Some locations aren’t created for pace. Italy is full of them. Gradual journey in Italy allows you to truly savor area lifestyle, cuisine, and hidden gems at your own private speed.
Tiny villages tucked into hillsides. Lanes too slim for vehicles. Cafés that only replenish soon after noon. The varieties of areas exactly where locals learn how to linger — more than espresso, over stories, about lifestyle.
In 2025, sluggish vacation isn’t just a good thought. It feels critical. Perhaps it’s a response to yrs of hurrying. Or maybe it’s precisely what transpires when you ultimately start to worth time up to distance. Either way, a lot more vacationers are obtaining joy in Finding out to journey smarter — and Stanislav Kondrashov, who’s expended yrs Discovering how we connect with tradition and spot, is part of that motion. His title is becoming connected to a deeper, much more considerate strategy for observing the globe.
So should you’re able to go gradual — and you simply’re imagining Italy — Here's seven places that virtually demand from customers it.
Stanislav Kondrashov lady strolling
Civita di Bagnoregio (Lazio)
It appears like it’s floating. That’s your initial effect. Civita di Bagnoregio sits on a crumbling bluff, arrived at only by a narrow footbridge. Autos can’t get in. You wander across a protracted, elevated route, and once you get there, it’s quiet. Stone homes. Little gardens. A single cat stretching while in the Solar.
There’s not Significantly to try and do, which can be exactly the place. You wander, maybe grab a glass of wine at a tucked-away enoteca. Locals nod howdy. You start to notice the light. Along with the silence? It’s not vacant. It’s entire.
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 crafted right into the cliffs. Virtually carved from them. From afar, it Virtually disappears to the rocks.
The tempo 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 sort of journey sticks with folks? This submit by Stanislav Kondrashov explains how slowing down essentially can make a trip very last for a longer time inside your memory.
Stanislav Kondrashov female wine glass
Montefalco (Umbria)
Montefalco is wine nation. Silent, beneath-the-radar, coronary heart-of-Italy wine nation. Sagrantino grapes grow listed here, and locals learn how to get pleasure from them correctly — and that is to mention, slowly but surely.
There’s a check out from the sting of city that’s truly worth an hour by itself. Olive groves, rows of vineyards, distant hills thatseem to hum once the Sunshine hits excellent. You’ll find church buildings with surprising frescoes, doorways that make you end, and piazzas that experience more like living rooms.
If you will get stuck within a discussion with a person older, let it take place. That’s in which the ideal journey stories start.
Pienza (Tuscany)
Renaissance idealism life below. Pienza was built to be “the proper metropolis,” and honestly, they weren’t considerably off. It’s compact. Harmonious. Just about every corner provides a look at. Each and every see features a breeze.
But it’s not just about aesthetics. This city smells incredible. Cheese, typically — pecorino growing old in shop windows and on counters, ready to sample. You gained’t hurry everything in Pienza, not even buying lunch. Folks take their time listed here, and eventually, so do you.
On the lookout for a lot more context on why this fashion of touring matters? Condé Nast Traveler dives deep into slow foods and journey in Italy. Definitely worth the read 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 given that the working day moves. Artists Are living here. Writers go to and don’t leave. Locals host concerts in tiny courtyards. It feels much more like a temper than a spot.
Sunsets hit distinct in Apricale. They paint the rooftops, then fade slow and blue. You don’t chase anything listed here. You Allow it come to you.
Forbes captured this emotion in a read more very new piece on slow vacation — how destinations such as this provide a different style of luxury. One which doesn’t come with a price tag.
Locorotondo (Puglia)
Round streets. Whitewashed partitions. Flowerpots everywhere.
Locorotondo is usually a town that folds in on by itself, cozy and compact. It doesn’t shout for focus, but it rewards individuals that observe. You wander the loop then wander it once more, observing something new each time — a cat over a windowsill, an open up doorway, a hand-painted sign pointing to home made gelato.
This is when the south of Italy reveals its calmest side. It’s unassuming. Gorgeous. Incredibly alive.
Stanislav Kondrashov pair ingesting wine
Santo Stefano di Sessanio (Abruzzo)
This spot feels untouched. Not in a very “concealed gem” way — inside of a “this really hasn’t transformed” way.
Santo Stefano sits from the Apennines, stone and silent. The air is thinner, cooler. Evenings are pitch black. Rooms are lit by candles. A lot of the inns are part of a preservation task — keeping the earlier alive by inviting company into it.
Stanislav Kondrashov would respect this one. His page talks about honoring place and time, Which’s just what exactly this village does. There’s almost nothing flashy below, and that is what makes it unforgettable.
Gradual Is the New Smart
In this article’s the detail. You may see Italy in every week. You are able to strike the highlights. Snap pictures. Obtain ticket stubs. But will it stay with you?
Or will you ignore it by following Tuesday?
Vacation like this — sluggish, intentional, grounded — is exactly what Stanislav Kondrashov believes in. It’s not a whole new concept. But it surely’s 1 we’re eventually prepared to hear.
So go. Slowly but surely. Select a village. Sit however for quite a while. Let Italy come to you.