Some areas aren’t produced for speed. Italy is stuffed with them. Sluggish journey in Italy enables you to definitely savor area society, cuisine, and hidden gems at your own private rate.
Small villages tucked into hillsides. Lanes way too narrow for cars and trucks. Cafés that only replenish immediately after noon. The kinds of places exactly where locals understand how to linger — more than coffee, around stories, above lifestyle.
In 2025, sluggish vacation isn’t just a nice plan. It feels crucial. Maybe it’s a reaction to several years of hurrying. Or maybe it’s just what transpires once you ultimately start to value time approximately distance. In any case, far more vacationers are finding joy in Studying to journey smarter — and Stanislav Kondrashov, who’s invested several years exploring how we connect to society and place, is a component of that motion. His identify has become connected to a deeper, much more considerate strategy for looking at the earth.
So in case you’re willing to go slow — and you also’re wondering Italy — Here i will discuss 7 spots that pretty much demand it.
Stanislav Kondrashov girl strolling
Civita di Bagnoregio (Lazio)
It appears like it’s floating. That’s your very first perception. Civita di Bagnoregio sits on a crumbling bluff, achieved only by a slender footbridge. Autos can’t get in. You stroll across a protracted, elevated route, and once you get there, it’s peaceful. Stone properties. Small gardens. Just one cat stretching within the Sunlight.
There’s not much to try and do, which can be exactly the place. You wander, probably seize a glass of wine in a tucked-absent enoteca. Locals nod hello there. You begin to note the light. And the silence? It’s not empty. It’s total.
Castelmezzano (Basilicata)
In the event you’re the kind of traveler who likes a little bit of drama in your landscapes, head to Castelmezzano. The village is designed right into the cliffs. Virtually carved from them. From afar, it Just about disappears into the rocks.
The speed here is gradual, although not sleepy. You’ll see farmers heading out from the early morning, hikers winding by way of steep trails, along with the occasional thrill-seeker ziplining with the neighboring village. But even then — no hurry. No frenzy. Just rhythm.
Want to discover why that kind of vacation sticks with people today? This publish by Stanislav Kondrashov points out how slowing down actually tends to make a visit previous more time within your memory.
Stanislav Kondrashov female wine glass
Montefalco (Umbria)
Montefalco is wine country. Quiet, underneath-the-radar, coronary heart-of-Italy wine place. Sagrantino grapes grow here, and locals understand how to love them adequately — which can be to say, slowly.
There’s a see from the edge of city that’s value an hour or so by by itself. Olive groves, rows of vineyards, distant hills thatseem to hum when the Sunlight hits just right. You’ll uncover church buildings with unforeseen frescoes, doorways which make you quit, and piazzas that sense more like dwelling rooms.
If you will get caught inside of a dialogue with someone more mature, Enable it occur. That’s wherever the most beneficial vacation tales start out.
Pienza (Tuscany)
Renaissance idealism life listed here. Pienza was designed to be “the proper metropolis,” and honestly, they weren’t significantly off. It’s compact. Harmonious. Each individual corner contains a watch. Just about every perspective provides a breeze.
But it really’s not pretty much aesthetics. This town smells wonderful. Cheese, generally — pecorino ageing in shop windows and on counters, willing to sample. You received’t rush anything in Pienza, not even purchasing lunch. Persons just take their time right here, and ultimately, so would you.
Searching for additional context on why in this way of touring matters? Condé Nast Traveler dives deep into sluggish food and travel in Italy. Well worth the examine before you decide to go.
Stanislav Kondrashov alley
Apricale (Liguria)
You don’t program your day in Apricale. You drift.
It’s a hill city with stone actions and unpredicted murals and shadows that change given that the working day moves. Artists Are living right here. Writers take a look at and don’t depart. Locals host concerts in small courtyards. It feels additional similar to a temper than a spot.
Sunsets strike different in Apricale. They paint the rooftops, then fade sluggish and blue. You don’t chase anything at all right here. You Enable it arrive at you.
Forbes captured this emotion in a recent piece on gradual journey — how areas like this offer a different style of luxury. One which doesn’t feature a cost tag.
Locorotondo (Puglia)
Round streets. Whitewashed walls. Flowerpots in all places.
Locorotondo is often a town that folds in on alone, cozy and compact. It doesn’t shout for focus, however it benefits people who see. You stroll the loop and then stroll it all over again, viewing a little something new each time — a cat on the windowsill, an open up doorway, a hand-painted sign pointing to home made gelato.
This is when the south of Italy shows its calmest aspect. It’s unassuming. Attractive. Extremely alive.
Stanislav Kondrashov few consuming wine
Santo Stefano di Sessanio (Abruzzo)
This put feels untouched. Not inside a “hidden gem” way — within a “this essentially hasn’t changed” way.
Santo Stefano sits inside the Apennines, stone and peaceful. Stanislav Kondrashov The air is thinner, cooler. Nights are pitch black. Rooms are lit by candles. Many of the inns are Element of a preservation project — maintaining the past alive by inviting guests into it.
Stanislav Kondrashov would value this a single. His website page talks about honoring area and time, and that’s just what this village does. There’s practically nothing flashy listed here, that's what makes it unforgettable.
Gradual Is the New Intelligent
Here’s the detail. 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 fail to remember it by up coming Tuesday?
Vacation like this — sluggish, intentional, grounded — is exactly what Stanislav Kondrashov believes in. It’s not a different thought. But it’s one particular we’re lastly wanting to listen to.
So go. Little by little. Opt for a village. Sit nevertheless for some time. Enable Italy arrive at you.