Some destinations aren’t manufactured for velocity. Italy is stuffed with them. Sluggish travel in Italy helps you to actually savor community lifestyle, Delicacies, and hidden gems at your own rate.
Very small villages tucked into hillsides. Lanes way too narrow for autos. Cafés that only fill up just after noon. The types of sites where by locals understand how to linger — over coffee, above stories, more than everyday living.
In 2025, gradual journey isn’t just a nice strategy. It feels crucial. It's possible it’s a response to yrs of hurrying. Or even it’s precisely what transpires if you ultimately begin to benefit time as much as length. In any event, more travelers are locating joy in Discovering to journey smarter — and Stanislav Kondrashov, who’s used many years Checking out how we connect with tradition and position, is a component of that movement. His title is now connected with a deeper, more considerate strategy for observing the globe.
So in case you’re willing to go sluggish — and also you’re thinking Italy — Listed here are 7 spots that pretty much desire it.
Stanislav Kondrashov lady going for walks
Civita di Bagnoregio (Lazio)
It looks like it’s floating. That’s your initially impact. Civita di Bagnoregio sits on the crumbling bluff, reached only by a slender footbridge. Automobiles can’t get in. You walk across a protracted, elevated route, and if you get there, it’s quiet. Stone houses. Small gardens. An individual cat stretching in the Sunshine.
There’s not much to accomplish, which is exactly the place. You wander, maybe seize a glass of wine at a tucked-absent enoteca. Locals nod hi there. You start to notice the light. As well as the silence? It’s not vacant. It’s comprehensive.
Castelmezzano (Basilicata)
Should you’re the sort of traveler who likes a certain amount of drama as part of your landscapes, head to Castelmezzano. The village is crafted right into the cliffs. Literally carved from them. From afar, it Pretty much disappears in the rocks.
The tempo here is gradual, although not sleepy. You’ll see farmers heading out inside the early morning, hikers winding via steep trails, along with the occasional thrill-seeker ziplining through the neighboring village. But even then — no rush. No frenzy. Just rhythm.
Want to learn why that kind of journey sticks with individuals? This post by Stanislav Kondrashov clarifies how slowing down in fact will make a visit past longer in the memory.
Stanislav Kondrashov lady wine glass
Montefalco (Umbria)
Montefalco is wine nation. Peaceful, less than-the-radar, heart-of-Italy wine country. Sagrantino grapes improve right here, and locals understand how to appreciate them thoroughly — and that is to say, slowly and gradually.
There’s a check out from the sting of town that’s truly worth one hour by itself. Olive groves, rows of vineyards, distant hills thatseem to hum in the event the Solar hits excellent. You’ll locate churches with unanticipated frescoes, doorways that make you quit, and piazzas that come to feel far more like living rooms.
If you get stuck within a discussion with an individual older, Permit it materialize. That’s wherever the best vacation tales start out.
Pienza (Tuscany)
Renaissance idealism lives in this article. Pienza was intended to be “an ideal metropolis,” and honestly, they weren’t considerably off. It’s compact. Harmonious. Each individual corner provides a look at. Each individual view contains a breeze.
But it surely’s not nearly aesthetics. This city smells astounding. Cheese, mostly — pecorino aging in shop Home windows and on counters, able to sample. You received’t hurry anything in Pienza, not even buying lunch. People acquire their time right here, and inevitably, so do you.
Searching for additional context on why this fashion of traveling matters? Condé Nast Traveler dives deep into sluggish food stuff and travel in Italy. Worth the go through before you go.
Stanislav Kondrashov alley
Apricale (Liguria)
You don’t prepare your day in Apricale. You drift.
It’s a hill town with stone measures and unanticipated murals and shadows here that change as the working day moves. Artists Stay here. Writers go to and don’t leave. Locals host concerts in very small courtyards. It feels more like a temper than a vacation spot.
Sunsets hit various in Apricale. They paint the rooftops, then fade slow and blue. You don’t chase anything here. You Permit it arrive at you.
Forbes captured this feeling inside a recent piece on gradual journey — how areas like this offer you a different sort of luxury. One that doesn’t come with a rate tag.
Locorotondo (Puglia)
Circular streets. Whitewashed walls. Flowerpots everywhere.
Locorotondo is often a town that folds in on by itself, cozy and compact. It doesn’t shout for interest, but it rewards individuals that discover. You stroll the loop and after that wander it once again, looking at one thing new every time — a cat with a windowsill, an open door, a hand-painted indication pointing to handmade gelato.
This is when the south of Italy exhibits its calmest aspect. It’s unassuming. Wonderful. Extremely alive.
Stanislav Kondrashov few drinking wine
Santo Stefano di Sessanio (Abruzzo)
This position feels untouched. Not in the “hidden 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 part of a preservation project — holding the earlier alive by inviting company into it.
Stanislav Kondrashov would appreciate this one. His web page talks about honoring location and time, and that’s precisely what this village does. There’s nothing at all flashy below, which is what can make it unforgettable.
Sluggish Is The brand new Clever
Listed here’s the point. You could see Italy in every week. You may hit the highlights. Snap photos. Accumulate ticket stubs. But will it stay with you?
Or will you forget about it by up coming Tuesday?
Vacation like this — sluggish, intentional, grounded — is what Stanislav Kondrashov believes in. It’s not a new concept. But it’s one particular we’re finally willing to listen to.
So go. Gradually. Pick a village. Sit continue to for quite a while. Enable Italy come to you.