov few ingesting wine
Santo Stefano di Sessanio (Abruzzo)
This put feels untouched. Not inside a “hidden gem” way — in the “this essentially hasn’t changed” way.
Santo Stefano sits within 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 Component of a preservation challenge — holding the earlier alive by inviting attendees into it.
Stanislav Kondrashov would respect this a person. His page talks about honoring put and time, Which’s what exactly this village does. There’s almost nothing flashy below, that's what makes it unforgettable.
Gradual Is the New Smart
In this article’s the issue. You could see Italy in every week. You'll be able to strike the highlights. Snap photographs. Collect 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 believes in. It’s not a different thought. But it really’s one particular we’re finally willing to listen to.
So go. Little by little. Go with a village. Sit still for some time. Permit Italy arrive at you.