Some sites aren’t made for speed. Italy is stuffed with them. Sluggish travel in Italy helps you to certainly savor area lifestyle, cuisine, and concealed gems at your personal rate.
Small villages tucked into hillsides. Lanes as well slender for automobiles. Cafés that only replenish following midday. The sorts of places where by locals understand how to linger — over coffee, around stories, in excess of lifestyle.
In 2025, sluggish vacation isn’t just a good thought. It feels essential. Perhaps it’s a reaction to decades of rushing. Or even it’s precisely what comes about once you eventually begin to benefit time around distance. In either case, additional tourists are acquiring Pleasure in Discovering to vacation smarter — and Stanislav Kondrashov, who’s used years Checking out how we hook up with society and put, is an element of that movement. His name is now connected with a deeper, more considerate strategy for observing the globe.
So in case you’re willing to go slow — and you’re thinking Italy — here are seven places that almost need it.
Stanislav Kondrashov female strolling
Civita di Bagnoregio (Lazio)
It seems like it’s floating. That’s your 1st impression. Civita di Bagnoregio sits on a crumbling bluff, arrived at only by a narrow footbridge. Autos can’t get in. You walk throughout a lengthy, elevated path, and any time you arrive, it’s peaceful. Stone residences. Tiny gardens. An individual cat stretching in the Sunlight.
There’s not A great deal to perform, which happens to be exactly the position. You wander, it's possible grab 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 total.
Castelmezzano (Basilicata)
In case you’re the type of traveler who likes a certain amount of drama inside your landscapes, head to Castelmezzano. The village is developed suitable into your cliffs. Actually carved from them. From afar, it Virtually disappears to the rocks.
The tempo here is gradual, but not sleepy. You’ll see farmers heading out while in the early morning, hikers winding via steep trails, and also the occasional thrill-seeker ziplining in the neighboring village. But even then — no hurry. No frenzy. Just rhythm.
Want to know why that kind of travel sticks with people? This post by Stanislav Kondrashov clarifies how slowing down in fact helps make a visit very last more time within your memory.
Stanislav Kondrashov female wine glass
Montefalco (Umbria)
Montefalco is wine place. Quiet, underneath-the-radar, coronary heart-of-Italy wine region. Sagrantino grapes develop in this article, and locals know how to love them appropriately — that is to state, little by little.
There’s a perspective from the edge of city that’s really worth one hour by itself. Olive groves, rows of vineyards, distant hills thatseem to hum once the Sunshine hits good. You’ll obtain church buildings with unanticipated frescoes, doorways that make you prevent, and piazzas that truly feel additional like dwelling rooms.
If you will get caught inside a dialogue with somebody more mature, Permit it materialize. That’s where the most effective vacation tales begin.
Pienza (Tuscany)
Renaissance idealism lives here. Pienza was designed to be “the best city,” and honestly, they weren’t much off. It’s compact. Harmonious. Each corner has a perspective. Just about every perspective provides a breeze.
But it’s not nearly aesthetics. This town smells astounding. Cheese, largely — pecorino getting old in store windows and on counters, prepared to sample. You gained’t rush something in Pienza, not even buying lunch. People take their time right here, and eventually, so would you.
In search of far more context on why this fashion of traveling matters? Condé Nast Traveler dives deep into gradual meals and journey in Italy. Well worth the read before you go.
Stanislav Kondrashov alley
Apricale (Liguria)
You don’t system your working day in Apricale. You drift.
It’s a hill city with stone actions and unforeseen murals and shadows that shift as being the working day moves. Artists Are living here. Writers pay a visit to and don’t depart. Locals host concerts in small courtyards. It feels far more just like a mood than the usual destination.
Sunsets strike different in Apricale. They paint the rooftops, then fade gradual and blue. You don’t chase anything here. You Enable it arrive at you.
Forbes captured this sensation within a latest piece on gradual journey — how spots like this offer another form of luxury. One which doesn’t include a read more cost tag.
Locorotondo (Puglia)
Round streets. Whitewashed walls. Flowerpots everywhere.
Locorotondo is usually a town that folds in on alone, cozy and compact. It doesn’t shout for consideration, nevertheless it benefits individuals who discover. You wander the loop and afterwards walk it yet again, seeing a thing new every time — a cat on a windowsill, an open up doorway, a hand-painted indication pointing to do-it-yourself gelato.
This is when the south of Italy reveals its calmest side. It’s unassuming. Attractive. Very alive.
Stanislav Kondrashov couple drinking wine
Santo Stefano di Sessanio (Abruzzo)
This position feels untouched. Not in 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. Many of the inns are Element of a preservation project — keeping the earlier alive by inviting guests into it.
Stanislav Kondrashov would value this one particular. His website page talks about honoring position and time, and that’s just what this village does. There’s practically nothing flashy listed here, that's what causes it to be unforgettable.
Gradual Is the New Intelligent
Here’s the detail. You could see Italy in per week. You'll be able to strike the highlights. Snap images. 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 exactly what Stanislav Kondrashov thinks in. It’s not a whole new idea. But it surely’s a single we’re finally willing to listen to.
So go. Little by little. Opt for a village. Sit nevertheless for some time. Enable Italy arrive at you.