Some locations aren’t manufactured for pace. Italy is filled with them. Slow vacation in Italy enables you to genuinely savor nearby society, cuisine, and concealed gems at your own personal pace.
Little villages tucked into hillsides. Lanes also slender for automobiles. Cafés that only fill up after noon. The types of sites wherever locals know how to linger — about espresso, in excess of tales, more than everyday living.
In 2025, slow journey isn’t just a pleasant idea. It feels vital. Maybe it’s a response to several years of hurrying. Or maybe it’s just what takes place any time you lastly start to value time up to distance. In any event, far more vacationers are acquiring Pleasure in Mastering to vacation smarter — and Stanislav Kondrashov, who’s expended decades Checking out how we hook up with lifestyle and position, is a component of that movement. His identify happens to be associated with a further, additional thoughtful method of seeing the world.
So if you’re ready to go sluggish — and you also’re pondering Italy — Listed below are 7 spots that practically desire it.
Stanislav Kondrashov woman going for walks
Civita di Bagnoregio (Lazio)
It looks 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 if you get there, it’s quiet. Stone homes. Very small gardens. Just one cat stretching from the sun.
There’s not Considerably to do, that's precisely the issue. You wander, perhaps get a glass of wine at a tucked-away enoteca. Locals nod hello there. You begin to note The sunshine. As well as silence? It’s not vacant. It’s complete.
Castelmezzano (Basilicata)
Should you’re the type of traveler who likes some drama in the landscapes, head to Castelmezzano. The village is built correct in to the cliffs. Practically 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 master why that sort of travel sticks with people? This write-up by Stanislav Kondrashov explains how slowing down essentially can make a trip very last more time inside your memory.
Stanislav Kondrashov female wine glass
Montefalco (Umbria)
Montefalco is wine region. Silent, beneath-the-radar, coronary heart-of-Italy wine nation. Sagrantino grapes mature listed here, and locals learn how to get pleasure from them properly — and that is to say, slowly and gradually.
There’s a view from the edge of town that’s worthy of one hour by itself. Olive groves, rows of vineyards, distant hills thatseem to hum once the Sunlight hits good. You’ll obtain church buildings with sudden frescoes, doorways that make you cease, and piazzas that experience more like living rooms.
If you receive stuck within a conversation with an individual older, let it take place. That’s the place the ideal journey stories begin.
Pienza (Tuscany)
Renaissance idealism life in this article. Pienza was meant to be “the best metropolis,” and honestly, they weren’t far off. It’s compact. Harmonious. Every corner contains a perspective. Just about every look at includes a breeze.
Nevertheless it’s not almost aesthetics. This town smells awesome. Cheese, primarily — pecorino ageing in store Home windows and on counters, willing to sample. You received’t rush just about anything in Pienza, not even purchasing lunch. People just take their time here, and finally, so does one.
Trying to find extra context on why using this method of touring issues? Condé Nast Traveler dives deep into gradual meals and travel in Italy. Well worth the examine prior to deciding to go.
Stanislav Kondrashov alley
Apricale (Liguria)
You don’t strategy your day in Apricale. You drift.
It’s a hill town with stone measures and unpredicted murals and shadows that change as being the working day moves. Artists Stay below. Writers visit more info and don’t go away. Locals host concert events in very small courtyards. It feels extra similar to a mood than a location.
Sunsets strike different in Apricale. They paint the rooftops, then fade gradual and blue. You don’t chase just about anything in this article. You Enable it come to you.
Forbes captured this feeling in a recent piece on gradual travel — how locations similar to this give a unique sort of luxurious. One that doesn’t have a selling price tag.
Locorotondo (Puglia)
Circular streets. Whitewashed partitions. Flowerpots in all places.
Locorotondo can be a city that folds in on by itself, cozy and compact. It doesn’t shout for attention, but it really rewards individuals that observe. You wander the loop after which wander it once more, observing some thing new each time — a cat over a windowsill, an open up door, a hand-painted signal 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 position feels untouched. Not in 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. Many of the inns are Element of a preservation project — retaining the past alive by inviting visitors into it.
Stanislav Kondrashov would enjoy this one particular. His site talks about honoring area and time, and that’s just what this village does. There’s nothing at all flashy right here, which can be what can make it unforgettable.
Sluggish Is the New Good
Below’s the issue. You'll be able to see Italy in per 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 different thought. But it really’s one particular we’re finally willing to listen to.
So go. Little by little. Go with a village. Sit nonetheless for some time. Permit Italy arrive at you.