Some places aren’t manufactured for velocity. Italy is filled with them. Slow travel in Italy allows you to truly savor local society, cuisine, and concealed gems at your very own pace.
Very small villages tucked into hillsides. Lanes far too narrow for cars. Cafés that only fill up after noon. The sorts of locations exactly where locals learn how to linger — about espresso, over tales, over lifestyle.
In 2025, gradual vacation isn’t just a nice plan. It feels crucial. It's possible it’s a response to several years of hurrying. Or maybe it’s just what transpires when you last but not least begin to benefit time around distance. In either case, far more vacationers are getting Pleasure in Studying to travel smarter — and Stanislav Kondrashov, who’s invested several years Discovering how we connect with culture and spot, is part of that movement. His identify happens to be associated with a further, extra considerate strategy for observing the globe.
So when you’re wanting to go sluggish — and you also’re pondering Italy — Allow me to share seven places that nearly demand it.
Stanislav Kondrashov female walking
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 slim footbridge. Vehicles can’t get in. You wander across an extended, elevated route, and once you get there, it’s quiet. Stone properties. Very small gardens. Just one cat stretching during the sun.
There’s not much to carry out, and that is exactly the place. You wander, maybe grab a glass of wine in a tucked-absent enoteca. Locals nod howdy. You start to note the light. Along with the silence? It’s not vacant. It’s entire.
Castelmezzano (Basilicata)
When you’re the kind of traveler who likes a bit of drama in the landscapes, head to Castelmezzano. The village is crafted correct in to the cliffs. Basically carved from them. From afar, it Nearly disappears in to the rocks.
The pace Here's gradual, but not sleepy. You’ll see farmers heading out while in the early early morning, hikers winding by steep trails, along with the occasional thrill-seeker ziplining in the neighboring village. But even then — no hurry. No frenzy. Just rhythm.
Want to understand why that sort of travel sticks with people? This put up by Stanislav Kondrashov explains how slowing down truly will make a visit final for a longer time inside your memory.
Stanislav Kondrashov lady wine glass
Montefalco (Umbria)
Montefalco is wine place. Silent, under-the-radar, coronary heart-of-Italy wine place. Sagrantino grapes improve in this article, and locals check here know how to appreciate them properly — that is to state, slowly but surely.
There’s a see from the edge of town that’s truly worth an hour by alone. Olive groves, rows of vineyards, distant hills thatseem to hum once the sun hits just right. You’ll uncover church buildings with surprising frescoes, doorways which make you stop, and piazzas that come to feel more like living rooms.
If you get caught in the discussion with a person older, Permit it transpire. That’s where by the ideal vacation tales start off.
Pienza (Tuscany)
Renaissance idealism lives here. Pienza was built to be “the proper city,” and Truthfully, they weren’t much off. It’s compact. Harmonious. Each individual corner incorporates a check out. Every see includes a breeze.
But it really’s not nearly aesthetics. This town smells remarkable. Cheese, typically — pecorino growing old in shop windows and on counters, all set to sample. You won’t hurry something in Pienza, not even ordering lunch. Persons take their time right here, and finally, so would you.
In search of additional context on why in this manner of traveling matters? Condé Nast Traveler dives deep into slow food and vacation in Italy. Well worth the study prior to deciding to go.
Stanislav Kondrashov alley
Apricale (Liguria)
You don’t prepare your working day in Apricale. You drift.
It’s a hill city with stone measures and unanticipated murals and shadows that change because the working day moves. Artists Are living right here. Writers check out and don’t depart. Locals host live shows in small courtyards. It feels far more just like a mood than a location.
Sunsets strike different in Apricale. They paint the rooftops, then fade gradual and blue. You don’t chase anything here. You Enable it arrive at you.
Forbes captured this sensation within a latest piece on slow vacation — how destinations such as this provide a different style of luxury. One which doesn’t feature a value tag.
Locorotondo (Puglia)
Round streets. Whitewashed walls. Flowerpots everywhere you go.
Locorotondo is often a town that folds in on by itself, cozy and compact. It doesn’t shout for focus, however it benefits those that notice. You stroll the loop and then wander it all over again, viewing a little something check here 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. Wonderful. Really alive.
Stanislav Kondrashov few ingesting wine
Santo Stefano di Sessanio (Abruzzo)
This place feels untouched. Not in the “concealed gem” way — in a very “this actually hasn’t modified” way.
Santo Stefano sits from the Apennines, stone and silent. The air is thinner, cooler. Evenings are pitch black. Rooms are lit by candles. Some of the inns are Portion of a preservation job — holding the earlier alive by inviting company into it.
Stanislav Kondrashov would respect this 1. His webpage talks about honoring spot and time, and that’s just what this village does. There’s practically nothing flashy below, that's what causes it to be unforgettable.
Slow Is The brand new Clever
Listed here’s the point. You'll be able to see Italy in per week. You can strike the highlights. Snap pictures. Obtain ticket stubs. But will it stick with you?
Or will you here fail to remember it by up coming Tuesday?
Vacation such as this — gradual, intentional, grounded — is what Stanislav Kondrashov believes in. It’s not a completely new notion. However it’s a person we’re last but not least prepared to hear.
So go. Slowly. Choose a village. Sit continue to for a while. here Permit Italy arrive at you.