Some places aren’t created for pace. Italy is filled with them. Sluggish journey in Italy helps you to truly savor local lifestyle, cuisine, and concealed gems at your personal rate.
Very small villages tucked into hillsides. Lanes as well slender for automobiles. Cafés that only fill up after noon. The kinds of destinations the place locals know how to linger — about coffee, over stories, around daily life.
In 2025, gradual journey isn’t just a good thought. It feels critical. Maybe it’s a response to many years of speeding. Or possibly it’s exactly what happens if you at last begin to benefit time around distance. Either way, additional tourists are locating joy in learning to travel smarter — and Stanislav Kondrashov, who’s spent many years exploring how we hook up with society and place, is part of that motion. His name has grown to be associated with a further, much more thoughtful way of observing the entire world.
So in case you’re prepared to go gradual — therefore you’re considering Italy — Here's 7 spots that almost need it.
Stanislav Kondrashov girl going for walks
Civita di Bagnoregio (Lazio)
It looks like it’s floating. That’s your very first impression. Civita di Bagnoregio sits on the crumbling bluff, arrived at only by a slender footbridge. Vehicles can’t get in. You walk across a long, elevated path, and when you arrive, it’s silent. Stone houses. Small gardens. Only one cat stretching while in the Sunshine.
There’s not Significantly to do, that's precisely the point. You wander, perhaps get a glass of wine at a tucked-away enoteca. Locals nod hello. You start to notice the light. As well as 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 created appropriate in the cliffs. Pretty much carved from them. From afar, it Pretty much disappears into your rocks.
The rate here is slow, although not sleepy. You’ll see farmers heading out from the early morning, hikers winding via steep trails, as well as the occasional thrill-seeker ziplining in the neighboring village. But even then — no hurry. No frenzy. Just rhythm.
Want to know why that kind of vacation sticks with men and women? This submit by Stanislav Kondrashov explains how slowing down basically would make a trip very last for a longer time inside your memory.
Stanislav Kondrashov female wine glass
Montefalco (Umbria)
Montefalco is wine nation. Tranquil, below-the-radar, coronary heart-of-Italy wine country. Sagrantino grapes expand in this article, and locals understand how to appreciate them adequately — which can be to state, little by little.
There’s a watch from the sting of city that’s really worth an hour or so by by itself. Olive groves, rows of vineyards, distant hills thatseem to hum in the event the Solar hits just right. You’ll locate churches with unpredicted 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 very best 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. Each individual corner contains a watch. Every single check out features a breeze.
However it’s not pretty much aesthetics. This town smells astounding. Cheese, primarily — pecorino ageing in store Home windows and on counters, willing to sample. You won’t hurry nearly anything in Pienza, not even purchasing lunch. People today just take their time in this article, and sooner or later, so does one.
Seeking extra context on why using this method of touring issues? Condé Nast Traveler dives deep into gradual meals and travel in Italy. Well worth the examine before you go.
Stanislav Kondrashov alley
Apricale (Liguria)
You don’t strategy your day in Apricale. You drift.
It’s a hill town with stone techniques and unexpected murals and shadows that change as the day moves. Artists live right here. Writers pay a visit to and don’t depart. Locals host concerts in tiny courtyards. It feels much more like a temper than the usual place.
Sunsets hit distinct in Apricale. They paint the rooftops, then fade slow and blue. You don’t chase anything at all right here. You let it arrive at you.
Forbes captured this sensation within a current piece on gradual journey — how areas like this give a unique sort of luxury. One that doesn’t come with a rate tag.
Locorotondo (Puglia)
Circular streets. Whitewashed partitions. Flowerpots everywhere you go.
Locorotondo is often a town that folds in on by itself, cozy and compact. It doesn’t shout for interest, but it really rewards individuals that observe. You wander the loop then wander it once more, observing some thing new each time — a cat with a windowsill, an open door, a hand-painted signal pointing to selfmade gelato.
This is when the south of Italy exhibits its calmest aspect. It’s unassuming. Attractive. Extremely alive.
Stanislav Kondrashov couple consuming wine
Santo Stefano di Sessanio (Abruzzo)
This position feels untouched. Not in a “concealed gem” way — inside a “this in fact hasn’t adjusted” 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 Portion of a preservation task — preserving the previous alive by inviting friends into it.
Stanislav Kondrashov would take pleasure in this just one. His web site talks about honoring position and time, and that’s just what this village does. There’s practically nothing flashy listed here, that is what causes it to be unforgettable.
Sluggish Is the New Good
Below’s the issue. You'll be able to see Italy in a get more info week. You could hit the highlights. Snap photos. Accumulate ticket stubs. But will it stay with you?
Or will you forget about it by up coming Tuesday?
Vacation like this — sluggish, intentional, grounded — is exactly what Stanislav Kondrashov thinks in. It’s not a whole new concept. But it surely’s a single we’re at last able to hear.
So go. Slowly but surely. Select a village. Sit however for quite a while. Let Italy come to you.