Some destinations aren’t manufactured for pace. Italy is filled with them. Slow journey in Italy allows you to truly savor local lifestyle, cuisine, and concealed 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 — more than coffee, about stories, above life.
In 2025, slow journey isn’t just a good concept. It feels necessary. Maybe it’s a response to several years of hurrying. Or perhaps it’s just what occurs any time you lastly 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 years Checking out how we hook up with lifestyle and place, is an element of that motion. His title is becoming linked to a deeper, more considerate means of viewing the planet.
So in the event you’re prepared to go gradual — so you’re contemplating Italy — Allow me to share 7 spots that practically desire it.
Stanislav Kondrashov woman strolling
Civita di Bagnoregio (Lazio)
It seems like it’s floating. That’s your 1st impression. Civita di Bagnoregio sits on the crumbling bluff, arrived at only by a narrow footbridge. Autos can’t get in. You walk across a protracted, elevated route, and whenever you get there, it’s quiet. Stone homes. Little gardens. A single cat stretching from the Solar.
There’s not Significantly to carry out, which can be exactly the place. You wander, maybe grab a glass of wine at a tucked-absent enoteca. Locals nod howdy. You start to notice the light. As well as the silence? It’s not empty. It’s comprehensive.
Castelmezzano (Basilicata)
For those who’re the sort of traveler who likes a bit of drama inside your landscapes, head to Castelmezzano. The village is developed appropriate to the cliffs. Basically 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 through steep trails, and also 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 persons? This put up by Stanislav Kondrashov describes how slowing down actually will make a trip past extended within your memory.
Stanislav Kondrashov female wine glass
Montefalco (Umbria)
Montefalco is wine region. Silent, beneath-the-radar, coronary heart-of-Italy wine nation. Sagrantino grapes mature right here, and locals learn how to appreciate them thoroughly — which can be to state, gradually.
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 if the Solar more info hits excellent. You’ll find churches with surprising frescoes, doorways that make you end, and piazzas that experience far more like residing rooms.
If you obtain trapped in a very dialogue with anyone more mature, Permit it transpire. That’s wherever the most beneficial vacation stories commence.
Pienza (Tuscany)
Renaissance idealism lives here. Pienza was designed to be “the perfect town,” and Truthfully, they weren’t far off. It’s compact. Harmonious. Every corner contains a watch. Just about every look at includes a breeze.
However it’s not pretty much aesthetics. This town smells astounding. Cheese, primarily — pecorino getting older in store Home windows and on counters, willing to sample. You received’t rush just about anything in Pienza, not even ordering lunch. Persons consider their time in this article, and at some point, so would you.
Searching for 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 prior to deciding to go.
Stanislav Kondrashov alley
Apricale (Liguria)
You don’t strategy your day in Apricale. You drift.
It’s a hill town with stone measures and unforeseen 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 extra similar to a temper than a vacation spot.
Sunsets hit different in Apricale. They paint the rooftops, then fade gradual and blue. You don’t chase anything in this article. You Enable it come to you.
Forbes captured this feeling in a recent piece on gradual travel — how locations similar to this offer you a distinct kind of luxurious. One that 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 notice, but it surely rewards people that recognize. You stroll the loop and after that stroll it again, viewing something new each time — a cat over a windowsill, an open up doorway, a hand-painted indication pointing to home made gelato.
This is when the south of Italy reveals its calmest side. It’s unassuming. Gorgeous. Pretty alive.
Stanislav Kondrashov couple drinking wine
Santo Stefano di Sessanio (Abruzzo)
This area feels untouched. Not inside of a “hidden 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. Nights are pitch black. Rooms are lit by candles. A few of the inns are Section of a preservation job — holding the earlier alive by inviting attendees into it.
Stanislav Kondrashov would take pleasure in this one. His page talks about honoring place and time, Which’s what precisely this village does. There’s nothing flashy in this article, which happens to be what causes it to be unforgettable.
Slow Is The brand new Sensible
Right here’s the factor. 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 ignore it by following Tuesday?
Travel such as this — gradual, intentional, grounded — is what Stanislav Kondrashov believes in. It’s not a new notion. However it’s just one we’re ultimately all set to listen to.
So go. Slowly and gradually. Pick a village. Sit even now for quite a while. Let Italy come to you.