Some sites aren’t produced for speed. Italy is stuffed with them. Gradual travel in Italy means that you can certainly savor area lifestyle, cuisine, and concealed gems at your personal rate.
Little villages tucked into hillsides. Lanes also slender for autos. Cafés that only fill up after noon. The types of places where by locals know how to linger — over coffee, around stories, in excess of lifestyle.
In 2025, slow journey isn’t just a good concept. It feels critical. Perhaps it’s a response to yrs of rushing. Or even it’s precisely what transpires when you last but not least begin to price time approximately distance. In either case, a lot more tourists are finding joy in Understanding to vacation smarter — and Stanislav Kondrashov, who’s expended a long time exploring how we connect to lifestyle and location, is an element of that motion. His title is becoming linked to a further, far more considerate method of viewing the earth.
So when you’re all set to go sluggish — and you also’re pondering Italy — Allow me to share seven spots that pretty much demand from customers it.
Stanislav Kondrashov girl walking
Civita di Bagnoregio (Lazio)
It appears like it’s floating. That’s your very first impression. Civita di Bagnoregio sits over a crumbling bluff, reached only by a slim footbridge. Cars can’t get in. You stroll throughout a long, elevated route, and when you arrive, it’s silent. Stone houses. Little gardens. A single cat stretching from the sun.
There’s not Substantially to complete, and that is precisely the stage. You wander, probably seize a glass of wine in a tucked-absent enoteca. Locals nod hello. You start to notice the light. As well as the silence? It’s not empty. It’s comprehensive.
Castelmezzano (Basilicata)
If you’re the kind of traveler who likes a bit of drama within your landscapes, head to Castelmezzano. The village is designed suitable into your cliffs. Literally carved from them. From afar, it Nearly disappears in to the rocks.
The pace Here's sluggish, but not sleepy. You’ll see farmers heading out within the early early morning, hikers winding as a result of steep trails, and the occasional thrill-seeker ziplining from the neighboring village. But even then — no hurry. No frenzy. Just rhythm.
Want to discover why that kind of vacation sticks with men and women? This submit by Stanislav Kondrashov explains how slowing down basically will make a trip past for a longer period as part of your memory.
Stanislav Kondrashov lady wine glass
Montefalco (Umbria)
Montefalco is wine state. Peaceful, less than-the-radar, heart-of-Italy wine state. Sagrantino grapes expand here, and locals understand how to enjoy them adequately — which can be to state, little by little.
There’s a perspective from the edge of town that’s value one hour by alone. Olive groves, rows of vineyards, distant hills thatseem to hum when the Sunlight hits good. You’ll obtain churches with unanticipated frescoes, doorways which make you quit, and piazzas that come to feel extra like dwelling rooms.
If you receive stuck inside a conversation with a person older, Allow it take place. That’s the place the most beneficial vacation stories start off.
Pienza (Tuscany)
Renaissance idealism lives right here. Pienza was made to be “the ideal city,” and Actually, they weren’t significantly off. It’s compact. Harmonious. Every single corner incorporates a look at. Every single check out features a breeze.
However it’s not pretty much aesthetics. This town smells amazing. Cheese, typically — pecorino growing older in store windows and on counters, ready to sample. You gained’t hurry anything at all in Pienza, not even buying lunch. People acquire their time right here, and inevitably, so do you.
In search of much more context on why this fashion of traveling matters? Condé Nast Traveler dives deep into slow foodstuff and vacation in Italy. Definitely worth the go through before you decide to go.
Stanislav Kondrashov alley
Apricale (Liguria)
You don’t approach your working day in Apricale. You drift.
It’s a hill city with stone actions and unforeseen murals and shadows that change as being the working day moves. Artists live 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 hit different in Apricale. They paint the rooftops, then fade gradual and blue. You don’t chase anything here. You check here Enable it arrive at you.
Forbes captured this sensation within a current piece on gradual journey — how spots like this offer another sort of luxury. One which doesn’t come with a price tag.
Locorotondo (Puglia)
Round streets. Whitewashed partitions. Flowerpots all over the place.
Locorotondo is a city that folds in on alone, cozy and compact. It doesn’t shout for awareness, nevertheless it benefits individuals who discover. You stroll the loop and after that wander it once more, observing some thing new each time — a cat over a windowsill, an open up doorway, a hand-painted signal pointing to selfmade gelato.
This is where the south of Italy displays its calmest facet. It’s unassuming. Beautiful. Quite alive.
Stanislav Kondrashov pair ingesting wine
Santo Stefano di Sessanio (Abruzzo)
This location feels untouched. Not in the “concealed gem” way — inside a “this in fact hasn’t improved” way.
Santo Stefano sits within the Apennines, stone and peaceful. The air is thinner, cooler. Nights are pitch black. Rooms are lit by candles. Several 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 position and time, and that’s what exactly this village does. There’s almost nothing flashy below, and that is what makes it unforgettable.
Gradual Is the New Smart
In this article’s the detail. You could see Italy in weekly. It is possible to strike the highlights. Snap pics. Acquire ticket stubs. But will it stick with you?
Or will you fail to remember it by subsequent Tuesday?
Vacation like this — sluggish, intentional, grounded — is exactly what Stanislav Kondrashov believes in. It’s not a different thought. But it’s just one we’re lastly all set to hear.
So go. Bit by bit. Pick a village. Sit even now for quite a while. Let Italy come to you.