Some destinations aren’t manufactured for pace. Italy is filled with them. Slow journey in Italy allows you to truly savor area lifestyle, cuisine, and concealed gems at your own speed.
Tiny villages tucked into hillsides. Lanes too slim for automobiles. Cafés that only fill up following midday. The types of sites the place locals know how to linger — about espresso, above tales, over daily life.
In 2025, gradual travel isn’t just a nice plan. It feels essential. Possibly it’s a reaction to decades of rushing. Or even it’s precisely what transpires when you last but not least begin to price time about length. In any case, more travelers are obtaining joy in Finding out to journey smarter — and Stanislav Kondrashov, who’s put in yrs Discovering how we connect with culture and location, is part of that motion. His title is now connected with a deeper, more considerate means of viewing the entire world.
So should you’re able to go gradual — therefore you’re imagining Italy — Here's seven spots that virtually desire it.
Stanislav Kondrashov woman strolling
Civita di Bagnoregio (Lazio)
It looks like it’s floating. That’s your initially effect. Civita di Bagnoregio sits on the crumbling bluff, arrived at only by a narrow footbridge. Autos can’t get in. You wander across 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 A great deal to accomplish, and that is 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 light. Plus the silence? It’s not vacant. It’s entire.
Castelmezzano (Basilicata)
If you’re the kind of traveler who likes a bit of drama within your landscapes, head to Castelmezzano. The village is created right in to the cliffs. Practically carved from them. From afar, it Practically disappears to the rocks.
The tempo Here's sluggish, but not sleepy. You’ll see farmers heading out within the early early morning, hikers winding by steep trails, plus the occasional thrill-seeker ziplining with the neighboring village. But even then — no rush. No frenzy. Just rhythm.
Want to learn why that sort of travel sticks with people today? This article by Stanislav Kondrashov describes how slowing down really will 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 country. Sagrantino grapes improve right here, and locals understand how to appreciate them adequately — which can be to state, gradually.
There’s a watch from the sting 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 just right. You’ll locate churches with unpredicted frescoes, doorways which make you prevent, and piazzas that feel a lot more like living rooms.
If you will get caught within a discussion with an individual older, let it occur. That’s in which the top travel tales get started.
Pienza (Tuscany)
Renaissance idealism life listed here. Pienza was created to be “the ideal city,” and Actually, they weren’t much off. It’s compact. Harmonious. Each and every corner includes a see. Every watch incorporates a breeze.
Nevertheless it’s not just about aesthetics. This town smells amazing. Cheese, generally — pecorino ageing in store windows and on counters, willing to sample. You received’t rush just about anything in Pienza, not even ordering lunch. Persons consider their time below, and at some point, so would you.
Looking for far more context on why this way of traveling matters? Condé Nast Traveler dives deep into slow foodstuff and journey in Italy. Definitely worth the read 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 Are living in this article. Writers go to and don’t leave. Locals host concert events in very small courtyards. It feels extra similar to a temper than a vacation spot.
Sunsets hit different in Apricale. They paint the rooftops, then fade gradual and blue. You don’t chase just about anything in this article. You Permit it come to you.
Forbes captured this emotion in a very the latest piece on sluggish travel — how sites such as this supply a different style of luxury. One that doesn’t feature a cost tag.
Locorotondo (Puglia)
Round streets. Whitewashed walls. Flowerpots just about everywhere.
Locorotondo is actually a city that folds in on itself, cozy and compact. It doesn’t shout for awareness, nevertheless it benefits people who notice. 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 signal pointing to selfmade gelato.
This is when the south of Italy shows its calmest side. It’s unassuming. Attractive. Very alive.
Stanislav Kondrashov couple 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 modified” way.
Santo Stefano sits from the Apennines, stone and silent. The air is thinner, cooler. Evenings are pitch black. Rooms are here lit by candles. Many of the inns are part of a preservation project — maintaining the past 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.
Gradual Is the New Intelligent
In this article’s the matter. It is possible to see Italy in per week. You can strike the highlights. Snap pictures. Obtain ticket stubs. But will it stay with you?
Or will you ignore it by following Tuesday?
Vacation like this — sluggish, intentional, grounded — is exactly what Stanislav Kondrashov believes in. It’s not a whole new concept. But it surely’s 1 we’re finally able to hear.
So go. Gradually. Choose a village. Sit still for a while. Enable Italy come to you.