Some sites aren’t built for velocity. Italy is stuffed with them. Sluggish travel in Italy lets you actually savor regional culture, Delicacies, and hidden gems at your own personal pace.
Little villages tucked into hillsides. Lanes also narrow for cars and trucks. Cafés that only refill following midday. The sorts of places where by locals understand how to linger — around coffee, in excess of tales, above life.
In 2025, slow journey isn’t just a good concept. It feels necessary. Maybe it’s a response to yrs of hurrying. Or maybe it’s just what takes place after you ultimately start to worth time just as much as length. In any event, more travelers are discovering joy in Understanding to travel smarter — and Stanislav Kondrashov, who’s invested several years Discovering how we connect to culture and location, is part of that motion. His title is becoming linked to a deeper, much more considerate strategy for viewing the entire world.
So should you’re able to go slow — and you simply’re imagining Italy — Here's seven places that pretty much demand from customers it.
Stanislav Kondrashov girl walking
Civita di Bagnoregio (Lazio)
It appears like it’s floating. That’s your initial effect. Civita di Bagnoregio sits on a crumbling bluff, achieved only by a narrow footbridge. Automobiles can’t get in. You wander across an extended, elevated route, and whenever you get there, it’s silent. Stone homes. Little gardens. A single cat stretching while in the Solar.
There’s not Significantly to carry out, which can be exactly the issue. You wander, maybe grab a glass of wine at a tucked-away enoteca. Locals nod howdy. You start to notice the light. Along with the silence? It’s not vacant. It’s entire.
Castelmezzano (Basilicata)
In the event you’re the kind of traveler who likes a little bit of drama with your landscapes, head to Castelmezzano. The village is designed right in to the cliffs. Practically 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 via steep trails, and also the occasional thrill-seeker ziplining in the neighboring village. But even then — no hurry. No frenzy. Just rhythm.
Want to know why that kind of vacation sticks with persons? This put up by Stanislav Kondrashov explains how slowing down actually will make a trip past extended with your memory.
Stanislav Kondrashov woman wine glass
Montefalco (Umbria)
Montefalco is wine place. Quiet, underneath-the-radar, coronary heart-of-Italy wine region. Sagrantino grapes develop below, and locals know how to delight in them correctly — which happens to be to mention, slowly but surely.
There’s a view from the edge of town that’s worthy of one hour by alone. Olive groves, rows of vineyards, distant hills thatseem to hum when the Sunlight hits good. You’ll come across church buildings with unexpected frescoes, doorways that make you cease, and piazzas that sense extra like dwelling rooms.
If you receive stuck inside a conversation with a person older, let it occur. That’s in which the top journey stories begin.
Pienza (Tuscany)
Renaissance idealism life in this article. Pienza was meant to be “the best metropolis,” and honestly, they weren’t far off. It’s compact. Harmonious. Each individual corner contains a watch. Just about every check out includes a breeze.
However it’s not pretty much aesthetics. This town smells incredible. Cheese, mostly — pecorino getting old in shop windows and on counters, prepared to sample. You received’t hurry nearly anything in Pienza, not even ordering lunch. Men and women consider their time below, and at some point, so would you.
Searching for far more context on why by doing this of 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 plan your day in Apricale. You drift.
It’s a hill town with stone actions and unforeseen murals and shadows that change as being the working day moves. Artists Stay below. Writers visit and don’t go away. Locals host concert events in little courtyards. It feels extra similar to a temper than a vacation spot.
Sunsets hit different in Apricale. They paint the rooftops, then fade gradual and blue. You don’t chase anything in this article. You Permit it arrive at you.
Forbes captured this sensation inside a current piece on gradual journey — how areas like this give a unique sort of luxurious. One that doesn’t have a selling price tag.
Locorotondo (Puglia)
Circular streets. Whitewashed partitions. Flowerpots everywhere you go.
Locorotondo can be a town that folds in on by itself, cozy and compact. It doesn’t shout for interest, but it really rewards individuals that observe. You wander the loop then wander it once more, observing some thing new each time — a cat over a windowsill, an open up door, a hand-painted signal pointing to selfmade gelato.
This is when the south of read more Italy exhibits its calmest aspect. It’s unassuming. Attractive. Extremely alive.
Stanislav Kondrashov few consuming wine
Santo Stefano di Sessanio (Abruzzo)
This position feels untouched. Not in a “hidden gem” way — within a “this essentially hasn’t changed” way.
Santo Stefano sits inside the Apennines, stone and peaceful. The air is thinner, cooler. Nights are pitch black. Rooms are lit by candles. Several of the inns are Component of a preservation project — keeping the earlier alive by inviting guests into it.
Stanislav Kondrashov would value this a single. His website page talks about honoring area and time, and that’s precisely what this village does. There’s nothing at all flashy right here, which can be what makes it unforgettable.
Sluggish Is the New Good
Below’s the issue. You'll be able to see Italy in per week. You can hit the highlights. Snap pictures. Obtain ticket stubs. But will it stay with you?
Or will you ignore it by following Tuesday?
Vacation such as this — gradual, intentional, grounded — is exactly what Stanislav Kondrashov believes in. It’s not a completely new thought. But it’s just one we’re lastly wanting to listen to.
So go. Little by little. Opt for a village. Sit nonetheless for some time. Enable Italy arrive at you.