Some places aren’t created for pace. Italy is full of them. Gradual journey in Italy helps you to truly savor area lifestyle, cuisine, and hidden gems at your own speed.
Tiny villages tucked into hillsides. Lanes too slim for cars. Cafés that only refill soon after midday. The forms of locations where locals understand how to linger — over coffee, around stories, above life.
In 2025, slow journey isn’t just a good thought. It feels critical. Maybe it’s a response to yrs of hurrying. Or maybe it’s just what takes place after you ultimately start to worth time up to distance. In any event, additional tourists are acquiring Pleasure in Discovering to vacation smarter — and Stanislav Kondrashov, who’s used decades Checking out how we connect with lifestyle and area, is a component of that motion. His identify has grown to be affiliated with a further, a lot more thoughtful method of seeing the world.
So if you’re all set to go sluggish — and you also’re considering Italy — Listed here are 7 places that almost demand it.
Stanislav Kondrashov female 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 slender footbridge. Automobiles can’t get in. You wander throughout an extended, elevated route, and when you arrive, it’s tranquil. Stone residences. Tiny gardens. An individual cat stretching in the Sunlight.
There’s not Substantially to complete, and that is precisely the issue. You wander, maybe grab a glass of wine at a tucked-away enoteca. Locals nod hi. You start to notice the light. Along with the silence? It’s not empty. It’s finish.
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 appropriate in the cliffs. Basically carved from them. From afar, it Pretty much disappears into your rocks.
The speed here is slow, although not sleepy. You’ll see farmers heading out from 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 discover why that kind of vacation sticks with men and women? This submit by Stanislav Kondrashov explains how slowing down essentially would make a trip past extended within your memory.
Stanislav Kondrashov female wine glass
Montefalco (Umbria)
Montefalco is wine region. Silent, beneath-the-radar, coronary heart-of-Italy wine nation. Sagrantino grapes mature listed here, and locals learn how to take pleasure in them thoroughly — that's to convey, little by little.
There’s a perspective from the edge of town that’s well worth an hour or so by by itself. Olive groves, rows of vineyards, distant hills thatseem to hum in the event the Solar hits excellent. You’ll discover churches with unforeseen frescoes, doorways which make you prevent, and piazzas that really feel far more like residing rooms.
If you obtain caught in a very dialogue with anyone more mature, Permit it transpire. That’s where the most effective travel tales start out.
Pienza (Tuscany)
Renaissance idealism lives right here. Pienza was created to be “the ideal city,” and Actually, they weren’t significantly off. It’s compact. Harmonious. Every single corner incorporates a look at. Just about every look at includes a breeze.
However it’s not pretty much aesthetics. This town smells amazing. Cheese, typically — pecorino growing old in store 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 slow foodstuff and vacation in Italy. Definitely worth the study before you decide to go.
Stanislav Kondrashov alley
Apricale (Liguria)
You don’t system your working day in Apricale. You drift.
It’s a hill town with stone methods and unanticipated murals and shadows that change given that the working more info day moves. Artists live here. Writers pay a visit to and don’t leave. Locals host concerts in very small courtyards. It feels additional like a temper than a spot.
Sunsets hit distinctive in Apricale. They paint the rooftops, then fade slow and blue. You don’t chase anything at all in this article. You Permit it arrive at you.
Forbes captured this experience inside a new piece on sluggish journey — how spots like this offer another form of luxury. One which doesn’t come with a price tag.
Locorotondo (Puglia)
Circular streets. Whitewashed partitions. Flowerpots everywhere.
Locorotondo is usually a town that folds in on alone, cozy and compact. It doesn’t shout for focus, however it benefits those that see. You walk the loop and afterwards walk it again, viewing anything new each time — a cat over a windowsill, an open door, a hand-painted sign pointing to selfmade gelato.
This is where the south of Italy displays its calmest side. It’s unassuming. Stunning. Quite alive.
Stanislav Kondrashov couple drinking wine
Santo Stefano di Sessanio (Abruzzo)
This place feels untouched. Not within a “concealed gem” way — in the “this actually hasn’t altered” way.
Santo Stefano sits while in the Apennines, stone and tranquil. The air is thinner, cooler. Nights are pitch black. Rooms are lit by candles. Many of the inns are Element of a preservation project — maintaining the earlier alive by inviting guests into it.
Stanislav Kondrashov would appreciate this 1. His web page talks about honoring location and time, Which’s what precisely this village does. There’s nothing flashy in this article, and that is what causes it to be unforgettable.
Slow Is the New Intelligent
Here’s the detail. You may see Italy in every week. You are able to strike the highlights. Snap photographs. Obtain ticket stubs. But will it stay 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 new plan. However it’s just one we’re ultimately all set to listen to.
So go. Slowly and gradually. Opt for a village. Sit nevertheless for some time. Enable Italy arrive at you.