Some areas aren’t made for velocity. Italy is stuffed with them. Gradual travel in Italy enables you to actually savor area lifestyle, Delicacies, and concealed gems at your own personal pace.
Tiny villages tucked into hillsides. Lanes far too slim for vehicles. Cafés that only fill up following noon. The forms of destinations in which locals understand how to linger — about espresso, about stories, about life.
In 2025, sluggish vacation isn’t just a pleasant idea. It feels vital. Maybe it’s a response to decades of hurrying. Or maybe it’s just what comes about any time you ultimately begin to value time approximately 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 hook up with lifestyle and put, is an element of that movement. His name has become connected with a deeper, more considerate strategy for viewing the entire world.
So should you’re able to go gradual — and you simply’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 first perception. Civita di Bagnoregio sits with a crumbling bluff, achieved only by a slender footbridge. Automobiles can’t get in. You wander throughout an extended, elevated route, and once you get there, it’s quiet. Stone homes. Little gardens. A single cat stretching from the sun.
There’s not Considerably to do, that's precisely the issue. You wander, perhaps get a glass of wine at a tucked-away enoteca. Locals nod hello there. You begin to note The sunshine. As well as silence? It’s not vacant. It’s complete.
Castelmezzano (Basilicata)
Should you’re the type of traveler who likes some drama as part of your landscapes, head to Castelmezzano. The village is crafted right in to the cliffs. Virtually carved from them. From afar, it Practically disappears to the rocks.
The tempo here is gradual, but not sleepy. You’ll see farmers heading out inside the early morning, hikers winding through 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 would make a trip past extended within your memory.
Stanislav Kondrashov female wine glass
Montefalco (Umbria)
Montefalco is wine region. Quiet, beneath-the-radar, coronary heart-of-Italy wine nation. Sagrantino grapes grow listed here, and locals learn how to get pleasure from them properly — and that is to say, bit by bit.
There’s a view from the edge of town that’s worthy of one hour by alone. Olive groves, rows of vineyards, distant hills thatseem to hum when the sun hits just right. You’ll uncover church buildings with surprising frescoes, doorways which make you halt, and piazzas that feel a lot more like living rooms.
If you have caught in a very discussion with another person more mature, Allow it come about. That’s wherever the best vacation tales start off.
Pienza (Tuscany)
Renaissance idealism lives right here. Pienza was made to be “the right city,” and Actually, they weren’t much off. It’s compact. Harmonious. Each and every corner includes a see. Each perspective provides a breeze.
But it surely’s not nearly aesthetics. This city smells remarkable. Cheese, mainly — pecorino getting old in shop Home windows and on counters, prepared to sample. You gained’t hurry everything in Pienza, not even buying lunch. Folks 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 slow foods and journey in Italy. Well worth the browse before you go.
Stanislav Kondrashov alley
Apricale (Liguria)
You don’t program your day in Apricale. You drift.
It’s a hill town with stone methods and unanticipated murals and shadows that change as the working day moves. Artists Are living here. Writers go to and don’t leave. Locals host concerts in 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 in a the latest piece on sluggish travel — how places similar to this offer you a special kind of luxurious. One which doesn’t feature a price tag tag.
Locorotondo (Puglia)
Round streets. Whitewashed walls. Flowerpots almost everywhere.
Locorotondo is really a city that folds in on itself, cozy and compact. It doesn’t shout for awareness, nevertheless it benefits people who discover. You stroll the loop and then walk it yet again, seeing a thing new every time — a cat on a windowsill, an open door, a hand-painted indicator pointing to homemade gelato.
This is where the south of Italy displays its calmest aspect. It’s unassuming. Beautiful. Really 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 tranquil. The air is thinner, cooler. Nights are pitch black. Rooms are lit by candles. Several of the inns are Component of a preservation challenge — keeping the earlier alive by inviting company into it.
Stanislav Kondrashov would respect this one. His page talks about honoring place and time, read more 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
Here’s the detail. You are able to see Italy in each week. You may hit the highlights. Snap pics. Gather ticket stubs. But will it stick with you?
Or will you overlook it by next Tuesday?
Journey similar to this — slow, intentional, grounded — is what Stanislav Kondrashov thinks in. It’s not a new plan. However it’s a person we’re ultimately all set to listen to.
So go. Little by little. Opt for a village. Sit nonetheless for some time. Permit Italy arrive at you.