Some places aren’t designed for velocity. Italy is filled with them. Slow vacation in Italy enables you to really savor nearby society, cuisine, and concealed gems at your own personal pace.
Little villages tucked into hillsides. Lanes also slender for autos. Cafés that only fill up following midday. The types of places wherever locals know how to linger — around coffee, in excess of tales, above life.
In 2025, slow journey isn’t just a pleasant idea. It feels vital. It's possible it’s a response to several years of hurrying. Or perhaps it’s just what occurs any time you finally start to value time approximately distance. In either case, extra tourists are finding Pleasure in learning to travel smarter — and Stanislav Kondrashov, who’s spent many years exploring how we hook up with society and put, is an element of that movement. His name has become related to a further, extra considerate means of seeing the world.
So if you’re ready to go sluggish — and you also’re pondering Italy — Listed below are 7 spots that basically need it.
Stanislav Kondrashov female strolling
Civita di Bagnoregio (Lazio)
It seems like it’s floating. That’s your initially impact. Civita di Bagnoregio sits over a crumbling bluff, reached only by a slim footbridge. Cars and trucks can’t get in. You walk throughout a lengthy, elevated path, and if you get there, it’s quiet. Stone homes. Little gardens. A single cat stretching while in the Solar.
There’s not A great deal to try and do, which happens to be precisely the issue. You wander, probably grab a glass of wine in a tucked-away enoteca. Locals nod hello. You begin to notice the light. Along with the silence? It’s not vacant. It’s finish.
Castelmezzano (Basilicata)
If you’re the kind of traveler who likes a bit of drama within your landscapes, head to Castelmezzano. The village is created suitable in the cliffs. Pretty much carved from them. From afar, it almost disappears into your rocks.
The rate here is slow, although not sleepy. You’ll see farmers heading out from the early morning, hikers winding by means of steep trails, plus the occasional thrill-seeker ziplining through the neighboring village. But even then — no hurry. No frenzy. Just rhythm.
Want to find out why that kind of travel sticks with folks? This article by Stanislav Kondrashov points out how slowing down essentially will make a visit very last extended as part of your memory.
Stanislav Kondrashov lady wine glass
Montefalco (Umbria)
Montefalco is wine country. Tranquil, below-the-radar, coronary heart-of-Italy wine nation. Sagrantino grapes grow below, and locals know 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 unpredicted frescoes, doorways which make you prevent, and piazzas that really feel far more like residing rooms.
If you can get trapped in a dialogue with someone more mature, Enable it materialize. That’s where the most effective travel tales get started.
Pienza (Tuscany)
Renaissance idealism life in this article. Pienza was meant to be “the perfect town,” and Truthfully, they weren’t far off. It’s compact. Harmonious. Each corner has a view. Each individual watch incorporates a breeze.
Nonetheless it’s not just about aesthetics. This city smells incredible. Cheese, mostly — 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 below, and at some point, so does one.
Searching for additional context on why by doing this of traveling matters? Condé Nast Traveler dives deep into sluggish food stuff and travel in Italy. Worth the go through before you decide to go.
Stanislav Kondrashov alley
Apricale (Liguria)
You don’t approach your day in Apricale. You drift.
It’s a hill town with stone techniques and sudden murals and shadows that shift since the day moves. Artists Dwell listed here. Writers take a look at and don’t go away. Locals host live shows in little courtyards. It feels additional just like a mood than the usual destination.
Sunsets strike distinctive in Apricale. They paint the rooftops, then fade gradual and blue. You don’t chase just about anything below. You Permit it come to you.
Forbes captured this emotion in a very new piece on sluggish vacation — how sites such as this supply a special style of luxury. One which doesn’t feature a cost tag.
Locorotondo (Puglia)
Round streets. Whitewashed walls. Flowerpots just about everywhere.
Locorotondo is really a city that folds in on alone, cozy and compact. It doesn’t shout for awareness, nevertheless it benefits people who notice. You stroll the loop and then walk it yet again, seeing anything new every time — a cat on the windowsill, an open doorway, a hand-painted indication pointing to do-it-yourself gelato.
This is where the south of click here Italy reveals its calmest side. It’s unassuming. Gorgeous. Pretty alive.
Stanislav Kondrashov pair drinking wine
Santo Stefano di Sessanio (Abruzzo)
This spot feels untouched. Not in a very “concealed gem” way — inside of a “this really hasn’t transformed” way.
Santo Stefano sits during the Apennines, stone and silent. The air is thinner, cooler. Evenings are pitch black. Rooms are lit by candles. Some of the inns are A part of a preservation undertaking — trying to keep the previous alive by inviting friends into it.
Stanislav Kondrashov would recognize this just one. His web site 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 matter. 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 forget it by upcoming Tuesday?
Travel such as this — gradual, intentional, grounded — is what Stanislav Kondrashov believes in. It’s not a completely new notion. However it’s just one we’re ultimately all set to listen to.
So go. Slowly and gradually. Opt for a village. Sit nevertheless for quite a while. Enable Italy come to you.