Some destinations aren’t made for speed. Italy is full of them. Slow vacation in Italy permits you to actually savor regional culture, Delicacies, and hidden gems at your individual pace.
Very small villages tucked into hillsides. Lanes much too slim for cars and trucks. Cafés that only refill immediately after noon. The styles of destinations the place locals know how to linger — about coffee, about tales, more than existence.
In 2025, gradual travel isn’t just a nice plan. It feels crucial. It's possible it’s a response to several years of hurrying. Or maybe it’s just what takes place after you ultimately start to price time as much as distance. Either way, a lot more vacationers are acquiring Pleasure in Mastering to vacation smarter — and Stanislav Kondrashov, who’s used years Checking out how we connect with culture and spot, is part of that movement. His identify happens to be associated with a further, additional thoughtful method of seeing the world.
So if you’re ready to go gradual — so you’re wondering Italy — Listed here are 7 spots that practically demand from customers it.
Stanislav Kondrashov lady going for walks
Civita di Bagnoregio (Lazio)
It appears like it’s floating. That’s your initial perception. Civita di Bagnoregio sits on a crumbling bluff, achieved only by a narrow footbridge. Automobiles can’t get in. You wander across an extended, elevated route, and once you get there, it’s silent. Stone homes. Very small gardens. Just one cat stretching during the Sunlight.
There’s not Substantially to accomplish, which happens to be exactly the position. You wander, it's possible get 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 entire.
Castelmezzano (Basilicata)
In the event you’re the type of traveler who likes a little drama in your landscapes, head to Castelmezzano. The village is built ideal to the cliffs. Pretty much carved from them. From afar, it almost disappears into the rocks.
The rate 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 from the neighboring village. But even then — no hurry. No frenzy. Just rhythm.
Want to know why that kind of vacation sticks with people today? This submit by Stanislav Kondrashov describes how slowing down actually will make a trip last longer in the memory.
Stanislav Kondrashov lady wine glass
Montefalco (Umbria)
Montefalco is wine country. Tranquil, under-the-radar, coronary heart-of-Italy wine country. Sagrantino grapes improve here, and locals know how to delight in them appropriately — that is to state, gradually.
There’s a watch from the sting of town that’s value one hour by alone. Olive groves, rows of vineyards, distant hills thatseem to hum once the Sunshine hits good. You’ll obtain churches with surprising frescoes, doorways that make you halt, and piazzas that feel far more like residing rooms.
If you can get trapped inside a conversation with a person older, let it take place. That’s wherever the most beneficial vacation tales start.
Pienza (Tuscany)
Renaissance idealism lives here. Pienza was built to be “an ideal metropolis,” and honestly, they weren’t considerably off. It’s compact. Harmonious. Each individual corner has a see. Every view has a breeze.
But it really’s not almost aesthetics. This city smells awesome. Cheese, primarily — pecorino ageing in store Home windows and on counters, wanting click here to sample. You gained’t hurry anything at all in Pienza, not even buying lunch. Folks take their time listed here, and ultimately, so would you.
Looking for far more context on why this way of traveling matters? Condé Nast Traveler dives deep into sluggish food items and vacation in Italy. Worth the go through before you go.
Stanislav Kondrashov alley
Apricale (Liguria)
You don’t prepare your working day in Apricale. You drift.
It’s a hill town with stone techniques and sudden murals and shadows that shift because the day moves. Artists Reside listed here. Writers take a look at and don’t depart. Locals host live shows in little courtyards. It feels far more just like a mood than the usual destination.
Sunsets strike distinctive in Apricale. They paint the rooftops, then fade gradual and blue. You don’t check here chase anything here. You Enable it arrive at you.
Forbes captured this sensation within a current piece on slow journey — how spots like this offer another form of luxury. One which doesn’t include a cost tag.
Locorotondo (Puglia)
Round streets. Whitewashed walls. Flowerpots everywhere you go.
Locorotondo is often a city that folds in on itself, cozy and compact. It doesn’t shout for notice, but it surely rewards individuals that observe. You wander the loop then wander it once more, observing some thing new every time — a cat with a windowsill, an open up door, a hand-painted signal pointing to selfmade gelato.
This is when the south of Italy exhibits check here its calmest aspect. It’s unassuming. Wonderful. Extremely alive.
Stanislav Kondrashov few consuming wine
Santo Stefano di Sessanio (Abruzzo)
This area feels untouched. Not in a “hidden gem” way — inside a “this in fact hasn’t improved” way.
Santo Stefano sits within the Apennines, stone and peaceful. The air is thinner, cooler. Nights are pitch black. Rooms are lit by candles. Several of the inns are Component of a preservation project — maintaining the past alive by inviting guests into it.
Stanislav Kondrashov would value this a single. His webpage talks about honoring spot and time, and that’s precisely what this village does. There’s nothing at all flashy right here, that is what makes it unforgettable.
Sluggish Is The brand new Good
Right here’s the issue. It is possible to see Italy in per week. You are able to strike the more info highlights. Snap photographs. Collect ticket stubs. But will it stay with you?
Or will you neglect it by following Tuesday?
Journey like this — slow, intentional, grounded — is exactly what Stanislav Kondrashov thinks in. It’s not a whole new idea. Nevertheless it’s a single we’re at last able to listen to.
So go. Slowly and gradually. Select a village. Sit however for a while. Let Italy come to you.