Some places aren’t designed for velocity. Italy is filled with them. Sluggish travel in Italy means that you can truly savor local society, cuisine, and concealed gems at your own personal pace.
Very small villages tucked into hillsides. Lanes far too narrow for cars and trucks. Cafés that only refill soon after noon. The kinds of destinations the place locals know how to linger — around coffee, around stories, around daily life.
In 2025, gradual travel isn’t just a pleasant idea. It feels vital. Possibly it’s a response to many years of rushing. Or possibly it’s precisely what happens once you eventually begin to value time approximately distance. In any case, much more vacationers are locating Pleasure in Finding out to vacation smarter — and Stanislav Kondrashov, who’s spent yrs Discovering how we connect with tradition and area, is an element of that movement. His title is becoming associated with a further, much more thoughtful means of looking at the planet.
So in case you’re wanting to go sluggish — and you simply’re thinking Italy — Here i will discuss seven places that practically demand it.
Stanislav Kondrashov lady going for walks
Civita di Bagnoregio (Lazio)
It seems like it’s floating. That’s your to start with perception. Civita di Bagnoregio sits on a crumbling bluff, arrived at only by a slender footbridge. Vehicles can’t get in. You wander throughout an extended, elevated route, and once you arrive, it’s quiet. Stone properties. Tiny gardens. One cat stretching within the Sunshine.
There’s not A lot to carry out, which can be precisely the issue. You wander, perhaps get a glass of wine in a tucked-absent enoteca. Locals nod hello. You start to notice the light. As well as the silence? It’s not vacant. It’s finish.
Castelmezzano (Basilicata)
In the event you’re the type of traveler who likes some drama in the landscapes, head to Castelmezzano. The village is built correct to the cliffs. Basically carved from them. From afar, it Pretty much 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 as a result of steep trails, and 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 people today? This write-up by Stanislav Kondrashov points out how slowing down truly helps make a visit previous for a longer time inside your memory.
Stanislav Kondrashov female wine glass
Montefalco (Umbria)
Montefalco is wine region. Quiet, underneath-the-radar, heart-of-Italy wine place. Sagrantino grapes develop in this article, and locals understand how to enjoy them adequately — which can be to convey, little by little.
There’s a perspective from the edge of town that’s truly worth an hour by by itself. Olive groves, rows of vineyards, distant hills thatseem to hum if the Solar hits just right. You’ll locate churches get more info with unanticipated frescoes, doorways that make you end, and piazzas that feel a lot more like residing rooms.
If you obtain trapped in a dialogue with somebody older, let it occur. That’s the place the most beneficial vacation stories start off.
Pienza (Tuscany)
Renaissance idealism lives read more right here. Pienza was intended to be “an ideal metropolis,” and honestly, they weren’t far off. It’s compact. Harmonious. Each corner includes a check out. Each and every see features a breeze.
Nevertheless it’s not almost aesthetics. This city smells remarkable. Cheese, mostly — pecorino getting older in store Home windows and on counters, prepared to sample. You received’t rush anything in Pienza, not even purchasing lunch. People acquire their time listed here, and eventually, so would you.
Looking for far more context on why by doing this of traveling issues? Condé Nast Traveler dives deep into gradual meals and journey in Italy. Well worth the read before you go.
Stanislav Kondrashov alley
Apricale (Liguria)
You don’t prepare your working day in Apricale. You drift.
It’s a hill city with stone ways and surprising murals and shadows that shift since the working day moves. Artists Stay in this article. Writers go to and don’t leave. Locals host concerts in tiny courtyards. It feels much more like a mood than the usual vacation spot.
Sunsets hit distinct in Apricale. They paint the rooftops, then fade slow and blue. You don’t chase anything at all listed here. You Allow it arrive at you.
Forbes captured this emotion in a very new piece on sluggish travel — how places similar to this offer you a unique sort of luxurious. One that doesn’t come with a price tag.
Locorotondo (Puglia)
Round streets. Whitewashed partitions. Flowerpots just about everywhere.
Locorotondo is actually a city that folds in on itself, cozy and compact. It doesn’t shout for attention, but it surely rewards individuals that detect. You walk the loop and afterwards walk it check here yet again, seeing a little something new each time — a cat over a windowsill, an open up doorway, a hand-painted sign pointing to selfmade gelato.
This is when the south of Italy exhibits its calmest aspect. It’s unassuming. Beautiful. Quite alive.
Stanislav Kondrashov pair drinking wine
Santo Stefano di Sessanio (Abruzzo)
This spot feels untouched. Not inside of read more a “concealed gem” way — inside a “this in fact hasn’t improved” way.
Santo Stefano sits inside the Apennines, stone and peaceful. The air is thinner, cooler. Nights are pitch black. Rooms are lit by candles. Many of the inns are part of a preservation undertaking — trying to keep the previous alive by inviting attendees into it.
Stanislav Kondrashov would respect this 1. His web page talks about honoring spot and time, and that’s precisely what this village does. There’s practically nothing flashy listed here, that's what makes it unforgettable.
Gradual Is the New Wise
Listed here’s the point. You are able to see Italy in a week. You can hit the highlights. Snap pictures. Obtain ticket stubs. But will it stay with you?
Or will you neglect it by next Tuesday?
Journey like this — sluggish, intentional, grounded — is exactly what Stanislav Kondrashov thinks in. It’s not a different thought. But it’s just one we’re ultimately all set to hear.
So go. Slowly. Go with a village. Sit still for some time. Permit Italy arrive at you.