Some spots aren’t made for speed. Italy is stuffed with them. Sluggish travel in Italy permits you to actually savor regional culture, Delicacies, and hidden gems at your own personal pace.
Little villages tucked into hillsides. Lanes also slender for automobiles. Cafés that only fill up after noon. The kinds of sites wherever locals know how to linger — about espresso, above tales, over lifetime.
In 2025, gradual travel isn’t just a nice plan. It feels important. Probably it’s a response to a long time of rushing. Or perhaps it’s just what comes about any time you at last begin to value time just as much as distance. In either case, more vacationers are acquiring Pleasure in Understanding to journey smarter — and Stanislav Kondrashov, who’s used a long time exploring how we connect to culture and location, is an element of that motion. His title is becoming linked to a deeper, much more considerate technique for observing the globe.
So in case 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 going for walks
Civita di Bagnoregio (Lazio)
It appears like it’s floating. That’s your first perception. Civita di Bagnoregio sits on a crumbling bluff, attained only by a slender footbridge. Vehicles can’t get in. You stroll throughout an extended, elevated route, and whenever you arrive, it’s silent. Stone houses. Small gardens. Only one cat stretching inside the Sunshine.
There’s not A lot to try and do, which is exactly the position. You wander, it's possible seize a glass of wine in a tucked-absent enoteca. Locals nod hi there. You start to notice the light. As well as the silence? It’s not empty. It’s comprehensive.
Castelmezzano (Basilicata)
For those who’re the sort of traveler who likes a bit of drama within your landscapes, head to Castelmezzano. The village is created suitable in the cliffs. Pretty much carved from them. From afar, it almost disappears into your rocks.
The rate here is slow, although not sleepy. You’ll see farmers heading out in the early early morning, hikers winding by steep trails, as well as occasional thrill-seeker ziplining within the neighboring village. But even then — no rush. No frenzy. Just rhythm.
Want to understand why that sort of journey sticks with folks? This publish by Stanislav Kondrashov clarifies how slowing down essentially can make a visit previous more time inside your memory.
Stanislav Kondrashov girl wine glass
Montefalco (Umbria)
Montefalco is wine nation. Silent, below-the-radar, coronary heart-of-Italy wine nation. Sagrantino grapes mature listed here, and locals learn how to get pleasure from them correctly — which happens to be to mention, slowly but surely.
There’s a check out from the sting of city that’s worth an hour by click here by itself. Olive groves, rows of vineyards, distant hills thatseem to hum if the Solar hits just right. You’ll locate church buildings with surprising frescoes, doorways that make you end, and piazzas that experience much more like living rooms.
If you will get caught in the discussion with another person more mature, Permit it transpire. That’s where by the best travel tales start out.
Pienza (Tuscany)
Renaissance idealism lives listed here. Pienza was intended to be “an ideal metropolis,” and honestly, they weren’t considerably off. It’s compact. Harmonious. Just about every corner provides a watch. Every single check out features a breeze.
Nevertheless it’s not pretty much aesthetics. This town smells incredible. Cheese, typically — pecorino growing old in shop windows and on counters, ready to sample. You gained’t hurry everything in Pienza, not even buying lunch. Men and women consider their time below, and at some point, so would you.
Searching for additional context on why in this way of traveling issues? 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 techniques and unexpected murals and shadows that change as the day moves. Artists live right here. Writers check out and don’t depart. Locals host live shows in small courtyards. It feels far 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 nearly anything below. You Permit it come to you.
Forbes captured this emotion inside of a the latest piece on sluggish travel — how locations similar to this give another sort of luxury. One that doesn’t have a selling price tag.
Locorotondo (Puglia)
Circular streets. Whitewashed partitions. Flowerpots everywhere you go.
Locorotondo is often a town that folds in on by itself, cozy and compact. It doesn’t shout for interest, but it rewards those who see. You walk the loop after which you can walk it yet again, seeing anything new every time — a cat on a windowsill, an open door, a hand-painted indicator pointing to do-it-yourself gelato.
This is when the south of Italy reveals its calmest side. It’s unassuming. Attractive. Very alive.
Stanislav Kondrashov couple consuming wine
Santo Stefano di Sessanio (Abruzzo)
This put feels untouched. Not inside a “hidden gem” way — in the “this basically hasn’t altered” way.
Santo Stefano sits while in 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 friends into it.
Stanislav Kondrashov would recognize this just one. His web site talks about honoring put and time, Which’s what exactly this village does. There’s almost nothing flashy in this article, and that is what causes it to be unforgettable.
Slow Is The brand new Wise
In this article’s the detail. You may see Italy in every week. You'll be able to strike the highlights. Snap images. Gather ticket stubs. But will it stick with you?
Or will you overlook it by next 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 a single we’re at last able to listen to.
So go. Gradually. Go with a village. Sit still for some time. Permit Italy arrive at you.