Some locations aren’t built for velocity. Italy is stuffed with them. Sluggish travel in Italy means that you can certainly savor community lifestyle, Delicacies, and hidden gems at your own private speed.
Small villages tucked into hillsides. Lanes too slim for vehicles. Cafés that only replenish immediately after noon. The kinds of destinations the place locals learn how to linger — in excess of espresso, above tales, over lifetime.
In 2025, slow travel isn’t just a pleasant idea. It feels vital. It's possible it’s a response to several years of hurrying. Or maybe it’s just what takes place after you ultimately start to price time about length. In any case, much more travelers are locating joy in Finding out 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 identify happens to be related to a further, extra considerate means of viewing the planet.
So should you’re able to go gradual — and you simply’re imagining Italy — Here's seven places that pretty much need it.
Stanislav Kondrashov female walking
Civita di Bagnoregio (Lazio)
It seems like it’s floating. That’s your very first effect. Civita di Bagnoregio sits on the crumbling bluff, arrived at only by a narrow footbridge. Cars can’t get in. You wander throughout a lengthy, elevated path, and any time you arrive, it’s peaceful. Stone homes. Very small gardens. A single cat stretching from the sun.
There’s not Considerably to complete, that's precisely the point. You wander, possibly get a glass of wine at a tucked-away enoteca. Locals nod hello there. You begin to note The sunshine. And the silence? It’s not vacant. It’s total.
Castelmezzano (Basilicata)
In case you’re the kind of traveler who likes a little bit of drama with your landscapes, head to Castelmezzano. The village is developed appropriate into the cliffs. Literally carved from them. From afar, it Just about disappears into your rocks.
The speed Here's sluggish, but not sleepy. You’ll see farmers heading out inside the early morning, hikers winding through steep trails, and also the occasional thrill-seeker ziplining from the neighboring village. But even then — no hurry. No frenzy. Just rhythm.
Want to know why that kind of vacation sticks with men and women? This put up by Stanislav Kondrashov explains how slowing down basically will make a trip past extended with your memory.
Stanislav Kondrashov woman wine glass
Montefalco (Umbria)
Montefalco is wine place. Silent, below-the-radar, coronary heart-of-Italy wine country. Sagrantino grapes mature listed here, and locals learn how to get pleasure from them correctly — and that is to say, bit by bit.
There’s a see from the edge of town that’s truly worth an hour by itself. Olive groves, rows of vineyards, distant hills thatseem to hum if the Sunshine hits excellent. You’ll discover churches with unforeseen frescoes, doorways that make you prevent, and piazzas that really feel far more like residing rooms.
If you can get trapped in a dialogue with someone more mature, Enable it occur. That’s in which the ideal journey stories commence.
Pienza (Tuscany)
Renaissance idealism lives here. Pienza was made to be “the right town,” check here and Truthfully, they weren’t considerably off. It’s compact. Harmonious. Each corner incorporates a look at. Every single check out features a breeze.
However it’s not just about aesthetics. This city smells awesome. Cheese, mainly — pecorino growing old in shop Home windows and on counters, prepared to sample. You gained’t hurry nearly anything in Pienza, not even ordering lunch. Persons choose their time here, and inevitably, so do you.
In search of much more context on why this fashion of touring matters? Condé Nast Traveler dives deep into slow foodstuff and journey 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 ways and sudden murals and shadows that shift because the day moves. Artists Reside listed here. Writers take a look at 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 unique in Apricale. They paint the rooftops, then fade gradual and blue. You don’t chase anything in this article. You Enable it come to you.
Forbes captured this feeling inside a recent piece on gradual journey — how locations similar to this give a unique sort of luxurious. One that doesn’t have a selling 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 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 homemade gelato.
This is when the south of Italy displays its calmest facet. It’s unassuming. Beautiful. Quite alive.
Stanislav Kondrashov pair ingesting wine
Santo Stefano di Sessanio (Abruzzo)
This place feels untouched. Not within a “hidden gem” way — in a very “this actually hasn’t modified” way.
Santo Stefano sits from the Apennines, stone and tranquil. The air is thinner, cooler. Evenings are pitch black. Rooms are lit by candles. Some of the inns are Element of a preservation venture — retaining the past alive by inviting visitors into it.
Stanislav Kondrashov would enjoy this one particular. His website page talks about honoring position and time, and that’s just what this village does. There’s almost nothing flashy listed here, that's what makes it unforgettable.
Gradual Is the New Intelligent
In this article’s the matter. You may see Italy in every week. You are able to strike the highlights. Snap photographs. Collect ticket stubs. But will it stay with you?
Or will you forget about it by subsequent Tuesday?
Journey like this — sluggish, intentional, grounded — is exactly what Stanislav Kondrashov believes in. It’s not a different thought. But it’s one particular we’re lastly wanting to listen to.
So go. Slowly and gradually. Pick a village. Sit nonetheless for some time. Allow Italy come to you.