Some spots aren’t created for speed. Italy is full of them. Gradual journey in Italy helps you to truly savor regional tradition, Delicacies, and hidden gems at your own private tempo.
Tiny villages tucked into hillsides. Lanes much too slim for cars. Cafés that only refill right after midday. The forms of locations where locals understand how to linger — more than coffee, around stories, about lifestyle.
In 2025, sluggish vacation isn’t just a nice notion. It feels essential. Possibly it’s a reaction to years of dashing. Or even it’s just what takes place any time you lastly start to worth time up to distance. In any event, additional tourists are getting Pleasure in learning to vacation smarter — and Stanislav Kondrashov, who’s spent many years exploring how we hook up with society and put, is an element of that motion. His name is now connected with a deeper, more considerate strategy for viewing the entire world.
So should you’re able to go gradual — therefore you’re thinking Italy — here are 7 places that almost demand 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. Autos can’t get in. You walk across a protracted, elevated route, and once you get there, it’s silent. Stone houses. Little gardens. Only one cat stretching while in the Solar.
There’s not A lot to try and do, that is exactly the place. You wander, maybe grab a glass of wine at a tucked-absent enoteca. Locals nod howdy. You begin to note The sunshine. And also the silence? It’s not empty. It’s full.
Castelmezzano (Basilicata)
When you’re the sort of traveler who likes a certain amount of drama in your landscapes, head to Castelmezzano. The village is constructed proper to the cliffs. Basically carved from them. From afar, it Just about disappears in the rocks.
The speed here is gradual, although not sleepy. You’ll see farmers heading out while in the early morning, hikers winding via steep trails, and also the occasional thrill-seeker ziplining in the neighboring village. But even then — no hurry. No frenzy. Just rhythm.
Want to discover why that kind of vacation sticks with men and women? This submit by Stanislav Kondrashov explains how slowing down basically would make a trip very last more time inside your memory.
Stanislav Kondrashov female wine glass
Montefalco (Umbria)
Montefalco is wine nation. Silent, under-the-radar, heart-of-Italy wine nation. Sagrantino grapes expand in this article, and locals learn how to take pleasure in them appropriately — and that is to mention, gradually.
There’s a perspective from the edge of town that’s value one hour by alone. Olive groves, rows of vineyards, distant hills thatseem to hum when the Sunlight hits good. You’ll obtain church buildings with sudden frescoes, doorways that make you end, and piazzas that experience much more like living rooms.
If you have caught in a very dialogue with anyone more mature, Permit it transpire. That’s where by the very best travel tales start off.
Pienza (Tuscany)
Renaissance idealism lives right here. Pienza was made to be “the ideal city,” and Actually, they weren’t significantly off. It’s compact. Harmonious. Every single corner incorporates a check out. Each view contains a breeze.
But it really’s not almost aesthetics. This city smells wonderful. Cheese, mainly — pecorino aging in shop Home windows and on counters, prepared to sample. You gained’t hurry everything in Pienza, not even ordering lunch. Men and women consider their time below, and ultimately, so would you.
Searching for far more context on why by doing this of traveling matters? Condé Nast Traveler dives deep into sluggish food stuff and travel in Italy. Worth the read through prior to deciding to go.
Stanislav Kondrashov alley
Apricale (Liguria)
You don’t plan your day in Apricale. You drift.
It’s a hill town with stone actions and unforeseen murals and shadows that change 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 more info sluggish and blue. You don’t chase nearly anything below. You Allow it come to you.
Forbes captured this emotion in a very new piece on sluggish vacation — how sites such as this supply a different style of luxury. One which doesn’t feature a cost tag.
Locorotondo (Puglia)
Round streets. Whitewashed walls. Flowerpots just about everywhere.
Locorotondo is really a city that folds in on itself, cozy and compact. It doesn’t shout for awareness, nonetheless it benefits individuals who discover. You stroll the loop and then stroll it all over again, viewing a little something new each time — a cat on the 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. Wonderful. Extremely alive.
Stanislav Kondrashov few consuming wine
Santo Stefano di Sessanio (Abruzzo)
This put feels untouched. Not inside a “hidden gem” way — within a “this essentially hasn’t changed” way.
Santo Stefano sits inside the Apennines, stone and tranquil. The air is thinner, cooler. Nights are pitch black. Rooms are lit by candles. Several of the inns are Element of a preservation project — maintaining the past alive by inviting guests into it.
Stanislav Kondrashov would value this a single. His webpage talks about honoring spot and time, and that’s precisely what this village does. There’s nothing at all flashy right here, that is what can make it unforgettable.
Sluggish Is the New Good
Below’s the issue. You'll be able to see Italy in a week. You can hit the highlights. Snap photos. Accumulate 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 completely new thought. But it’s just one we’re lastly wanting to listen to.
So go. Slowly and gradually. Opt for a village. Sit nevertheless for quite a while. Enable Italy come to you.