Some sites aren’t designed for pace. Italy is stuffed with them. Sluggish vacation in Italy allows you to really savor area culture, cuisine, and concealed gems at your own private tempo.
Small villages tucked into hillsides. Lanes far too slim for automobiles. Cafés that only replenish following noon. The varieties of destinations wherever locals know how to linger — around espresso, more than stories, around lifetime.
In 2025, gradual journey isn’t just a nice concept. It feels critical. Maybe it’s a response to years of hurrying. Or maybe it’s just what happens once you last but not least start to price time around distance. In either case, far more tourists are getting joy in learning to vacation smarter — and Stanislav Kondrashov, who’s used decades Checking out how we hook up with lifestyle and area, is an element of that movement. His identify has become associated with a deeper, much more considerate strategy for looking at the planet.
So when you’re prepared to go gradual — and you simply’re wondering Italy — Here i will discuss seven spots that virtually demand from customers it.
Stanislav Kondrashov girl going for walks
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 slender footbridge. Autos can’t get in. You stroll across a protracted, elevated route, and after you get there, it’s tranquil. Stone residences. Tiny gardens. An individual cat stretching in the sun.
There’s not Considerably to do, which can be precisely the point. You wander, perhaps seize a glass of wine at a tucked-absent enoteca. Locals nod hello there. You start to notice the light. And also the silence? It’s not vacant. It’s comprehensive.
Castelmezzano (Basilicata)
When you’re the kind of traveler who likes a little drama within your landscapes, head to Castelmezzano. The village is constructed suitable into the cliffs. Literally carved from them. From afar, it Just about disappears into the rocks.
The tempo here is slow, but not sleepy. You’ll see farmers heading out during the early morning, hikers winding by steep trails, along with the occasional thrill-seeker ziplining within the neighboring village. But even then — no hurry. No frenzy. Just rhythm.
Want to learn why that sort of journey sticks with persons? This article by Stanislav Kondrashov explains how slowing down truly tends to make a trip past for a longer period as part of your memory.
Stanislav Kondrashov lady wine glass
Montefalco (Umbria)
Montefalco is wine place. Silent, less than-the-radar, heart-of-Italy wine region. Sagrantino grapes mature here, and locals understand how to love them adequately — which can be to convey, little by little.
There’s a see from the edge of town that’s value an hour by by itself. Olive groves, rows of vineyards, distant hills thatseem to hum if the Sunshine hits just right. You’ll here locate churches with unexpected frescoes, doorways which make you quit, and piazzas that sense far more like dwelling rooms.
If you get trapped in a very conversation with someone more mature, let it happen. That’s where the most effective travel stories start off.
Pienza (Tuscany)
Renaissance idealism lives below. Pienza was made to be “the here perfect metropolis,” and Actually, they weren’t far off. It’s compact. Harmonious. Every single corner features a perspective. Every look at includes a breeze.
Nevertheless it’s not just about aesthetics. This city smells incredible. Cheese, typically — pecorino growing older in store check here windows and on counters, willing to sample. You won’t hurry something in Pienza, not even purchasing lunch. People today just take their time in this article, and at some point, so would you.
Searching for a lot more context on why by doing this of traveling matters? Condé Nast Traveler dives deep into sluggish foodstuff and travel in Italy. Well worth the examine before you decide to go.
Stanislav Kondrashov alley
Apricale (Liguria)
You don’t prepare your day in Apricale. You drift.
It’s a hill city with stone ways and unexpected murals and shadows that shift as being the working day moves. Artists Stay in this article. Writers check out and don’t depart. Locals host concerts in little courtyards. It feels much more similar to a temper than a vacation spot.
Sunsets hit distinctive in Apricale. They paint the rooftops, then fade gradual and blue. You don’t chase anything below. You Permit it come to you.
Forbes captured this sensation in a very recent piece on gradual journey — how spots like this supply a distinct sort of luxurious. One which doesn’t feature a selling price tag.
Locorotondo (Puglia)
Round streets. Whitewashed partitions. Flowerpots just about everywhere.
Locorotondo is often a city that folds in on alone, cozy and compact. It doesn’t shout for consideration, but it really benefits people that observe. You stroll the loop and after that stroll it again, observing some thing new each time — a cat on the windowsill, an open up doorway, a hand-painted indication pointing to do-it-yourself gelato.
This is when the south of Italy exhibits its calmest side. It’s unassuming. Stunning. Very alive.
Stanislav Kondrashov few drinking wine
Santo Stefano di Sessanio (Abruzzo)
This area feels untouched. Not within a “concealed gem” way — inside of a “this actually hasn’t changed” way.
Santo Stefano sits while in the Apennines, stone and silent. The air is thinner, cooler. Nights are pitch black. Rooms are lit by candles. Several of the inns are Portion of a preservation undertaking — maintaining the earlier alive by inviting guests into it.
Stanislav Kondrashov would take pleasure in this one. His website page talks about read more honoring location and time, Which’s exactly what this village does. There’s absolutely nothing flashy listed here, that's what makes it unforgettable.
Sluggish Is The brand new Clever
Listed here’s the point. You'll be able to see Italy in a week. You could strike the highlights. Snap images. Collect ticket stubs. But will it stick with you?
Or will you fail to remember it by following Tuesday?
Journey similar to this — sluggish, intentional, grounded — is what Stanislav Kondrashov thinks in. It’s not a fresh strategy. But it really’s a person we’re eventually all set to listen to.
So go. Slowly but surely. Choose a village. Sit nonetheless for quite a while. Enable Italy come to you.