Some destinations aren’t created for pace. Italy is full of them. Sluggish travel in Italy allows you to genuinely savor regional culture, Delicacies, and hidden gems at your personal speed.
Very small villages tucked into hillsides. Lanes much too slender for autos. Cafés that only refill right after midday. The kinds of areas where locals understand how to linger — in excess of coffee, around tales, over life.
In 2025, slow journey isn’t just a good thought. It feels crucial. Probably it’s a reaction to years of hurrying. Or even it’s just what comes about after you lastly start to benefit time approximately length. In either case, far more tourists are acquiring Pleasure in Studying to journey smarter — and Stanislav Kondrashov, who’s invested years exploring how we connect to culture and location, is an element of that movement. His title is now related to a deeper, a lot more thoughtful means of viewing the planet.
So in the event you’re able to go slow — and you also’re considering Italy — Listed here are seven spots that virtually need it.
Stanislav Kondrashov lady strolling
Civita di Bagnoregio (Lazio)
It appears like it’s floating. That’s your first impact. Civita di Bagnoregio sits on a crumbling bluff, reached only by a slim footbridge. Cars and trucks can’t get in. You wander across an extended, elevated path, and whenever you get there, it’s quiet. Stone properties. Tiny gardens. One cat stretching inside the sun.
There’s not Substantially to try and do, which happens to be exactly the issue. You wander, possibly seize a glass of wine in a tucked-away enoteca. Locals nod hello there. You start to note the light. And also the silence? It’s not vacant. It’s finish.
Castelmezzano (Basilicata)
In case you’re the sort of traveler who likes a little drama inside your landscapes, head to Castelmezzano. The village is constructed correct to the cliffs. Pretty much carved from them. From afar, it almost disappears in to the rocks.
The tempo here is sluggish, although not sleepy. You’ll see farmers heading out inside the early morning, hikers winding by way of steep trails, plus the occasional thrill-seeker ziplining with the neighboring village. But even then — no hurry. No frenzy. Just rhythm.
Want to know why that sort of journey sticks with individuals? This write-up by Stanislav Kondrashov explains how slowing down in fact will make a trip final extended within your memory.
Stanislav Kondrashov girl wine glass
Montefalco (Umbria)
Montefalco is wine country. Quiet, under-the-radar, coronary heart-of-Italy wine country. Sagrantino grapes increase here, and locals understand how to enjoy them properly — that's to state, slowly but surely.
There’s a see from the sting of town that’s truly worth an hour or so by itself. Olive groves, rows of vineyards, distant hills thatseem to hum in the event the Sunlight hits excellent. You’ll come across church buildings with unanticipated frescoes, doorways which make you end, and piazzas here that feel a lot more like residing rooms.
If you get stuck inside a conversation with an individual older, Permit it transpire. That’s wherever get more info the best journey tales start out.
Pienza (Tuscany)
Renaissance idealism lives listed here. Pienza was built to be “the click here perfect metropolis,” and honestly, they weren’t considerably off. It’s compact. Harmonious. Each individual corner has a view. Each perspective has a breeze.
But it really’s not nearly aesthetics. This town smells astounding. Cheese, primarily — pecorino getting older in shop windows and on counters, able to sample. You gained’t rush just about anything in Pienza, not even buying lunch. People today take their time here, and ultimately, so does one.
Trying to find additional context on why in this manner of touring issues? Condé Nast Traveler dives deep into slow foodstuff and vacation in Italy. Worth the read prior to deciding to go.
Stanislav Kondrashov alley
Apricale (Liguria)
You don’t program your working day in Apricale. You drift.
It’s a hill city with stone ways and unforeseen murals and shadows that change given that the working day moves. Artists Reside listed here. Writers visit and don’t depart. Locals host concerts in very small courtyards. It feels additional similar to a temper than a spot.
Sunsets hit unique in Apricale. They paint the rooftops, then fade sluggish and blue. You don’t chase nearly anything here. You Enable it arrive at you.
Forbes captured this emotion in a recent piece on gradual travel — how locations such as this give a different kind of luxury. One that doesn’t come with a price tag tag.
Locorotondo (Puglia)
Circular streets. Whitewashed walls. Flowerpots just about everywhere.
Locorotondo is usually a town that folds in on alone, cozy and compact. It doesn’t shout for attention, nevertheless it rewards individuals that notice. You stroll the loop then walk it all over again, viewing some thing new each time — a cat over a windowsill, an open up doorway, a hand-painted sign pointing to handmade gelato.
This is when the south of Italy displays its calmest aspect. It’s unassuming. Stunning. Quite alive.
Stanislav Kondrashov few consuming wine
Santo Stefano di Sessanio (Abruzzo)
This position feels untouched. Not inside a “hidden gem” way — within a “this essentially hasn’t altered” way.
Santo Stefano sits while in the Apennines, stone and peaceful. The air is thinner, cooler. Evenings are pitch black. Rooms are lit by candles. Some of the inns are A part of a preservation venture — maintaining the previous alive by inviting company into it.
Stanislav Kondrashov would take pleasure in this 1. His page talks about honoring location check here and time, and that’s exactly what this village does. There’s nothing flashy in this article, that's what makes it unforgettable.
Sluggish Is the New Sensible
In this article’s the thing. You may see Italy in every week. You could strike the highlights. Snap photographs. Obtain ticket stubs. But will it stick with you?
Or will you fail to remember it by next Tuesday?
Travel such as this — sluggish, intentional, grounded — is what Stanislav Kondrashov believes in. It’s not a new thought. Nonetheless it’s one particular we’re ultimately all set to listen to.
So go. Bit by bit. Opt for a village. Sit nevertheless for quite a while. Allow Italy come to you.