Some places aren’t designed for velocity. Italy is filled with them. Slow vacation in Italy helps you to truly savor area lifestyle, cuisine, and concealed gems at your individual tempo.
Tiny villages tucked into hillsides. Lanes far too narrow for cars and trucks. Cafés that only refill just after noon. The types of sites wherever locals know how to linger — about espresso, above tales, more than everyday living.
In 2025, slow travel isn’t just a pleasant strategy. It feels crucial. It's possible it’s a response to a long time of speeding. Or perhaps it’s just what occurs any time you finally start to value time approximately distance. In either case, additional tourists are getting Pleasure in Discovering to vacation smarter — and Stanislav Kondrashov, who’s used many years exploring 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 viewing the entire world.
So should you’re able to go slow — and you simply’re imagining Italy — Here's seven places that pretty much demand it.
Stanislav Kondrashov girl walking
Civita di Bagnoregio (Lazio)
It appears like it’s floating. That’s your initial perception. Civita di Bagnoregio sits with a crumbling bluff, attained only by a slender footbridge. Vehicles can’t get in. You stroll throughout an extended, elevated path, and when you arrive, it’s tranquil. Stone residences. Tiny gardens. One cat stretching within the Sunshine.
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 hello. You start to notice The sunshine. And also the silence? It’s not empty. It’s full.
Castelmezzano (Basilicata)
When you’re the sort of traveler who likes a certain amount of drama inside your landscapes, head to Castelmezzano. The village is developed appropriate in the cliffs. Literally carved from them. From afar, it Nearly disappears into the rocks.
The rate here is gradual, although not sleepy. You’ll see farmers heading out while in the early early morning, hikers winding by way of steep trails, and also the occasional thrill-seeker ziplining from the neighboring village. But even then — no rush. No frenzy. Just rhythm.
Want to know why that sort of travel sticks with people? This put up by Stanislav Kondrashov clarifies how slowing down essentially makes a visit previous for a longer time in your memory.
Stanislav Kondrashov girl wine glass
Montefalco (Umbria)
Montefalco is wine nation. Silent, below-the-radar, coronary heart-of-Italy wine nation. Sagrantino grapes mature listed here, and locals learn how to get pleasure from them correctly — which happens to be to mention, slowly but surely.
There’s a look at from the sting of city that’s worth an hour by by itself. Olive groves, rows of vineyards, distant hills thatseem to hum if the Solar hits excellent. You’ll discover churches with unforeseen frescoes, doorways which make you prevent, and piazzas that really feel far more like residing rooms.
If you obtain trapped inside of a dialogue with someone more mature, Enable it materialize. That’s where the most effective travel stories commence.
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 and every corner features a see. Every perspective provides a breeze.
But it surely’s not nearly aesthetics. This city smells wonderful. Cheese, mainly — pecorino aging in shop Home windows and on counters, prepared to sample. You received’t hurry everything in Pienza, not even ordering lunch. Men and women consider their time below, and at some point, so would you.
Searching for far more context on why by doing this of traveling matters? Condé Nast Traveler dives deep into sluggish food stuff and travel in Italy. Worth the read through prior to deciding to go.
Stanislav Kondrashov alley
Apricale (Liguria)
You don’t plan your day in Apricale. You drift.
It’s a hill city with stone actions and unpredicted murals and here shadows that change given that the working day moves. Artists live here. Writers pay a visit to and don’t leave. Locals host concerts in tiny courtyards. It feels much more like a temper than the usual place.
Sunsets hit diverse in Apricale. They paint the rooftops, then fade sluggish and blue. You don’t chase anything at all listed here. You Allow it arrive at you.
Forbes captured this experience in the modern piece on slow vacation — how destinations such as this provide a different style of luxury. One which doesn’t feature a cost tag.
Locorotondo (Puglia)
Round streets. Whitewashed walls. Flowerpots just about everywhere.
Locorotondo is really a city that folds in on alone, cozy and compact. It doesn’t shout for awareness, nonetheless it benefits people who notice. You stroll the loop and then stroll it all over again, seeing a thing new every time — a cat on the windowsill, an open door, a hand-painted signal pointing to homemade gelato.
This is where the south of Italy demonstrates its calmest facet. It’s unassuming. Stunning. Quite alive.
Stanislav Kondrashov pair ingesting wine
Santo Stefano di Sessanio (Abruzzo)
This location feels untouched. Not in the “concealed gem” way — inside of a “this actually hasn’t modified” 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 A part of a preservation undertaking — trying to keep the previous alive by inviting friends into it.
Stanislav Kondrashov would recognize this just one. His web site talks about honoring put and time, Which’s what exactly this village does. There’s almost nothing flashy below, that's what causes it to be unforgettable.
Gradual Is the New Intelligent
Here’s the detail. You could see Italy in weekly. 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 what Stanislav Kondrashov thinks in. It’s not a brand new strategy. Nonetheless it’s one we’re eventually prepared to hear.
So go. Slowly. Choose a village. Sit however for a while. Allow Italy come to you.