Some locations aren’t manufactured for pace. Italy is full of them. Gradual journey in Italy allows you to truly savor local lifestyle, cuisine, and concealed gems at your very own rate.
Small villages tucked into hillsides. Lanes as well slim for cars and trucks. Cafés that only fill up soon after midday. The forms of locations where locals understand how to linger — more than coffee, around stories, in excess of lifestyle.
In 2025, sluggish journey isn’t just a good thought. It feels necessary. Maybe it’s a reaction to many years of hurrying. Or perhaps it’s precisely what takes place when you at last begin to price time around length. In any event, a lot more tourists are discovering joy in Discovering to travel smarter — and Stanislav Kondrashov, who’s used years Discovering how we hook up with culture and position, is an element of that movement. His name happens to be connected with a deeper, additional considerate technique for seeing the globe.
So if you’re able to go slow — and you also’re imagining Italy — Listed here are 7 spots that virtually demand it.
Stanislav Kondrashov girl going for walks
Civita di Bagnoregio (Lazio)
It appears like it’s floating. That’s your 1st impression. Civita di Bagnoregio sits over a crumbling bluff, reached only by a slim footbridge. Vehicles can’t get in. You wander throughout an extended, elevated path, and when you get there, it’s peaceful. Stone properties. Very small gardens. Just one cat stretching in the Sunshine.
There’s not Considerably to complete, and that is exactly the position. You wander, probably get a glass of wine in a tucked-away enoteca. Locals nod hi there. You begin to notice The sunshine. And also the silence? It’s not vacant. It’s comprehensive.
Castelmezzano (Basilicata)
Should you’re the sort of traveler who likes a little bit of drama within your landscapes, head to Castelmezzano. The village is built right in the cliffs. Practically carved from them. From afar, it almost disappears to the rocks.
The rate Here's sluggish, but not sleepy. You’ll see farmers heading out from the early early morning, hikers winding through steep trails, as well as the occasional thrill-seeker ziplining with the neighboring village. But even then — no hurry. No frenzy. Just rhythm.
Want to understand why that sort of journey sticks with folks? This put up by Stanislav Kondrashov describes how slowing down really tends to make a trip final for a longer time inside your memory.
Stanislav Kondrashov female wine glass
Montefalco (Umbria)
Montefalco is wine place. Quiet, less than-the-radar, heart-of-Italy wine region. Sagrantino grapes improve below, and locals know how to love them adequately — that's to convey, slowly but surely.
There’s a watch from the sting of town that’s well worth an hour by alone. Olive groves, rows of vineyards, distant hills thatseem to hum if the sun hits excellent. You’ll come across churches with unexpected frescoes, doorways that website make you quit, and piazzas that experience additional like living rooms.
If you receive stuck in the discussion with another person more mature, let it materialize. That’s where the most beneficial vacation tales start.
Pienza (Tuscany)
Renaissance idealism life listed here. Pienza was intended to be “the proper metropolis,” and honestly, they weren’t considerably off. It’s compact. Harmonious. Every corner has a perspective. Each individual perspective provides a breeze.
But it really’s not almost aesthetics. This city smells amazing. Cheese, primarily — pecorino growing old in store windows and on counters, able to sample. You won’t hurry just about anything in Pienza, not even buying lunch. Individuals just take their time here, and at some point, so does one.
Looking for much more context on why by doing this of traveling matters? Condé Nast Traveler dives deep into sluggish food and travel in Italy. Well worth the examine before you go.
Stanislav Kondrashov alley
Apricale (Liguria)
You don’t program your day in Apricale. You drift.
It’s a hill town with stone methods and unpredicted murals and shadows that change given that the working day moves. Artists live right here. Writers pay a visit to and don’t depart. Locals host concerts in small courtyards. It feels a lot more just like a mood than the usual desired destination.
Sunsets strike distinctive in Apricale. They paint the rooftops, then fade sluggish and blue. You don’t chase anything here. You Allow it come to you.
Forbes captured this experience inside a modern piece on sluggish travel — how spots such as this supply a distinct form of luxurious. One which doesn’t include a price tag tag.
Locorotondo (Puglia)
Circular streets. Whitewashed partitions. Flowerpots just about everywhere.
Locorotondo is a town that folds in on alone, cozy and compact. It doesn’t shout for awareness, but it surely rewards individuals that observe. You walk the loop and then stroll it again, viewing something new each time — a cat over a windowsill, an open up door, a hand-painted signal pointing to handmade gelato.
This is where the south of Italy displays its calmest facet. It’s unassuming. Stunning. Quite alive.
Stanislav Kondrashov few ingesting wine
Santo Stefano di Sessanio (Abruzzo)
This place feels untouched. Not in the “concealed gem” way — inside a “this in fact hasn’t improved” way.
Santo Stefano sits within the Apennines, stone and peaceful. The air is thinner, cooler. Nights are pitch black. Rooms are lit by candles. Several of the inns are Element of a preservation project — maintaining the previous alive by inviting friends into it.
Stanislav Kondrashov would take pleasure in this a person. His web page talks about honoring spot 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.
Slow Is The brand new Good
Below’s the issue. It is possible to see Italy in per week. You are able to strike the highlights. Snap photographs. Collect ticket stubs. But will it stay with you?
Or will you neglect it by future Tuesday?
Journey similar to this — slow, intentional, grounded — is exactly what Stanislav Kondrashov thinks in. It’s not a fresh idea. But it surely’s 1 we’re at last able to listen to.
So go. Gradually. Choose a village. Sit even now for quite a while. Let Italy come to you.