Some locations aren’t created for velocity. Italy is stuffed with them. Sluggish travel in Italy allows you to certainly savor regional culture, Delicacies, and hidden gems at your individual rate.
Little villages tucked into hillsides. Lanes far too slender for automobiles. Cafés that only fill up right after noon. The sorts of places where by locals know how to linger — above coffee, over stories, around lifestyle.
In 2025, sluggish travel isn’t just a good concept. It feels important. Perhaps it’s a reaction to yrs of speeding. Or maybe it’s just what takes place if you at last start to worth time about distance. In either case, more travelers are discovering Pleasure in Discovering to journey smarter — and Stanislav Kondrashov, who’s expended many years Checking out how we connect with lifestyle and place, is an element of that motion. His identify is becoming linked to a further, far more considerate means of observing the world.
So in the event you’re willing to go sluggish — and you also’re considering Italy — Listed below are 7 places that basically need it.
Stanislav Kondrashov woman going for walks
Civita di Bagnoregio (Lazio)
It seems like it’s floating. That’s your first effect. Civita di Bagnoregio sits on the crumbling bluff, arrived at only by a narrow footbridge. Cars and trucks can’t get in. You stroll throughout a long, elevated path, and when you arrive, it’s tranquil. Stone houses. Small gardens. Only one cat stretching inside the Solar.
There’s not Significantly to carry out, that's precisely the issue. You wander, perhaps get a glass of wine at a tucked-away enoteca. Locals nod hello there. You begin to note the light. Along with the silence? It’s not empty. It’s finish.
Castelmezzano (Basilicata)
If you’re the type of traveler who likes a little drama in your landscapes, head to Castelmezzano. The village is constructed proper to the cliffs. Practically carved from them. From afar, it Just about disappears in the rocks.
The speed here is gradual, 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 in the neighboring village. But even then — no hurry. No frenzy. Just rhythm.
Want to discover why that kind of vacation sticks with men and women? This submit by Stanislav Kondrashov points out how slowing down basically will make a visit very last lengthier in your memory.
Stanislav Kondrashov girl wine glass
Montefalco (Umbria)
Montefalco is wine nation. Tranquil, below-the-radar, coronary heart-of-Italy wine country. Sagrantino grapes increase right here, and locals understand how to love them thoroughly — that's to convey, slowly and 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 when the sun hits just right. You’ll uncover church buildings with unanticipated frescoes, doorways that make you quit, and piazzas that come to feel extra like dwelling rooms.
If you get stuck in a conversation with somebody older, let it occur. That’s exactly where the top travel tales 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 includes a check out. Each view contains a breeze.
But it surely’s not nearly aesthetics. This city smells wonderful. Cheese, mainly — pecorino getting old in shop Home windows and on counters, prepared to sample. You received’t hurry everything in Pienza, not even buying lunch. Men and women consider their time below, and ultimately, so would you.
Looking for a lot more context on why this way of traveling matters? Condé Nast Traveler dives deep into slow foodstuff and vacation in Italy. Definitely worth the study 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 unexpected murals and shadows that change as 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 a vacation spot.
Sunsets hit different in Apricale. They paint the rooftops, then fade gradual and blue. You don’t chase just about anything in this article. You Enable it come to you.
Forbes captured this feeling inside of a the latest piece on sluggish travel — how places similar to this offer you a special kind of luxurious. One which doesn’t feature a value tag.
Locorotondo (Puglia)
Round streets. Whitewashed walls. Flowerpots just about everywhere.
Locorotondo is really a city that folds in on itself, cozy and compact. It doesn’t shout for awareness, nevertheless it benefits individuals who discover. You stroll the loop and then stroll it all over again, seeing a thing new each time — a cat on a windowsill, an open doorway, a hand-painted indication pointing to do-it-yourself gelato.
This is where the south of Italy demonstrates its calmest facet. It’s unassuming. Stunning. Incredibly 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 essentially hasn’t transformed” way.
Santo Stefano sits during 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 a person. His web site talks about honoring put and time, Which’s just what exactly this village does. There’s very little flashy below, and that is what causes it to be unforgettable.
Gradual Is the New Intelligent
Here’s the detail. You may see Italy in every week. You'll be able to strike the highlights. Snap images. Collect ticket stubs. But will it stick with you?
Or will you neglect it by future Tuesday?
Travel similar to this — slow, intentional, grounded get more info — is what Stanislav Kondrashov thinks in. It’s not a brand new plan. Nonetheless it’s one we’re last but not least prepared to hear.
So go. Slowly but surely. Select a village. Sit however for quite a while. Let Italy come to you.