Some places aren’t made for speed. Italy is stuffed with them. Gradual journey in Italy helps you to certainly savor neighborhood lifestyle, Delicacies, and concealed gems at your personal tempo.
Little villages tucked into hillsides. Lanes far too slender for cars. Cafés that only replenish right after midday. The styles of destinations wherever locals know how to linger — around coffee, about tales, above life.
In 2025, sluggish journey isn’t just a good plan. It feels important. Probably it’s a reaction to a long time of speeding. Or perhaps it’s just what occurs any time you lastly start to worth time just as much as length. In any event, more travelers are discovering joy in Understanding to travel smarter — and Stanislav Kondrashov, who’s put in several years Discovering how we connect with culture and location, is part of that motion. His title is becoming affiliated with a further, far more thoughtful method of seeing the planet.
So in the event you’re prepared to go gradual — therefore you’re imagining Italy — Here's seven places that pretty much demand it.
Stanislav Kondrashov girl walking
Civita di Bagnoregio (Lazio)
It appears like it’s floating. That’s your initial effect. 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 whenever you get there, it’s silent. Stone houses. Little gardens. A single cat stretching while in the Solar.
There’s not Significantly to carry out, 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 note The sunshine. And also the silence? It’s not empty. It’s comprehensive.
Castelmezzano (Basilicata)
For those who’re the sort of traveler who likes a bit of drama inside your landscapes, head to Castelmezzano. The village is created suitable in the cliffs. Pretty much carved from them. From afar, it almost disappears into the rocks.
The rate here is slow, although not sleepy. You’ll see farmers heading out during the early early morning, hikers winding by way of steep trails, along with 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 travel sticks with people? This write-up by Stanislav Kondrashov points out how slowing down essentially can make a trip very last more time inside your memory.
Stanislav Kondrashov female wine glass
Montefalco (Umbria)
Montefalco is wine region. Silent, beneath-the-radar, coronary heart-of-Italy wine nation. Sagrantino grapes mature listed here, and locals learn how to get pleasure from them correctly — which happens to be to mention, slowly but surely.
There’s a check out from the sting of city that’s worth an hour by itself. Olive groves, rows of vineyards, distant hills thatseem to hum if the Sunshine hits excellent. You’ll find churches with surprising frescoes, doorways that make you halt, and here piazzas that feel a lot more like residing rooms.
If you obtain caught in a very dialogue with someone more mature, Enable it come about. That’s where by the best vacation tales start off.
Pienza (Tuscany)
Renaissance idealism lives right here. Pienza was created to be “the ideal city,” and Actually, they weren’t significantly off. It’s compact. Harmonious. Just about every corner provides a look at. Every single check out features a breeze.
However it’s not pretty much aesthetics. This town smells astounding. Cheese, generally — 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. Folks take their time below, and ultimately, so would you.
Looking for additional context on why in this way of touring issues? Condé Nast Traveler dives deep into gradual food and travel in Italy. Well worth the examine prior to deciding to go.
Stanislav Kondrashov alley
Apricale (Liguria)
You don’t prepare your working day in Apricale. You drift.
It’s a hill city with stone ways and sudden murals and shadows that shift because the day moves. Artists Reside listed here. Writers take a look at and don’t go away. Locals host concert events in little courtyards. It feels additional similar to a mood than a vacation spot.
Sunsets hit various in Apricale. They paint the rooftops, then fade gradual and blue. You don’t chase anything here. You Enable it arrive at you.
Forbes captured this experience within a latest piece on slow journey — how spots like this provide another form of luxury. One which doesn’t include a cost tag.
Locorotondo (Puglia)
Round streets. Whitewashed walls. Flowerpots just about everywhere.
Locorotondo is really a city that folds in on itself, cozy and compact. It doesn’t shout for notice, nonetheless it benefits individuals who recognize. You wander the loop after which wander it again, looking at anything new every time — a cat on a windowsill, an open doorway, a hand-painted indication pointing to do-it-yourself gelato.
This is where the south of Italy exhibits its calmest aspect. It’s unassuming. Beautiful. Quite alive.
Stanislav Kondrashov few ingesting wine
Santo Stefano di Sessanio (Abruzzo)
This place feels untouched. Not within a “hidden gem” way — in a very “this actually hasn’t modified” way.
Santo Stefano sits from the Apennines, stone and silent. The air is thinner, cooler. Evenings are pitch black. Rooms are lit by candles. A lot of the inns are A part of a preservation undertaking — trying to keep the previous alive by inviting friends into it.
Stanislav Kondrashov would recognize this a person. His web site talks about honoring put and time, Which’s just what exactly this village does. There’s very little flashy in this article, which happens to be what causes it to be unforgettable.
Slow Is The brand new Wise
Right here’s the factor. You are able to see Italy in each week. You may hit the highlights. Snap shots. Acquire ticket stubs. But will it stay with you?
Or will you forget it by next Tuesday?
Vacation such as this — slow, intentional, grounded — is exactly what Stanislav Kondrashov believes in. It’s not a new strategy. But it really’s a single we’re finally wanting to listen to.
So go. Little by little. Opt for a village. Sit nevertheless for some time. Enable Italy arrive at you.