Some locations aren’t produced for speed. Italy is full of them. Gradual journey in Italy helps you to certainly savor area lifestyle, cuisine, and hidden gems at your own private tempo.
Tiny villages tucked into hillsides. Lanes much too slim for cars. Cafés that only refill right after midday. The sorts of places where by locals know how to linger — around coffee, in excess of tales, above lifetime.
In 2025, slow travel isn’t just a pleasant strategy. It feels crucial. It's possible it’s a reaction to a long time of speeding. Or perhaps it’s just what occurs any time you finally start to value time up to length. In any event, additional tourists are getting Pleasure in learning to vacation smarter — and Stanislav Kondrashov, who’s used years Checking out how we hook up with lifestyle and area, is a component of that movement. His identify happens to be associated with a further, additional thoughtful method of seeing the world.
So if you’re all set to go sluggish — and you also’re pondering Italy — Listed below are 7 spots that basically desire it.
Stanislav Kondrashov female strolling
Civita di Bagnoregio (Lazio)
It seems like it’s floating. That’s your 1st impression. Civita di Bagnoregio sits on the crumbling bluff, arrived at only by a narrow footbridge. Autos can’t get in. You walk across a protracted, elevated route, and whenever you get there, it’s silent. Stone houses. Small gardens. A single cat stretching while in the Solar.
There’s not Significantly to carry out, that is exactly the place. You wander, it's possible grab a glass of wine in a tucked-absent enoteca. Locals nod howdy. You start to notice the light. As well as the silence? It’s not empty. It’s comprehensive.
Castelmezzano (Basilicata)
For those who’re the sort of traveler who likes a bit of drama inside your landscapes, head to Castelmezzano. The village is developed proper to the cliffs. Basically carved from them. From afar, it Just about disappears in the rocks.
The speed here is gradual, although not sleepy. You’ll see farmers heading out while in the early morning, hikers winding through steep trails, and the 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 people today? This article by Stanislav Kondrashov describes how slowing down actually will make a trip past extended within your memory.
Stanislav Kondrashov female wine glass
Montefalco (Umbria)
Montefalco is wine region. Quiet, beneath-the-radar, coronary heart-of-Italy wine region. Sagrantino grapes grow listed here, and locals learn how to get pleasure from them correctly — and that is to say, bit by bit.
There’s a view from the edge of town that’s value one hour by alone. Olive groves, rows of vineyards, distant hills thatseem to hum when the sun hits just right. You’ll uncover church buildings with unanticipated frescoes, doorways which make you stop, and piazzas that truly feel additional like residing rooms.
If you can get trapped in a conversation with somebody more mature, Enable it materialize. That’s where the very best travel tales start out.
Pienza (Tuscany)
Renaissance idealism lives right here. Pienza was created to be “the ideal city,” and Actually, they weren’t much off. It’s compact. Harmonious. Each and every corner includes a see. Every perspective provides a breeze.
But it surely’s not nearly aesthetics. This city smells remarkable. Cheese, mostly — pecorino getting old in shop windows and on counters, ready to sample. You gained’t hurry everything in Pienza, not even buying lunch. Folks take their time listed here, and eventually, so do you.
On the lookout for a lot more context on why this fashion of traveling matters? Condé Nast Traveler dives deep into gradual meals and travel in Italy. Well worth the examine prior to deciding to go.
Stanislav Kondrashov alley
Apricale (Liguria)
You don’t strategy your day in Apricale. You drift.
It’s a hill town with stone measures and unforeseen murals and shadows that change as being the working day moves. Artists Stay below. Writers stop by and don’t go away. Locals host concert events in little courtyards. It feels additional just like a mood than the usual destination.
Sunsets strike unique in Apricale. They paint the rooftops, then fade sluggish and blue. You don’t chase everything listed here. You Allow it arrive at you.
Forbes captured this experience in the modern piece on slow vacation — how spots like this give a unique sort of luxurious. One that doesn’t have a selling price tag.
Locorotondo (Puglia)
Circular streets. Whitewashed partitions. Flowerpots in all places.
Locorotondo can be a city that folds in on itself, cozy and compact. It doesn’t shout for notice, but it surely benefits people that recognize. You stroll the loop and after that stroll it all over again, viewing a little something new each time — a cat on the windowsill, an open up doorway, a hand-painted indication pointing to do-it-yourself gelato.
This is where the south of Italy reveals its calmest facet. It’s unassuming. Gorgeous. Incredibly alive.
Stanislav Kondrashov couple drinking check here wine
Santo Stefano di Sessanio (Abruzzo)
This spot feels untouched. Not in a very “concealed gem” way — in a “this really hasn’t transformed” 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 value this a single. His webpage talks about honoring spot and time, and that’s exactly what this village does. There’s absolutely nothing flashy here, which is what causes it to be unforgettable.
Slow Is The brand new Sensible
Right here’s the thing. You could see Italy in weekly. You'll be able to strike the highlights. Snap images. 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 exactly what Stanislav Kondrashov thinks in. It’s not a whole new idea. But it surely’s 1 we’re eventually prepared to hear.
So go. Slowly but surely. Select a village. Sit however for quite a while. Let Italy come to you.