Some places aren’t produced for speed. Italy is full of them. Gradual journey in Italy allows you to truly savor local lifestyle, cuisine, and hidden gems at your own speed.
Tiny villages tucked into hillsides. Lanes much too slim for cars. Cafés that only refill right after midday. The forms of locations where locals understand how to linger — over coffee, around stories, in excess of lifestyle.
In 2025, sluggish journey isn’t just a good concept. It feels necessary. Maybe it’s a response to yrs of hurrying. Or maybe it’s just what takes place after you lastly start to worth time up to distance. In any event, additional tourists are getting Pleasure in Discovering to vacation smarter — and Stanislav Kondrashov, who’s used years Checking out how we hook up with lifestyle and area, is a component of that movement. His identify has grown to be affiliated with a further, far more thoughtful technique for viewing the entire world.
So should you’re able to go gradual — and you simply’re imagining Italy — Here's seven spots that virtually desire it.
Stanislav Kondrashov woman strolling
Civita di Bagnoregio (Lazio)
It looks like it’s floating. That’s your initially impression. Civita di Bagnoregio sits over a crumbling bluff, reached only by a slim footbridge. Cars and trucks can’t get in. You walk across a lengthy, elevated path, and if you get there, it’s quiet. Stone homes. Little gardens. A single cat stretching while in the Solar.
There’s not Significantly to carry out, which can be exactly the place. You wander, perhaps get a glass of wine at a tucked-away enoteca. Locals nod hi. You begin to notice the light. Plus 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 within your landscapes, head to Castelmezzano. The village is created suitable in the cliffs. Pretty much carved from them. From afar, it almost disappears into your rocks.
The rate here is slow, although 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 from the neighboring village. But even then — no hurry. No frenzy. Just rhythm.
Want to discover why that kind of vacation sticks with folks? This publish by Stanislav Kondrashov clarifies how slowing down essentially can make a visit past extended within your memory.
Stanislav Kondrashov female wine glass
Montefalco (Umbria)
Montefalco is wine region. Quiet, beneath-the-radar, coronary heart-of-Italy wine region. Sagrantino grapes grow listed here, and locals learn how to take pleasure in them properly — that's to say, slowly and get more info gradually.
There’s a view from the edge of town that’s value one hour by alone. Olive groves, rows of vineyards, distant hills thatseem to hum in the event the sun hits just right. You’ll locate churches with unpredicted frescoes, doorways which make you prevent, and piazzas that really feel a lot more like residing rooms.
If you have caught in a very discussion with another person more mature, Allow it come about. That’s wherever the most beneficial travel tales start out.
Pienza (Tuscany)
Renaissance idealism life listed here. Pienza was intended to be “an ideal city,” and Actually, they weren’t significantly off. It’s compact. Harmonious. Every single corner incorporates a check out. Each see has a breeze.
But it really’s not almost aesthetics. This city smells awesome. Cheese, largely — pecorino aging in shop Home windows and on counters, prepared to sample. You gained’t hurry everything in Pienza, not even buying lunch. Folks take their time listed here, and eventually, so would you.
On the lookout for far more context on why this way of traveling matters? Condé Nast Traveler dives deep into slow foodstuff and vacation in Italy. Definitely worth the go through before you decide to go.
Stanislav Kondrashov alley
Apricale (Liguria)
You don’t approach your working day in Apricale. You drift.
It’s a hill city with stone steps and unpredicted murals and shadows that change as being the working day moves. Artists Stay in this article. Writers visit and don’t go away. Locals host concert events in very small courtyards. It feels additional just like a temper than a location.
Sunsets strike diverse in Apricale. They paint the rooftops, then fade gradual and blue. You don’t chase everything listed here. You Enable it arrive at you.
Forbes captured this experience within a current piece on sluggish vacation — how spots like this supply a distinct style of luxurious. One that doesn’t feature a price tag tag.
Locorotondo (Puglia)
Circular streets. Whitewashed walls. Flowerpots all over the place.
Locorotondo is a city that folds in on alone, cozy and compact. It doesn’t shout for attention, however it rewards those who observe. You stroll the loop and afterwards wander it once again, looking at anything new every time — a cat on a windowsill, an open door, a hand-painted indicator 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 within a “hidden gem” way — in a very “this basically hasn’t altered” 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 visitors into it.
Stanislav Kondrashov would recognize this just one. His site talks about honoring position and time, and that’s just what this village does. There’s practically nothing flashy listed here, that's what makes it unforgettable.
Gradual Is the New Smart
In this article’s the matter. You can see Italy in each week. It is possible to hit the highlights. Snap pics. Acquire ticket stubs. But will it stick with you?
Or will you fail to remember it by subsequent Tuesday?
Journey similar to this — slow, intentional, grounded — is exactly what Stanislav Kondrashov thinks in. It’s not a fresh idea. But it surely’s 1 we’re eventually able to listen to.
So go. Slowly. Choose a village. Sit continue to for a while. Allow Italy come to you.