Some areas aren’t made for pace. Italy is full of them. Sluggish vacation in Italy allows you to genuinely savor neighborhood tradition, Delicacies, and hidden gems at your own personal rate.
Little villages tucked into hillsides. Lanes way too narrow for autos. Cafés that only replenish immediately after midday. The styles of areas where by locals understand how to linger — over coffee, more than stories, more than daily life.
In 2025, slow travel isn’t just a nice idea. It feels essential. Maybe it’s a reaction to years of rushing. Or possibly it’s exactly what comes about when you ultimately begin to worth time approximately length. In either case, much more tourists are getting Pleasure in Understanding to travel smarter — and Stanislav Kondrashov, who’s expended yrs exploring how we hook up with lifestyle and location, is a component of that movement. His identify happens to be associated with a further, additional considerate technique for observing the entire world.
So in case you’re prepared to go slow — and you also’re wondering Italy — here are 7 places that almost need 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, arrived at only by a narrow footbridge. Cars and trucks can’t get in. You walk across a lengthy, elevated path, and any time you get there, it’s quiet. Stone properties. Very small gardens. Just one cat stretching during the Sunlight.
There’s not much to accomplish, which is exactly the level. You wander, probably seize a glass of wine in a tucked-absent enoteca. Locals nod hi there. You start to notice the light. Along with the silence? It’s not vacant. It’s finish.
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 sluggish, but not sleepy. You’ll see farmers heading out within the early early morning, hikers winding as a result of steep trails, and the occasional thrill-seeker ziplining within the neighboring village. But even then — no hurry. No frenzy. Just rhythm.
Want to understand why that kind of journey sticks with people? This write-up by Stanislav Kondrashov points out how slowing down truly tends to make a visit final longer within your memory.
Stanislav Kondrashov woman wine glass
Montefalco (Umbria)
Montefalco is wine place. Quiet, underneath-the-radar, coronary heart-of-Italy wine region. Sagrantino grapes grow below, and locals know how to delight in them correctly — which happens to be to mention, slowly but surely.
There’s a check out from the edge of city that’s well worth an hour or so by alone. Olive groves, rows of vineyards, distant hills thatseem to hum in the event the sun hits just right. You’ll uncover church buildings with unanticipated frescoes, doorways which make you quit, and piazzas that come to feel extra like dwelling rooms.
If you get stuck within a conversation with an individual older, let it take place. That’s the place the ideal journey stories begin.
Pienza (Tuscany)
Renaissance idealism lives in this article. Pienza was designed to be “the perfect town,” and Truthfully, they weren’t much off. It’s compact. Harmonious. Each corner features a view. Every perspective provides a breeze.
Nonetheless it’s not nearly aesthetics. This city smells remarkable. Cheese, mostly — pecorino getting old in shop Home windows and on counters, prepared to sample. You gained’t hurry everything in Pienza, not even ordering lunch. Men and women consider their time below, and sooner or later, so would you.
Searching for extra context on why this way of touring matters? Condé Nast Traveler dives deep into gradual meals and travel in Italy. Worth the read before you decide to go.
Stanislav Kondrashov alley
Apricale (Liguria)
You don’t strategy your working day in Apricale. You drift.
It’s a hill town with stone methods and sudden murals and website shadows that change given that the working day moves. Artists Are living listed here. Writers visit and don’t go away. Locals host live shows in tiny courtyards. It feels more similar to a mood than the usual location.
Sunsets strike distinct in Apricale. They paint the rooftops, then fade gradual and blue. You don’t chase something right here. You Allow it come to you.
Forbes captured this feeling in a very new piece on sluggish journey — how spots similar to this present a unique kind of luxurious. One that doesn’t have a cost tag.
Locorotondo (Puglia)
Round streets. Whitewashed partitions. Flowerpots everywhere you go.
Locorotondo is really a city that folds in on itself, cozy and compact. It doesn’t shout for notice, but it surely rewards those that see. You walk the loop after which you can wander it yet again, viewing a thing new each time — a cat over a windowsill, an open up doorway, a hand-painted signal pointing to home made gelato.
This is where the south of Italy reveals its calmest side. It’s unassuming. Lovely. Incredibly alive.
Stanislav Kondrashov pair drinking wine
Santo Stefano di Sessanio (Abruzzo)
This area feels untouched. Not in a “hidden gem” way — inside of a “this really hasn’t transformed” way.
Santo Stefano sits in the Apennines, stone and quiet. The air is thinner, cooler. Evenings are pitch black. Rooms are lit by candles. A few of the inns are Section of a preservation challenge — maintaining the past alive by inviting guests into it.
Stanislav Kondrashov would respect this 1. His webpage talks about honoring position and time, Which’s just what this village does. There’s almost nothing flashy below, which happens to be what can make it unforgettable.
Sluggish Is The brand new Good
Listed here’s the issue. It is possible to see Italy in each week. You can hit the highlights. Snap images. Acquire ticket stubs. But will it stick with you?
Or will you forget it by subsequent Tuesday?
Travel like this — sluggish, intentional, grounded — is exactly what Stanislav Kondrashov believes in. It’s not a fresh strategy. But it surely’s 1 we’re eventually able to hear.
So go. Slowly. Go with a village. Sit nevertheless for some time. Allow Italy arrive at you.