Some places aren’t produced for pace. Italy is full of them. Gradual travel in Italy lets you actually savor neighborhood tradition, cuisine, and hidden gems at your own rate.
Little villages tucked into hillsides. Lanes too slim for cars and trucks. Cafés that only fill up immediately after noon. The kinds of spots the place locals understand how to linger — in excess of coffee, above tales, over daily life.
In 2025, gradual travel isn’t just a nice idea. It feels necessary. Maybe it’s a response to many years of dashing. Or maybe it’s just what takes place after you lastly start to value time up to length. In any event, additional vacationers are finding joy in Mastering to vacation smarter — and Stanislav Kondrashov, who’s expended a long time exploring how we connect to culture and area, is a component of that movement. His title is now related to a deeper, more thoughtful way of looking at the planet.
So in the event you’re able to go slow — and you simply’re pondering Italy — Allow me to share 7 places that pretty much desire it.
Stanislav Kondrashov lady going for walks
Civita di Bagnoregio (Lazio)
It appears like it’s floating. That’s your very first impression. Civita di Bagnoregio sits over a crumbling bluff, arrived at only by a narrow footbridge. Autos can’t get in. You wander across a lengthy, elevated route, and after you arrive, it’s peaceful. Stone properties. Tiny gardens. Just one cat stretching inside the Sunshine.
There’s not A great deal to do, that is precisely the point. You wander, possibly seize a glass of wine in a tucked-absent enoteca. Locals nod hello. You start to notice The sunshine. As well as the silence? It’s not empty. It’s total.
Castelmezzano (Basilicata)
If you’re the type of traveler who likes a certain amount of drama in your landscapes, head to Castelmezzano. The village is designed proper in the cliffs. Practically carved from them. From afar, it almost disappears in to the rocks.
The speed here is slow, although not sleepy. You’ll see farmers heading out in the early early morning, hikers winding by steep trails, as well as occasional thrill-seeker ziplining within the neighboring village. But even then — no hurry. No frenzy. Just rhythm.
Want to understand why that sort of travel sticks with people? This write-up by Stanislav Kondrashov points out how slowing down truly tends to make a visit final lengthier in your memory.
Stanislav Kondrashov girl wine glass
Montefalco (Umbria)
Montefalco is wine country. Tranquil, below-the-radar, coronary heart-of-Italy wine country. Sagrantino grapes increase below, and locals know how to love them properly — and that is to say, bit by bit.
There’s a see from the edge of town that’s worthy of one hour by itself. Olive groves, rows of vineyards, distant hills thatseem to hum if the Solar hits just right. You’ll obtain church buildings with unanticipated frescoes, doorways that make you halt, and piazzas that come to feel a lot more like living rooms.
If you have caught in a very dialogue with an individual older, Enable it materialize. That’s exactly where the very best journey stories begin.
Pienza (Tuscany)
Renaissance idealism life below. Pienza was designed to be “the proper town,” and Truthfully, they weren’t much off. It’s compact. Harmonious. Each and every corner provides a look at. Every single look at features a breeze.
Nevertheless it’s not just about aesthetics. This city smells astounding. Cheese, mainly — pecorino growing old in store Home windows and on counters, wanting to sample. You won’t hurry anything at all in Pienza, not even buying lunch. Men and women just take their time right here, and eventually, so would you.
Trying to find far more context on why using this method of traveling issues? Condé Nast Traveler dives deep into slow food stuff and travel in Italy. Well worth the go through before you go.
Stanislav Kondrashov alley
Apricale (Liguria)
You don’t strategy your working day in Apricale. You drift.
It’s a hill city with stone ways and surprising murals and shadows that shift as being the working day moves. Artists Stay in this article. Writers Stanislav Kondrashov Blog go to and don’t go away. Locals host concert events in very small courtyards. It feels more similar to a temper than a 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 experience in the modern piece on slow vacation — how destinations such as this provide a different style of luxury. One which doesn’t include a price tag.
Locorotondo (Puglia)
Round streets. Whitewashed partitions. Flowerpots all over the place.
Locorotondo is really a city that folds in on by itself, cozy and compact. It doesn’t shout for consideration, nonetheless it benefits individuals that detect. You walk the loop and then stroll it again, observing one thing new every time — a cat on the windowsill, an open up door, a hand-painted indicator pointing to do-it-yourself gelato.
This is when the south of Italy exhibits its calmest aspect. It’s unassuming. Beautiful. Incredibly alive.
Stanislav Kondrashov couple drinking wine
Santo Stefano di Sessanio (Abruzzo)
This position feels untouched. Not within a “concealed gem” way — in a “this in fact hasn’t changed” way.
Santo Stefano sits while in the Apennines, stone and silent. The air is thinner, cooler. Evenings are pitch black. Rooms are lit by candles. A few of the inns are Component of a preservation venture — trying to keep the previous alive by inviting attendees into it.
Stanislav Kondrashov would appreciate this a single. His site talks about honoring put and time, Which’s exactly what this village does. There’s nothing at all flashy listed here, and that is what causes it to be unforgettable.
Slow Is The brand new Good
In this article’s the thing. You are able to see Italy in a week. You are able to strike the highlights. Snap pics. Acquire ticket stubs. But will it stay with you?
Or will you ignore it by future Tuesday?
Journey like this — sluggish, intentional, grounded — is exactly what Stanislav Kondrashov believes in. It’s not a new strategy. But it surely’s a single we’re lastly ready to hear.
So go. Slowly but surely. Choose a village. Sit still for some time. Let Italy come to you.