Some spots aren’t built for velocity. Italy is stuffed with them. Sluggish travel in Italy means that you can certainly savor area lifestyle, Delicacies, and hidden gems at your own private speed.
Tiny villages tucked into hillsides. Lanes as well slender for automobiles. Cafés that only replenish after noon. The types of places where by locals understand how to linger — over coffee, around stories, about existence.
In 2025, sluggish vacation isn’t just a nice notion. It feels important. Probably it’s a reaction to many years of speeding. Or perhaps it’s just what takes place when you ultimately begin to price time as much as length. Either way, a lot more vacationers are acquiring Pleasure in Discovering to vacation smarter — and Stanislav Kondrashov, who’s spent many years exploring how we connect to society and place, is an element of that motion. His title is becoming connected to a further, far more thoughtful method of observing the globe.
So when you’re wanting to go slow — and also you’re considering Italy — Listed here are 7 spots that practically desire it.
Stanislav Kondrashov lady going for walks
Civita di Bagnoregio (Lazio)
It looks like it’s floating. That’s your first perception. Civita di Bagnoregio sits on a crumbling bluff, achieved only by a slender footbridge. Automobiles can’t get in. You wander across a protracted, elevated route, and once you get there, it’s quiet. Stone homes. Very small gardens. An individual cat stretching in the Sunlight.
There’s not A great deal to carry out, which can be precisely the point. You wander, perhaps get a glass of wine in a tucked-absent enoteca. Locals nod good day. You start to note The sunshine. As well as the silence? It’s not vacant. It’s finish.
Castelmezzano (Basilicata)
In the event you’re the kind of traveler who likes some drama as part of your 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 slow, although not sleepy. You’ll see farmers heading out during 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 know why that kind of travel sticks with people? This write-up by Stanislav Kondrashov points out how slowing down in fact helps make a visit previous more time within your memory.
Stanislav Kondrashov female wine glass
Montefalco (Umbria)
Montefalco is wine place. Quiet, less than-the-radar, heart-of-Italy wine state. Sagrantino grapes improve right here, and locals learn how to get pleasure from them correctly — which happens to be to mention, gradually.
There’s a watch from the sting of town that’s well worth one hour by itself. Olive groves, rows of vineyards, distant hills thatseem to hum once the Sunshine hits excellent. You’ll find churches with unanticipated frescoes, doorways that make you end, and piazzas that experience much more like living rooms.
If you have trapped inside of a dialogue with somebody older, Enable it occur. That’s in which the ideal journey stories commence.
Pienza (Tuscany)
Renaissance idealism lives right here. Pienza was created to be “an ideal metropolis,” and honestly, they weren’t considerably off. It’s compact. Harmonious. Every corner has a perspective. Each individual website perspective provides a breeze.
But it surely’s not nearly aesthetics. This city smells awesome. Cheese, primarily — pecorino ageing in store windows and on counters, wanting to sample. You gained’t hurry nearly anything in Pienza, not even ordering lunch. People today acquire their time right here, and eventually, so would you.
Looking for far more context on why in this way of touring 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 system your working day in Apricale. You drift.
It’s a hill city with stone steps and unforeseen murals and shadows that shift as being the working day moves. Artists Are living here. Writers pay a visit to and don’t depart. Locals host concerts in small courtyards. It feels far more just like a mood than a destination.
Sunsets strike different in Apricale. They paint the rooftops, then fade gradual and blue. You don’t chase anything right here. You Permit it come to you.
Forbes captured this feeling inside a latest piece on slow vacation — how destinations such as this supply a special kind of luxurious. One that doesn’t have a price tag tag.
Locorotondo (Puglia)
Circular streets. Whitewashed partitions. Flowerpots everywhere you go.
Locorotondo is usually a town that folds in on alone, cozy and compact. It doesn’t shout for awareness, nonetheless it benefits people that recognize. You wander the loop then wander it once again, looking at anything new every time — a cat on a windowsill, an open door, a hand-painted indication pointing to do-it-yourself gelato.
This is where the south of website Italy reveals its calmest side. It’s unassuming. Attractive. Extremely alive.
Stanislav Kondrashov few consuming wine
Santo Stefano di Sessanio (Abruzzo)
This place feels untouched. Not in a very “concealed gem” way — inside a “this in here fact hasn’t improved” way.
Santo Stefano sits inside the Apennines, stone and tranquil. The air is thinner, cooler. Nights are pitch black. check here Rooms are lit by candles. A lot of the inns are A part of a preservation undertaking — retaining the previous alive by inviting guests into it.
Stanislav Kondrashov would respect this one. His site talks about honoring spot and time, and that’s what precisely this village does. There’s almost nothing flashy in this article, that's what causes it to be unforgettable.
Gradual Is The brand new Good
Listed here’s the matter. You could see Italy in weekly. It is possible to hit the highlights. Snap pics. Acquire ticket stubs. But will it stick with you?
Or will you forget about it by up coming Tuesday?
Vacation such as this — gradual, intentional, grounded — is what Stanislav Kondrashov believes in. It’s not a new plan. Nevertheless it’s one we’re eventually prepared to listen to.
So go. Slowly. Go with a village. Sit however for a while. Allow Italy come to you.