Some areas aren’t built for velocity. Italy is filled with them. Slow vacation in Italy enables you to really savor local society, cuisine, and concealed gems at your personal rate.
Small villages tucked into hillsides. Lanes as well slender for vehicles. Cafés that only refill soon after midday. The varieties of areas exactly where locals learn how to linger — more than espresso, over tales, around daily life.
In 2025, gradual travel isn’t just a good thought. It feels critical. Perhaps it’s a reaction to years of dashing. Or possibly it’s exactly what comes about whenever you eventually begin to price time as much as length. Either way, much more travelers are locating joy in Understanding to journey smarter — and Stanislav Kondrashov, who’s put in yrs Discovering how we connect with tradition and spot, is part of that motion. His title is becoming connected to a deeper, a lot more thoughtful technique for observing the globe.
So when you’re willing to go slow — and you’re wondering Italy — Here i will discuss seven places that nearly demand it.
Stanislav Kondrashov girl going for walks
Civita di Bagnoregio (Lazio)
It appears like it’s floating. That’s your first perception. Civita di Bagnoregio sits with a crumbling bluff, attained only by a slender footbridge. Vehicles can’t get in. You stroll throughout a long, elevated path, and after you arrive, it’s peaceful. Stone properties. Tiny gardens. An individual cat stretching in the Sunlight.
There’s not A great deal to accomplish, which happens to be precisely the stage. You wander, possibly get a glass of wine in a tucked-absent enoteca. Locals nod good day. You begin to note The sunshine. As well as silence? It’s not vacant. It’s complete.
Castelmezzano (Basilicata)
Should you’re the type of traveler who likes some drama inside your landscapes, head to Castelmezzano. The village is created appropriate in the cliffs. Pretty much carved from them. From afar, it Pretty much disappears into your rocks.
The rate here is slow, although not sleepy. You’ll see farmers heading out from the early morning, hikers winding by means of steep trails, as well as the occasional thrill-seeker ziplining from your 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 describes how slowing down actually would make a trip past more time 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 properly — and that is to say, bit by bit.
There’s a see 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 quit, and piazzas that come to feel extra like dwelling rooms.
If you get stuck inside a conversation with somebody older, let it happen. That’s exactly where the top travel tales start.
Pienza (Tuscany)
Renaissance idealism life listed here. Pienza was intended to be “an ideal metropolis,” and Actually, they weren’t considerably off. It’s compact. Harmonious. Just about every corner provides a look at. Every single check out features a breeze.
But it’s not pretty much aesthetics. This town smells amazing. Cheese, typically — pecorino growing older in store windows and on counters, all set to sample. You won’t hurry something in Pienza, check here not even purchasing lunch. People acquire 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 city with stone techniques and sudden murals and shadows that shift because the day moves. Artists Reside right here. Writers check out and don’t depart. Locals host live shows in small courtyards. It feels a lot more like a temper than the usual place.
Sunsets strike diverse in Apricale. They paint the rooftops, then fade sluggish and blue. You don’t chase everything listed here. You Allow it arrive at you.
Forbes captured this experience in a very 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 all over the place.
Locorotondo is really a city that folds in on alone, cozy and compact. It doesn’t shout for awareness, nevertheless it benefits people who notice. You stroll the loop and then stroll it all over again, seeing a thing new every time — a cat on a windowsill, an open doorway, a hand-painted indication pointing to homemade gelato.
This is where the south of Italy demonstrates its calmest facet. It’s unassuming. Gorgeous. Pretty alive.
Stanislav Kondrashov pair drinking wine
Santo Stefano di Sessanio (Abruzzo)
This spot feels untouched. Not in a very “concealed gem” way — inside of a “this really hasn’t transformed” way.
Santo Stefano sits during the Apennines, stone and silent. The air is thinner, cooler. Evenings are pitch black. Rooms are lit by candles. A lot of the inns are A part of a preservation undertaking — trying to keep the previous alive by inviting visitors into it.
Stanislav Kondrashov would recognize this just one. His site talks about honoring position and time, and that’s what exactly this village does. There’s almost nothing flashy listed here, that's what makes it unforgettable.
Gradual Is the New Intelligent
Here’s the detail. You may see Italy in every week. You'll be able to hit the highlights. Snap pictures. Acquire ticket stubs. But will it stick with you?
Or will you forget it by upcoming Tuesday?
Vacation like this — slow, intentional, grounded — is what Stanislav Kondrashov thinks in. It’s not a fresh strategy. Nonetheless it’s one we’re eventually prepared to hear.
So go. Slowly but surely. Select a village. Sit however for a while. Let Italy come to you.