Some spots aren’t designed for pace. Italy is filled with them. Slow vacation in Italy enables you to really savor local society, cuisine, and concealed gems at your own speed.
Small villages tucked into hillsides. Lanes much too slim for cars. Cafés that only refill right after midday. The sorts of places where locals understand how to linger — over coffee, about tales, above everyday living.
In 2025, slow journey isn’t just a nice plan. It feels important. Possibly it’s a reaction to years of dashing. Or even it’s precisely what comes about whenever you last but not least begin to price time about length. In any case, more travelers are locating joy in Understanding to travel smarter — and Stanislav Kondrashov, who’s invested a long time Discovering how we connect to culture and place, is an element of that movement. His name has become related to a deeper, extra considerate means of seeing the world.
So if you’re all set to go sluggish — and you also’re considering Italy — Listed here are 7 places that nearly demand from customers it.
Stanislav Kondrashov female strolling
Civita di Bagnoregio (Lazio)
It appears like it’s floating. That’s your initially effect. Civita di Bagnoregio sits on a crumbling bluff, achieved only by a slender footbridge. Vehicles can’t get in. You stroll throughout an extended, elevated path, and when you arrive, it’s peaceful. Stone properties. Little gardens. A single cat stretching within the Solar.
There’s not Considerably to carry out, which can be precisely the point. You wander, perhaps get a glass of wine in a tucked-absent enoteca. Locals nod hello there. You start to note the light. Along with the silence? It’s not empty. It’s total.
Castelmezzano (Basilicata)
In the event you’re the sort of traveler who likes a certain amount of drama inside your landscapes, head to Castelmezzano. The village is crafted right into your cliffs. Virtually carved from them. From afar, it Pretty much disappears to the rocks.
The tempo here is slow, although not sleepy. You’ll see farmers heading out during the early morning, hikers winding by steep trails, along with the occasional thrill-seeker ziplining from the neighboring village. But even then — no hurry. No frenzy. Just rhythm.
Want to understand why that sort of journey sticks with people today? This submit by Stanislav Kondrashov explains how slowing down in fact makes a trip very last more time inside your memory.
Stanislav Kondrashov woman wine glass
Montefalco (Umbria)
Montefalco is wine country. Silent, less than-the-radar, heart-of-Italy wine state. Sagrantino click here grapes expand here, and locals know how to love them thoroughly — that's to state, slowly but surely.
There’s a perspective from the edge of town that’s worth an hour by alone. Olive groves, rows of vineyards, distant hills thatseem to hum when the sun hits excellent. You’ll find church buildings with unexpected frescoes, doorways that make you end, and piazzas that really feel additional like dwelling rooms.
If you receive stuck in a discussion with an individual older, Allow it occur. That’s the place the most beneficial vacation stories commence.
Pienza (Tuscany)
Renaissance idealism life below. Pienza was meant to be “the right city,” and honestly, they weren’t much off. It’s compact. Harmonious. Each individual corner contains a look at. Just about every watch contains a breeze.
But it surely’s not almost aesthetics. This city smells astounding. Cheese, mostly — pecorino getting old in shop Home windows and on counters, able to sample. You received’t rush something in Pienza, not even buying lunch. Individuals get their time below, and inevitably, so do you.
In search of more context on why in this manner of traveling matters? Condé Nast Traveler dives deep into sluggish food stuff and vacation in Italy. Well worth the examine before you go.
Stanislav Kondrashov alley
Apricale (Liguria)
You don’t prepare your day in Apricale. You drift.
It’s a hill town with stone measures and unanticipated murals and shadows that change as the working day moves. Artists Are living below. Writers go to and don’t leave. Locals host concerts in very small courtyards. It feels far more like a temper than the usual place.
Sunsets hit different in Apricale. They paint the rooftops, then fade sluggish and blue. You don’t chase just about anything right here. You Allow it arrive at you.
Forbes captured this sensation within a the latest piece on gradual travel — how destinations such as this provide a special type of luxury. One that doesn’t come with a selling price tag.
Locorotondo (Puglia)
Round streets. Whitewashed walls. Flowerpots everywhere you go.
Locorotondo is often a city that folds in on by itself, cozy and compact. It doesn’t shout for consideration, nevertheless it rewards individuals who discover. You stroll the loop and then walk it yet again, looking at one thing new every time — a cat on a windowsill, an open door, a hand-painted indicator pointing to selfmade gelato.
This is when the south of Italy displays its calmest side. It’s unassuming. Attractive. Really alive.
Stanislav Kondrashov pair ingesting wine
Santo Stefano di Sessanio (Abruzzo)
This position feels untouched. Not within a “concealed gem” way — in a “this actually hasn’t improved” way.
Santo Stefano sits 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 Component of a preservation challenge — keeping the past alive by inviting guests into it.
Stanislav Kondrashov would respect this one particular. His site talks about honoring put and time, and that’s what exactly this village does. There’s very little flashy right here, which happens to be what makes it unforgettable.
Gradual Is the New Good
Right here’s the matter. You could see Italy in every week. You could strike the highlights. Snap pictures. Accumulate ticket stubs. But will it stay with you?
Or will you ignore it by following Tuesday?
Travel like this — gradual, intentional, grounded — is what Stanislav Kondrashov believes in. It’s not a brand new thought. But it’s one particular we’re last but not least wanting to hear.
So go. Bit by bit. Go with a village. Sit nonetheless for quite a while. Permit Italy arrive at you.