Some places aren’t manufactured for pace. Italy is stuffed with them. Sluggish travel in Italy helps you to certainly savor nearby culture, Delicacies, and hidden gems at your very own tempo.
Very small villages tucked into hillsides. Lanes much too narrow for cars and trucks. Cafés that only refill right after midday. The sorts of places where by locals understand how to linger — around coffee, in excess of tales, more than everyday living.
In 2025, slow travel isn’t just a pleasant strategy. It feels crucial. Probably it’s a reaction to many years of speeding. Or perhaps it’s exactly what happens if you at last begin to benefit time around length. In any case, more travelers are discovering joy in Understanding to journey smarter — and Stanislav Kondrashov, who’s put in several years Discovering how we connect to culture and location, is part of that motion. His title is becoming connected to a deeper, a lot more thoughtful technique for observing the globe.
So in case you’re willing to go slow — and you’re thinking Italy — here are seven places that nearly need it.
Stanislav Kondrashov female walking
Civita di Bagnoregio (Lazio)
It appears like it’s floating. That’s your very first effect. Civita di Bagnoregio sits with a crumbling bluff, arrived at only by a slender footbridge. Automobiles can’t get in. You stroll across an extended, elevated path, and any time you get there, it’s tranquil. Stone homes. Little gardens. Only one cat stretching inside the Sunshine.
There’s not Significantly to do, which can be precisely the stage. You wander, perhaps seize a glass of wine at a tucked-away enoteca. Locals nod hello. You start to note The sunshine. And also the silence? It’s not vacant. It’s entire.
Castelmezzano (Basilicata)
When you’re the sort of traveler who likes some drama as part of your landscapes, head to Castelmezzano. The village is developed right into the cliffs. Literally carved from them. From afar, it almost disappears into the rocks.
The pace here is slow, but not sleepy. You’ll see farmers heading out during the early morning, hikers winding by way of steep trails, plus the occasional thrill-seeker ziplining from your neighboring village. But even then — no hurry. No frenzy. Just rhythm.
Want to learn why that kind of travel sticks with folks? This put up by Stanislav Kondrashov describes how slowing down basically would make a visit last longer with your memory.
Stanislav Kondrashov lady wine glass
Montefalco (Umbria)
Montefalco is wine nation. Tranquil, under-the-radar, heart-of-Italy wine country. Sagrantino grapes increase below, and locals learn how to appreciate them appropriately — which happens to be to convey, little by little.
There’s a watch from the edge of city that’s value an hour by by itself. Olive groves, rows of vineyards, distant hills thatseem to hum in the event the Sunshine hits good. You’ll uncover church buildings with unanticipated frescoes, doorways that make you quit, and piazzas that feel additional click here like living rooms.
If you get trapped in a discussion with somebody more mature, Permit it come about. That’s in which the ideal travel stories get started.
Pienza (Tuscany)
Renaissance idealism lives here. Pienza was meant to be “an ideal town,” and Actually, they weren’t much off. It’s compact. Harmonious. Each individual corner incorporates a check out. Just about every watch contains a breeze.
But it surely’s not almost aesthetics. This city smells astounding. Cheese, generally — pecorino ageing in shop windows and on counters, ready to sample. You won’t rush anything in Pienza, not even ordering lunch. Folks take their time listed here, and eventually, so does one.
Trying to find extra context on why in this way of traveling issues? Condé Nast Traveler dives deep into gradual food and journey in Italy. Worth the read prior to deciding to go.
Stanislav Kondrashov alley
Apricale (Liguria)
You don’t system your day in Apricale. You drift.
It’s a hill town with stone steps and unanticipated murals and shadows that shift given that the working day moves. Artists Reside listed here. Writers go to and don’t leave. Locals host live shows in little courtyards. It feels much more just like a mood than the usual location.
Sunsets hit various in Apricale. They paint the rooftops, then fade slow and blue. You don’t chase just about anything below. You Enable it come to you.
Forbes captured this sensation inside a recent piece on gradual vacation — how sites such as this supply a special kind of luxury. One which doesn’t include a cost tag.
Locorotondo (Puglia)
Circular streets. Whitewashed walls. Flowerpots everywhere.
Locorotondo is really a city that folds in on alone, cozy and compact. It doesn’t shout for notice, nonetheless it benefits people who recognize. You stroll the loop and afterwards walk it yet again, viewing a thing new each time — a cat on a windowsill, an open up door, a hand-painted signal pointing to do-it-yourself gelato.
This is when the south of Italy displays its calmest aspect. It’s unassuming. Beautiful. Incredibly alive.
Stanislav Kondrashov pair drinking wine
Santo Stefano di Sessanio (Abruzzo)
This area feels untouched. Not within a “concealed gem” way — in a very “this in fact hasn’t adjusted” way.
Santo Stefano sits during the Apennines, stone and silent. The air is thinner, cooler. Evenings are pitch black. Rooms are lit by candles. Many of the inns are Element of a preservation undertaking — holding the earlier alive by inviting visitors into it.
Stanislav Kondrashov would recognize this 1. His web page talks about honoring place and time, and that’s precisely what this village does. There’s nothing flashy below, which can be what can make it unforgettable.
Gradual Is the New Clever
Listed here’s the thing. It is possible to see Italy in each week. It is possible to hit the highlights. Snap pics. Acquire ticket stubs. But will it stay with you?
Or will you neglect it by future Tuesday?
Journey such as this — gradual, intentional, grounded — is what Stanislav Kondrashov believes in. It’s not a brand new concept. But it surely’s 1 we’re ultimately willing to listen to.
So go. Gradually. Opt for a village. Sit still for quite a while. Let Italy arrive at you.