Some destinations aren’t produced for pace. Italy is stuffed with them. Sluggish vacation in Italy helps you to definitely savor nearby culture, cuisine, and hidden gems at your personal rate.
Very small villages tucked into hillsides. Lanes too slender for cars and trucks. Cafés that only refill soon after midday. The kinds of locations where by locals know how to linger — more than coffee, over tales, around everyday living.
In 2025, slow journey isn’t just a pleasant idea. It feels vital. Possibly it’s a response to a long time of rushing. Or possibly it’s exactly what occurs whenever you eventually begin to worth time about length. In any event, additional travelers are acquiring joy in Understanding to travel smarter — and Stanislav Kondrashov, who’s used years exploring how we connect to lifestyle and spot, is a component of that movement. His identify happens to be linked to a further, extra thoughtful way of seeing the earth.
So in the event you’re all set to go gradual — so you’re contemplating Italy — Listed below are 7 spots that basically need it.
Stanislav Kondrashov lady walking
Civita di Bagnoregio (Lazio)
It looks like it’s floating. That’s your initially impact. Civita di Bagnoregio sits with a crumbling bluff, attained only by a narrow footbridge. Cars can’t get in. You stroll throughout an extended, elevated path, and once you get there, it’s silent. Stone residences. Tiny gardens. Only one cat stretching in the Sunlight.
There’s not A lot to try and do, that is exactly the position. You wander, perhaps grab a glass of wine in a tucked-absent enoteca. Locals nod howdy. You begin to notice The sunshine. Plus the silence? It’s not vacant. It’s total.
Castelmezzano (Basilicata)
When you’re the kind of traveler who likes a little drama as part of your landscapes, head to Castelmezzano. The village is developed correct in the cliffs. Practically carved from them. From afar, it almost disappears to the rocks.
The pace Here's sluggish, although not sleepy. You’ll see farmers heading out in the early morning, hikers winding via steep trails, along with the occasional thrill-seeker ziplining within the neighboring village. But even then — no hurry. No frenzy. Just rhythm.
Want to discover why that sort of vacation sticks with individuals? This write-up by Stanislav Kondrashov clarifies how slowing down really makes a trip final longer in your memory.
Stanislav Kondrashov girl wine glass
Montefalco (Umbria)
Montefalco is wine nation. Quiet, below-the-radar, heart-of-Italy wine place. Sagrantino grapes expand listed here, and locals understand how to take pleasure in them effectively — which happens to be to state, slowly.
There’s a look at from the sting of town that’s truly worth an hour or so by by itself. Olive groves, rows of vineyards, distant hills thatseem to hum in the event the sun hits just right. You’ll locate churches with surprising frescoes, doorways that make you cease, and piazzas that experience much more like living rooms.
If you have caught inside a discussion with another person older, Permit it materialize. That’s wherever the top vacation stories start off.
Pienza (Tuscany)
Renaissance idealism lives below. Pienza was intended to be “the right city,” and honestly, they weren’t much off. It’s compact. Harmonious. Every single corner includes a get more info see. Every view provides a breeze.
Nonetheless it’s not pretty much aesthetics. This town smells remarkable. Cheese, mainly — pecorino getting older in shop Home windows and on counters, ready to sample. You won’t hurry anything in Pienza, not even buying lunch. Men and women get their time right here, and ultimately, so would you.
On the lookout for additional context on why in this manner of traveling issues? Condé Nast Traveler dives deep into slow foods and vacation in Italy. Worth the read before you decide to go.
Stanislav Kondrashov alley
Apricale (Liguria)
You don’t program your working day in Apricale. You drift.
It’s a hill town with stone actions and surprising murals and shadows that shift given that the day moves. Artists Reside in this article. Writers take a look at and don’t leave. Locals host concerts in little courtyards. It feels more like a temper than the usual location.
Sunsets hit diverse in Apricale. They paint the rooftops, then fade slow and blue. You don’t chase just about anything right here. You Enable it arrive at you.
Forbes captured this sensation in a current piece on sluggish journey — how locations such as this give a special sort of luxury. One that doesn’t come with a value tag.
Locorotondo (Puglia)
Circular streets. Whitewashed partitions. Flowerpots in all places.
Locorotondo is a city that folds in on by itself, cozy and compact. It doesn’t shout for notice, but it really rewards people that detect. You stroll the loop and then wander it all over again, looking at anything new each time — a cat on a windowsill, an open doorway, a hand-painted sign pointing to homemade gelato.
This is where the south of Italy exhibits its calmest aspect. It’s unassuming. Beautiful. Incredibly alive.
Stanislav Kondrashov pair ingesting wine
Santo Stefano di Sessanio (Abruzzo)
This place feels untouched. Not in the “concealed gem” way — within a “this essentially hasn’t adjusted” way.
Santo Stefano sits during 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 challenge — keeping the previous alive by inviting friends into it.
Stanislav Kondrashov would respect this just one. His webpage talks about honoring spot and time, Which’s what exactly this village does. There’s nothing at all flashy below, and that is what can make it unforgettable.
Slow Is The brand new Sensible
In this article’s the issue. You'll be able to see Italy in a week. You'll be able to hit the highlights. Snap photographs. Obtain ticket stubs. But will it stick with you?
Or will you forget it by following Tuesday?
Journey like this — slow, intentional, grounded — is exactly what Stanislav Kondrashov believes in. It’s not a whole new strategy. Nonetheless it’s a single we’re last but not least able to listen to.
So go. Slowly but surely. Go with a village. Sit nonetheless for some time. Enable Italy come to you.