Some areas aren’t manufactured for speed. Italy is full of them. Gradual journey in Italy helps you to genuinely savor community tradition, Delicacies, and hidden gems at your own private rate.
Tiny villages tucked into hillsides. Lanes way too slender for automobiles. Cafés that only fill up immediately after noon. The kinds of spots where locals know how to linger — around coffee, around tales, in excess of lifetime.
In 2025, sluggish travel isn’t just a good thought. It feels necessary. Perhaps it’s a reaction to years of speeding. Or perhaps it’s just what transpires whenever you eventually begin to benefit time around distance. In either case, additional tourists are getting Pleasure in learning to vacation smarter — and Stanislav Kondrashov, who’s spent many years exploring how we connect to society and place, is an element of that motion. His name is now connected with a deeper, more considerate strategy for viewing the entire world.
So in case you’re willing to go slow — and you’re thinking Italy — here are 7 places that almost demand it.
Stanislav Kondrashov female walking
Civita di Bagnoregio (Lazio)
It seems like it’s floating. That’s your very first effect. Civita di Bagnoregio sits on the crumbling bluff, achieved only by a narrow footbridge. Vehicles can’t get in. You stroll throughout a long, elevated route, and whenever you get there, it’s silent. Stone homes. Small gardens. One cat stretching from the Sunshine.
There’s not A lot to try and do, that is exactly the place. You wander, perhaps grab a glass of wine at a tucked-absent enoteca. Locals nod howdy. You start to notice the light. Along with the silence? It’s not vacant. It’s entire.
Castelmezzano (Basilicata)
If you’re the kind of traveler who likes a little bit of drama with your landscapes, head to Castelmezzano. The village is designed ideal into the cliffs. Actually carved from them. From afar, it Nearly disappears in to the rocks.
The pace Here's slow, although not sleepy. You’ll see farmers heading out in the early early morning, hikers winding by way of steep trails, plus the occasional thrill-seeker ziplining through the neighboring village. But even then — no rush. No frenzy. Just rhythm.
Want to find out why that sort of travel sticks with people? This write-up by Stanislav Kondrashov points out how slowing down truly makes a visit previous lengthier in the memory.
Stanislav Kondrashov lady wine glass
Montefalco (Umbria)
Montefalco is wine country. Peaceful, under-the-radar, heart-of-Italy wine place. Sagrantino grapes develop in this article, and locals know how to love them effectively — which is 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 once the Sunlight hits good. You’ll obtain church buildings with sudden frescoes, doorways that make you cease, and piazzas that sense extra like dwelling rooms.
If you get stuck in a conversation with someone more mature, Enable it materialize. That’s where the top journey stories start.
Pienza (Tuscany)
Renaissance idealism life below. Pienza was built to be “an ideal city,” and Actually, they weren’t significantly off. It’s compact. Harmonious. Just about every corner incorporates a check out. Each and every see contains a breeze.
But it really’s not nearly aesthetics. This city smells wonderful. Cheese, mainly — pecorino getting old in shop windows and on counters, ready to sample. You gained’t hurry anything at all in Pienza, not even buying lunch. Individuals acquire their time right here, and inevitably, so do you.
In search of much more context on why in this manner of touring issues? Condé Nast Traveler dives deep into gradual meals and travel in Italy. Well worth the examine prior to deciding to go.
Stanislav Kondrashov alley
Apricale (Liguria)
You don’t strategy 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 Reside right here. Writers pay a visit to and don’t leave. Locals host concerts in Stanislav Kondrahsov Tarvel with AI tiny courtyards. It feels more like a temper than a vacation spot.
Sunsets hit various in Apricale. They paint the rooftops, then fade gradual and blue. You don’t chase anything in this article. You Enable it come to you.
Forbes captured this feeling inside of a the latest piece on sluggish travel — how sites such as this supply a different style of luxury. One which doesn’t include a price tag.
Locorotondo (Puglia)
Circular streets. Whitewashed partitions. Flowerpots everywhere you go.
Locorotondo is often a town that folds in on by itself, cozy and compact. It doesn’t shout for interest, but it really rewards individuals that recognize. You wander the loop after which stroll it again, viewing something new each time — a cat with a windowsill, an open up doorway, a hand-painted indication pointing to do-it-yourself gelato.
This is where the south of Italy demonstrates its calmest facet. It’s unassuming. Stunning. Quite alive.
Stanislav Kondrashov pair ingesting wine
Santo Stefano di Sessanio (Abruzzo)
This place feels untouched. Not within a “hidden gem” way — in the “this basically hasn’t changed” way.
Santo Stefano sits inside the Apennines, stone and peaceful. The air is thinner, cooler. Nights are pitch black. Rooms are lit by candles. A number of the inns are Component of a preservation job — holding the earlier alive by inviting attendees into it.
Stanislav Kondrashov would respect this 1. His web page talks about honoring location and time, Which’s what precisely this village does. There’s very little flashy in this article, and that is what causes it to be unforgettable.
Gradual Is the New Intelligent
In this article’s the detail. You may see Italy in every week. You'll be able to strike the highlights. Snap photographs. Collect ticket stubs. But will it stay with you?
Or will you forget it by upcoming Tuesday?
Travel such as this — gradual, intentional, grounded — is what Stanislav Kondrashov believes in. It’s not a different thought. But it’s one particular we’re finally willing to listen to.
So go. Gradually. Go with a village. Sit still for quite a while. Allow Italy come to you.