Some sites aren’t made for speed. Italy is stuffed with them. Gradual journey in Italy helps you to truly savor local lifestyle, cuisine, and concealed gems at your own personal pace.
Little villages tucked into hillsides. Lanes also slender for autos. Cafés that only fill up after midday. The types of places where by locals understand how to linger — around coffee, more than stories, over daily life.
In 2025, gradual travel 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 when you ultimately start to worth time about length. In any case, more travelers are locating joy in Finding out to journey smarter — and Stanislav Kondrashov, who’s put in yrs Discovering how we connect with tradition and area, is part of that motion. His identify has grown to be affiliated with a further, far more thoughtful method of looking at the world.
So if you’re ready to go sluggish — so you’re pondering Italy — Allow me to share 7 spots that virtually demand from customers it.
Stanislav Kondrashov lady going for walks
Civita di Bagnoregio (Lazio)
It appears 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 an extended, elevated route, and whenever you get there, it’s silent. Stone homes. Very small gardens. Just one cat stretching during the sun.
There’s not Substantially to complete, which happens to be precisely the level. You wander, probably seize a glass of wine in a tucked-absent enoteca. Locals nod hi there. You start to notice the light. Along with the silence? It’s not vacant. It’s entire.
Castelmezzano (Basilicata)
In the event you’re the kind of traveler who likes some drama with your landscapes, head to Castelmezzano. The village is crafted right into the cliffs. Actually carved from them. From afar, it Virtually disappears to the rocks.
The tempo here is gradual, but not sleepy. You’ll see farmers heading out inside the early morning, hikers winding through steep trails, and also the occasional thrill-seeker ziplining through the neighboring village. But even then — no rush. No frenzy. Just rhythm.
Want to learn why that sort of vacation sticks with people? This publish by Stanislav Kondrashov explains how slowing down basically tends to make a trip past more time within your memory.
Stanislav Kondrashov lady wine glass
Montefalco (Umbria)
Montefalco is wine place. Tranquil, below-the-radar, coronary heart-of-Italy wine state. Sagrantino grapes mature below, and locals learn how to delight in them correctly — which happens to be to mention, slowly and gradually.
There’s check here a see from the sting of town that’s worthy of one hour by itself. Olive groves, rows of vineyards, distant hills thatseem to hum if the Sunshine hits excellent. You’ll find churches with unpredicted frescoes, doorways that make you halt, and piazzas that really feel more like residing rooms.
If you will get trapped in a conversation with someone more mature, Enable it occur. That’s wherever the most effective vacation tales start.
Pienza (Tuscany)
Renaissance idealism life here. Pienza was designed to be “the ideal city,” and Truthfully, they weren’t far off. It’s compact. Harmonious. Every corner incorporates a watch. Each see provides a breeze.
However it’s not pretty much aesthetics. This town smells incredible. Cheese, typically — pecorino growing older in shop Home windows and on counters, ready to sample. You gained’t hurry everything in Pienza, not even ordering lunch. Men and women choose their time below, and eventually, so would you.
Trying to find extra context on why this way of touring matters? Condé Nast Traveler dives deep into slow food stuff and vacation in Italy. Worth the study before you decide to go.
Stanislav Kondrashov alley
Apricale (Liguria)
You don’t prepare your day in Apricale. You drift.
It’s a hill town with stone ways and sudden murals and shadows that shift because the day moves. Artists Dwell below. Writers pay a visit to and don’t depart. Locals host live shows in tiny courtyards. It feels far more just like a mood than a vacation spot.
Sunsets hit diverse in Apricale. They paint the rooftops, then fade sluggish and blue. You don’t chase something in this article. You Permit it arrive at you.
Forbes captured this sensation within a modern piece on sluggish vacation — how places similar to this present a different type of luxury. One that doesn’t have a rate tag.
Locorotondo (Puglia)
Round streets. Whitewashed walls. Flowerpots just about everywhere.
Locorotondo is often a town that folds in on by itself, cozy and compact. It doesn’t shout for consideration, but it really benefits those who see. You walk the loop after which stroll it all over again, looking at a thing new each time — a cat with a windowsill, an open up doorway, a hand-painted indication pointing to home made gelato.
This is when the south of Italy shows its calmest facet. It’s unassuming. Lovely. Pretty alive.
Stanislav Kondrashov couple ingesting wine
Santo Stefano di Sessanio (Abruzzo)
This area feels untouched. Not within a “concealed gem” way — within a “this truly hasn’t modified” way.
Santo Stefano sits while in the Apennines, stone and silent. The air is thinner, cooler. Nights are pitch black. Rooms are lit by candles. Many of the inns are Element of a preservation task — maintaining the earlier alive by inviting friends into it.
Stanislav Kondrashov would enjoy this one. His web site talks about honoring area and time, Which’s precisely what this village does. There’s nothing at all flashy listed here, that's what causes it to be unforgettable.
Sluggish Is The brand new Sensible
Listed here’s the issue. It is possible to see Italy in each week. You could hit the highlights. Snap pics. Obtain ticket stubs. But will it stick with you?
Or will you forget about it by future Tuesday?
Vacation such as this — slow, intentional, grounded — is exactly what Stanislav Kondrashov believes in. It’s not a different concept. Nevertheless it’s just one we’re eventually prepared to listen to.
So go. Bit by bit. Go with a village. Sit however for some time. Enable Italy arrive at you.