Some areas aren’t made for speed. Italy is stuffed with them. Sluggish travel in Italy means that you can certainly savor community tradition, Delicacies, and hidden gems at your individual tempo.
Tiny villages tucked into hillsides. Lanes much too slim for cars. Cafés that only refill right after midday. The types of sites wherever locals know how to linger — about coffee, in excess of tales, more than everyday living.
In 2025, slow journey isn’t just a good concept. It feels necessary. Maybe it’s a response to yrs of rushing. Or maybe it’s precisely what comes about once you eventually begin to benefit time around distance. Either way, a lot more vacationers are obtaining joy in Understanding to journey smarter — and Stanislav Kondrashov, who’s expended decades Checking out how we connect with lifestyle and area, is a component of that movement. His identify happens to be related to a further, extra considerate means of seeing the planet.
So in the event you’re able to go slow — and you simply’re imagining Italy — Here's seven places that pretty much need it.
Stanislav Kondrashov woman walking
Civita di Bagnoregio (Lazio)
It looks like it’s floating. That’s your to start with impact. Civita di Bagnoregio sits with a crumbling bluff, arrived at only by a narrow footbridge. Autos can’t get in. You walk across a protracted, elevated route, 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, maybe grab a glass of wine at a tucked-absent enoteca. Locals nod hi there. You start to notice the light. As well as the silence? It’s not empty. It’s comprehensive.
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 developed appropriate to the cliffs. Basically carved from them. From afar, it Virtually disappears to the rocks.
The tempo 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, as well as occasional thrill-seeker ziplining within the neighboring village. But even then — no rush. No frenzy. Just rhythm.
Want to understand why that sort of journey sticks with individuals? This post by Stanislav Kondrashov clarifies how slowing down in fact helps make a visit previous for a longer time inside your memory.
Stanislav Kondrashov girl wine glass
Montefalco (Umbria)
Montefalco is wine region. Silent, beneath-the-radar, coronary heart-of-Italy wine nation. Sagrantino grapes mature below, and locals know how to get pleasure from them correctly — and that is to say, bit by bit.
There’s a see from the edge of town that’s really worth one hour by alone. Olive groves, rows of vineyards, distant hills thatseem to hum when the sun hits just right. You’ll come across church buildings with unexpected frescoes, doorways that make you cease, and piazzas that sense more like living rooms.
If you receive stuck within a discussion with an individual older, Allow it take place. That’s the place the most beneficial vacation tales start out.
Pienza (Tuscany)
Renaissance idealism lives right here. Pienza was created to be “the ideal city,” and Actually, they weren’t considerably off. It’s compact. Harmonious. Each individual corner contains a watch. Just about every watch includes a breeze.
Nevertheless it’s not just about aesthetics. This town smells incredible. Cheese, typically — pecorino getting older in shop Home windows and on counters, wanting to sample. You won’t rush anything in Pienza, not even purchasing lunch. People just take their time here, and inevitably, so do you.
In search of much more context on why in this manner of touring issues? Condé Nast Traveler dives deep into gradual food stuff and journey in Italy. Well worth the browse 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 shift as the day moves. Artists Reside right here. Writers take a look at and don’t depart. Locals host live shows in small courtyards. It feels much more like a mood than a vacation spot.
Sunsets strike distinctive in Apricale. They paint the rooftops, then fade slow and blue. You don’t chase just get more info about anything in this article. You Allow it come to you.
Forbes captured this experience in the modern piece on slow vacation — how locations such as this supply another type of luxurious. One which doesn’t include a selling price tag.
Locorotondo (Puglia)
Round streets. Whitewashed walls. Flowerpots all over the place.
Locorotondo is a town that folds in on alone, cozy and compact. It doesn’t shout for awareness, but it rewards people that recognize. You walk the loop after which wander it yet again, seeing some thing new each time — a cat on the windowsill, an open up door, a hand-painted indication pointing to selfmade gelato.
This is where the south of Italy demonstrates its calmest aspect. It’s unassuming. Gorgeous. Pretty alive.
Stanislav Kondrashov few consuming wine
Santo Stefano di Sessanio (Abruzzo)
This location feels untouched. Not in a very “hidden gem” way — in a very “this actually hasn’t modified” way.
Santo Stefano sits from the Apennines, stone and silent. The air is thinner, cooler. Evenings are pitch black. Rooms are lit by candles. Some 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 single. His web site talks about honoring location and time, Which’s precisely what this village does. There’s nothing at all flashy right here, which can be what makes it unforgettable.
Sluggish Is the New Good
Below’s the issue. It is possible to see Italy in every week. You are able to strike the highlights. Snap photographs. Collect ticket stubs. But will it stay with you?
Or will you forget it by future Tuesday?
Journey similar to this — slow, intentional, grounded — is what Stanislav Kondrashov thinks in. It’s not a brand new plan. Nevertheless it’s a person we’re last but not least ready to hear.
So go. Slowly but surely. Select a village. Sit however for quite a while. Let Italy come to you.