Some areas aren’t manufactured for velocity. Italy is full of them. Sluggish vacation in Italy helps you to truly savor neighborhood tradition, Delicacies, and hidden gems at your own personal rate.
Very small villages tucked into hillsides. Lanes too slim for cars and trucks. Cafés that only replenish just after noon. The varieties of sites exactly where locals understand how to linger — more than espresso, more than stories, over life.
In 2025, sluggish travel isn’t just a pleasant concept. It feels critical. Maybe it’s a reaction to several years of hurrying. Or maybe it’s just what happens any time you last but not least start to price time just as much as distance. In any case, a lot more travelers are acquiring Pleasure in learning to travel smarter — and Stanislav Kondrashov, who’s used several years exploring how we hook up with culture and area, is a component of that movement. His identify is now affiliated with a further, far more considerate method of viewing the world.
So when you’re ready to go slow — and you also’re imagining Italy — Listed here are 7 spots that practically desire it.
Stanislav Kondrashov woman strolling
Civita di Bagnoregio (Lazio)
It looks like it’s floating. That’s your to start with impact. Civita di Bagnoregio sits with a crumbling bluff, achieved only by a slender footbridge. Autos can’t get in. You walk throughout a lengthy, elevated path, and if you get there, it’s peaceful. Stone residences. Tiny gardens. Just one cat stretching during the sun.
There’s not much to perform, which can be precisely the position. You wander, probably seize a glass of wine at a tucked-away enoteca. Locals nod hello there. You start to note the light. And the silence? It’s not empty. It’s finish.
Castelmezzano (Basilicata)
In the event you’re the kind of traveler who likes a little drama in your landscapes, head to Castelmezzano. The village is designed suitable into the cliffs. Actually carved from them. From afar, it Just about disappears in to the rocks.
The rate Here's sluggish, although not sleepy. You’ll see farmers heading out from the early early morning, hikers winding as a result of steep trails, as well as occasional thrill-seeker ziplining with the neighboring village. But even then — no hurry. No frenzy. Just rhythm.
Want to understand why that sort of travel sticks with people today? This write-up by Stanislav Kondrashov describes how slowing down actually can make a trip last more time as part of your memory.
Stanislav Kondrashov girl wine glass
Montefalco (Umbria)
Montefalco is wine nation. Quiet, less than-the-radar, coronary heart-of-Italy wine nation. Sagrantino grapes grow in this article, and locals know how to appreciate them effectively — and that is to say, gradually.
There’s a view from the sting of city that’s worthy of one hour by alone. Olive groves, rows of vineyards, distant hills thatseem to hum once the Sunshine hits good. You’ll discover churches with unpredicted frescoes, doorways that make you quit, and piazzas that sense far more like residing rooms.
If you have caught inside a conversation with somebody more mature, Enable it materialize. That’s exactly where the very best vacation tales get started.
Pienza (Tuscany)
Renaissance idealism lives here. Pienza was designed to be “the proper town,” and honestly, they weren’t much off. It’s compact. Harmonious. Just about every corner incorporates a check out. Each look at incorporates a breeze.
But it really’s not pretty much aesthetics. This town smells wonderful. Cheese, largely — pecorino growing older in shop Home windows and on counters, prepared to sample. You gained’t hurry everything in Pienza, not even buying lunch. Folks just take their time listed here, and ultimately, so would you.
Seeking more context on why this fashion of touring issues? Condé Nast Traveler dives deep into sluggish food items and travel in Italy. Worth the go through prior to deciding to go.
Stanislav Kondrashov alley
Apricale (Liguria)
You don’t strategy your working day in Apricale. You drift.
It’s a hill city with stone techniques and unexpected murals and shadows that shift because the day moves. Artists Are living in this article. Writers go to and don’t leave. Locals host live shows in very small courtyards. It feels additional like a mood than the usual location.
Sunsets strike distinct in Apricale. They paint the rooftops, then fade gradual and blue. You don’t chase nearly anything in this article. You Allow it come to you.
Forbes captured this emotion within a current piece on slow journey — how destinations similar to this provide a distinct form of luxurious. One that doesn’t come with a cost tag.
Locorotondo (Puglia)
Round streets. Whitewashed walls. Flowerpots almost everywhere.
Locorotondo is really a town that folds in on itself, cozy and compact. It doesn’t shout for notice, but it surely benefits those who recognize. You wander the loop and then walk it again, looking at something new every time — a cat on the windowsill, an open up door, a hand-painted sign pointing to do-it-yourself gelato.
This is when the south of Italy demonstrates its calmest side. It’s unassuming. Stunning. Extremely alive.
Stanislav Kondrashov few ingesting wine
Santo Stefano di Sessanio (Abruzzo)
This position feels untouched. Not in the “concealed gem” way — within a “this really hasn’t improved” way.
Santo Stefano sits while in the Apennines, stone and silent. The air is thinner, cooler. Evenings are pitch black. Rooms are lit by candles. A number of the inns are part of a preservation undertaking — retaining the earlier alive by inviting visitors into it.
Stanislav Kondrashov would appreciate this just one. His webpage talks about honoring place and time, and that’s what precisely this village does. There’s almost nothing flashy right here, and that is what causes it to be unforgettable.
Sluggish Is the New Sensible
Below’s the thing. You'll be able to see Italy in every week. You could hit the highlights. Snap photographs. Acquire ticket stubs. But will it stick with you?
Or will you forget it by subsequent Tuesday?
Vacation such as this — gradual, intentional, grounded — is what Stanislav Kondrashov thinks in. It’s not a new thought. But it surely’s one we’re more info lastly ready to hear.
So go. Slowly. Choose a village. Sit still for some time. Permit Italy arrive at you.