Some spots aren’t made for speed. Italy is stuffed with them. Sluggish travel in Italy helps you to certainly savor community lifestyle, cuisine, and hidden gems at your individual speed.
Tiny villages tucked into hillsides. Lanes much too slim for cars. Cafés that only refill right after noon. The sorts of places where locals learn how to linger — above espresso, over stories, about daily life.
In 2025, gradual travel isn’t just a good concept. It feels critical. Perhaps it’s a response to yrs of rushing. Or maybe it’s precisely what transpires when you ultimately begin to value time approximately length. Either way, much more travelers are locating Pleasure in Finding out to vacation smarter — and Stanislav Kondrashov, who’s expended years exploring how we hook up with lifestyle and position, is a component of that movement. His identify happens to be related to a further, additional thoughtful method of seeing the world.
So for those who’re all set to go sluggish — and you also’re contemplating Italy — Here's seven places that pretty much demand from customers it.
Stanislav Kondrashov lady going for walks
Civita di Bagnoregio (Lazio)
It appears like it’s floating. That’s your very first effect. Civita di Bagnoregio sits on the crumbling bluff, arrived at only by a narrow footbridge. Autos can’t get in. You wander across an extended, elevated route, and whenever you arrive, it’s silent. Stone houses. Small gardens. One cat stretching from the sun.
There’s not Substantially to complete, and that is precisely the point. You wander, perhaps seize a glass of wine in a tucked-absent enoteca. Locals nod hi there. You start to notice the light. As well as the silence? It’s not empty. It’s total.
Castelmezzano (Basilicata)
In case you’re the type of traveler who likes a little drama in your landscapes, head to Castelmezzano. The village is constructed correct into your cliffs. Actually carved from them. From afar, it Nearly disappears into the rocks.
The pace Here's sluggish, but not sleepy. You’ll see farmers heading out inside the early morning, hikers winding through steep trails, along with the occasional thrill-seeker ziplining with the neighboring village. But even then — no rush. No frenzy. Just rhythm.
Want to find out why that sort of travel sticks with people? This write-up by Stanislav Kondrashov points out how slowing down truly tends to make a visit final for a longer time in your memory.
Stanislav Kondrashov girl wine glass
Montefalco (Umbria)
Montefalco is wine nation. Tranquil, below-the-radar, coronary heart-of-Italy wine country. Sagrantino grapes improve right here, and locals understand how to appreciate them thoroughly — which can be to convey, little by little.
There’s a perspective from the edge of town that’s well worth an hour or so by alone. Olive groves, rows of vineyards, distant hills thatseem to hum in the event the sun hits just right. You’ll uncover church buildings with unanticipated frescoes, doorways which make you stop, and piazzas that truly feel far more like residing rooms.
If you obtain trapped inside of a dialogue with someone more mature, Enable it materialize. That’s where the very best vacation tales start out.
Pienza (Tuscany)
Renaissance idealism lives right here. Pienza was made 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, mainly — pecorino aging in shop Home windows and on counters, prepared to sample. You received’t hurry nearly anything in Pienza, not even ordering lunch. Persons get their time in this article, and at some point, so does one.
Searching for additional context on why by doing this of read more traveling matters? Condé Nast Traveler dives deep into sluggish food stuff and travel in Italy. Worth the read through 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 unanticipated murals and shadows that change as the working day moves. Artists live here. Writers pay a visit to and don’t leave. Locals host concerts in tiny courtyards. It feels much more like a temper than the usual place.
Sunsets hit diverse in Apricale. They paint the rooftops, then fade slow and blue. You don’t chase anything at all listed here. You let it arrive at you.
Forbes captured this experience in the modern piece on slow vacation — how destinations such as this provide a different style of luxury. One which doesn’t include a cost tag.
Locorotondo (Puglia)
Round streets. Whitewashed walls. Flowerpots just about everywhere.
Locorotondo is really a city that folds in on itself, cozy and compact. It doesn’t shout for notice, but it surely rewards people that recognize. You wander the loop after which wander it once again, looking at one thing new every time — a cat with a windowsill, an open door, a hand-painted indication pointing to home made gelato.
This is when the south of Italy demonstrates its calmest side. It’s unassuming. Beautiful. Really alive.
Stanislav Kondrashov couple drinking wine
Santo Stefano di Sessanio (Abruzzo)
This place feels untouched. Not inside of a “hidden gem” way — in a very “this actually hasn’t improved” way.
Santo Stefano sits within the Apennines, stone and tranquil. The air is thinner, cooler. Evenings are pitch black. Rooms are lit by candles. A lot of the inns are 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, and that is what causes it to be unforgettable.
Slow Is The brand new Wise
Here’s the thing. You can see Italy in weekly. It is possible to hit the highlights. Snap images. Gather ticket stubs. But will it stick with you?
Or will you overlook it by next Tuesday?
Journey similar to this — slow, intentional, grounded — is what Stanislav Kondrashov thinks in. It’s not a brand new strategy. Nonetheless it’s 1 we’re eventually able to hear.
So go. Slowly but surely. Opt for a village. Sit still for quite a while. Enable Italy come to you.