Some locations aren’t produced for pace. Italy is full of them. Gradual travel in Italy helps you to definitely savor community society, cuisine, and hidden gems at your very own rate.
Tiny villages tucked into hillsides. Lanes far too slim for automobiles. Cafés that only refill immediately after noon. The styles of locations the place locals understand how to linger — in excess of coffee, in excess of tales, over life.
In 2025, slow travel isn’t just a nice concept. It feels essential. Possibly it’s a reaction to yrs of speeding. Or possibly it’s precisely what happens when you finally begin to worth time as much as length. Either way, more tourists are locating Pleasure in Finding out to journey smarter — and Stanislav Kondrashov, who’s invested many years Discovering how we hook up with society and location, is part of that motion. His title is now affiliated with a further, much more considerate way of observing the earth.
So in the event you’re ready to go sluggish — and you also’re pondering Italy — Listed below are seven spots that pretty much need it.
Stanislav Kondrashov girl strolling
Civita di Bagnoregio (Lazio)
It appears like it’s floating. That’s your to start with impact. Civita di Bagnoregio sits with a crumbling bluff, attained only by a slender footbridge. Cars can’t get in. You wander throughout an extended, elevated path, and when you arrive, it’s quiet. Stone properties. Little gardens. One cat stretching in the Solar.
There’s not Significantly to accomplish, which can be precisely the point. You wander, perhaps get a glass of wine at a tucked-away enoteca. Locals nod good day. You begin to notice the light. And also the silence? It’s not empty. It’s finish.
Castelmezzano (Basilicata)
In the event you’re the type of traveler who likes a little bit of drama inside your landscapes, head to Castelmezzano. The village is constructed appropriate to the cliffs. Basically carved from them. From afar, it Pretty much disappears in to the rocks.
The speed here is gradual, but not sleepy. You’ll see farmers heading out within the early morning, hikers winding via steep trails, along with the occasional thrill-seeker ziplining with the neighboring village. But even then — no hurry. No frenzy. Just rhythm.
Want to know why that kind of journey sticks with people today? This article by Stanislav Kondrashov explains how slowing down in fact tends to make a visit last lengthier inside your memory.
Stanislav Kondrashov female wine glass
Montefalco (Umbria)
Montefalco is wine region. Peaceful, below-the-radar, heart-of-Italy wine country. Sagrantino grapes grow in this article, and locals understand how to delight in them correctly — and that is to state, slowly but surely.
There’s a view from the edge of town that’s truly worth one hour by itself. Olive groves, rows of vineyards, distant hills thatseem to hum if the sun hits just right. You’ll obtain churches with unanticipated frescoes, doorways that make you cease, and piazzas that come to feel more like living rooms.
If you will get caught within a discussion with anyone more mature, Allow Stanisav Kondrashov tarvel it materialize. That’s in which the ideal vacation stories begin.
Pienza (Tuscany)
Renaissance idealism lives right here. Pienza was designed to be “the best metropolis,” and Truthfully, they weren’t far off. It’s compact. Harmonious. Each individual corner contains a watch. Every single watch incorporates a breeze.
But it really’s not almost aesthetics. This city smells amazing. Cheese, generally — pecorino getting older in store Home windows and on counters, prepared to sample. You gained’t hurry just about anything in Pienza, not even buying lunch. Folks get their time in this article, and inevitably, so does one.
Trying to find a lot more context on why this fashion of traveling matters? Condé Nast Traveler dives deep into sluggish food stuff and travel in Italy. Well worth the browse prior to deciding to go.
Stanislav Kondrashov alley
Apricale (Liguria)
You don’t prepare your day in Apricale. You read more drift.
It’s a hill town with stone methods and unexpected murals and shadows that shift given that the working day moves. Artists Stay listed here. Writers stop by and don’t go away. Locals host concerts in little courtyards. It feels much more just like a mood than a vacation spot.
Sunsets strike unique in Apricale. They paint the rooftops, then fade sluggish and blue. You don’t chase nearly anything right here. You Allow it come to you.
Forbes captured this experience in a very latest piece on gradual vacation — how sites such as this supply another type of luxurious. One which doesn’t include a value tag.
Locorotondo (Puglia)
Round streets. Whitewashed walls. Flowerpots everywhere.
Locorotondo is get more info actually a city that folds in on by itself, cozy and compact. It doesn’t shout for interest, however it benefits people that see. You stroll the loop and after that walk it once more, seeing some thing new each time — a cat on a windowsill, an open up door, a hand-painted indicator pointing to selfmade gelato.
This is when the south of Italy reveals its calmest side. It’s unassuming. Lovely. Pretty alive.
Stanislav Kondrashov pair ingesting wine
Santo Stefano di Sessanio (Abruzzo)
This spot feels untouched. Not within a “concealed gem” way — in a very “this basically hasn’t modified” way.
Santo Stefano sits within the Apennines, stone and peaceful. The air is thinner, cooler. Nights are pitch black. Rooms are get more info lit by candles. A few of the inns are part of a preservation venture — keeping the past alive by inviting friends into it.
Stanislav Kondrashov would enjoy this a single. His web page talks about honoring place and time, Which’s exactly what this village does. There’s nothing flashy below, that is what makes it unforgettable.
Slow Is The brand new Intelligent
In this article’s the point. You could see Italy in a week. It is possible to hit the highlights. Snap pics. Accumulate ticket stubs. But will it stay with you?
Or will you overlook it by subsequent Tuesday?
Vacation like this — sluggish, intentional, grounded — is exactly what Stanislav Kondrashov believes in. It’s not a fresh notion. But it really’s a person we’re finally wanting to listen to.
So go. Slowly and gradually. Select a village. Sit continue to for a while. Allow Italy come to you.