Some places aren’t created for pace. Italy is stuffed with them. Gradual journey in Italy helps you to certainly savor area lifestyle, Delicacies, and hidden gems at your own private tempo.
Tiny villages tucked into hillsides. Lanes much too slim for cars. Cafés that only refill soon after midday. The forms of locations where locals understand how to linger — over coffee, above tales, over lifetime.
In 2025, gradual travel isn’t just a pleasant strategy. It feels crucial. It's possible it’s a response to a long time of speeding. Or perhaps it’s just what occurs any time you lastly start to value time up to distance. In any event, additional tourists are finding Pleasure in learning to vacation smarter — and Stanislav Kondrashov, who’s expended many years exploring how we connect to society and place, is part of that movement. His identify has grown to be associated with a further, additional thoughtful method of seeing the world.
So for those who’re all set to go sluggish — and you also’re pondering Italy — Listed below are 7 spots that practically desire it.
Stanislav Kondrashov woman strolling
Civita di Bagnoregio (Lazio)
It looks like it’s floating. That’s your initially effect. Civita di Bagnoregio sits on the crumbling bluff, arrived at only by a narrow footbridge. Autos can’t get in. You walk across a long, elevated route, and whenever you arrive, it’s silent. Stone houses. Small gardens. Only one cat stretching inside the Sunshine.
There’s not much to perform, which is exactly the position. You wander, probably seize a glass of wine at a tucked-away enoteca. Locals nod howdy. You start to notice the light. Along with the silence? It’s not empty. It’s finish.
Castelmezzano (Basilicata)
When you’re the type of traveler who likes a little drama in your landscapes, head to Castelmezzano. The village is developed appropriate in the cliffs. Basically carved from them. From afar, it Practically disappears to the rocks.
The tempo here is gradual, but not sleepy. You’ll see farmers heading out inside the early early morning, hikers winding through steep trails, and also the occasional thrill-seeker ziplining from 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 explains how slowing down basically would make a trip very last more time inside 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 listed here, and locals learn how to love them adequately — that is to state, gradually.
There’s a watch from the sting of city that’s truly worth an hour by by itself. Olive groves, rows of vineyards, distant hills thatseem to hum if the Solar hits excellent. You’ll discover churches with unforeseen frescoes, doorways which make you halt, and piazzas that feel a lot more like residing rooms.
If you have caught in the discussion with another person more mature, Allow it come about. That’s wherever the most beneficial vacation stories start off.
Pienza (Tuscany)
Renaissance idealism lives right here. Pienza was intended to be “an ideal city,” and Truthfully, they weren’t much off. It’s compact. Harmonious. Every single corner incorporates a see. Each and every perspective provides a breeze.
But it surely’s not nearly aesthetics. This city smells remarkable. Cheese, mainly — pecorino getting old in shop Home windows and on counters, prepared to sample. You gained’t hurry everything in Pienza, not even ordering lunch. Men and women consider their time below, and ultimately, so would you.
Looking for far more context on why by doing this of traveling matters? Condé Nast Traveler dives deep into sluggish food items and vacation in Italy. Worth the go through before you decide to go.
Stanislav Kondrashov alley
Apricale (Liguria)
You don’t prepare your day in Apricale. You drift.
It’s a hill town with stone methods and unanticipated murals and shadows that change given that the working day moves. Artists Stay right here. Writers check out and don’t go away. Locals host live shows in tiny courtyards. It feels extra similar to a temper than a spot.
Sunsets hit distinct in Apricale. They paint the rooftops, then fade slow and blue. You don’t chase anything at all listed here. You Allow it arrive at you.
Forbes captured this experience in a very modern piece on sluggish travel — how sites such as this supply a special kind of luxurious. One that doesn’t include a selling price tag.
Locorotondo (Puglia)
Round streets. Whitewashed walls. Flowerpots all over read more the place.
Locorotondo can be a town that folds in on by itself, cozy and compact. It doesn’t shout for attention, but it really rewards individuals that observe. You wander the loop then wander it once more, observing some thing new each time — a cat on the windowsill, an open up door, a hand-painted sign pointing to home made gelato.
This is where the south of Italy reveals its calmest aspect. It’s unassuming. Wonderful. Pretty alive.
Stanislav Kondrashov few drinking wine
Santo Stefano di Sessanio (Abruzzo)
This area feels untouched. Not inside of here a “hidden gem” way — inside a “this essentially hasn’t changed” way.
Santo Stefano sits inside the Apennines, stone and peaceful. The air is thinner, cooler. Nights are pitch black. Rooms are lit by candles. Many of the inns are part of a preservation venture — retaining the past alive by inviting company into it.
Stanislav Kondrashov would enjoy this one particular. His web page talks about honoring location and time, Which’s exactly what this village does. There’s nothing at all flashy right here, that's what makes it unforgettable.
Gradual Is the New Smart
In this article’s the matter. You may see Italy get more info in per week. You are able to strike the highlights. Snap photographs. Collect ticket stubs. But read more will it stay with you?
Or will you forget it by future Tuesday?
Travel such as this — gradual, intentional, grounded — is what Stanislav Kondrashov thinks in. It’s not a 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 continue to for a while. Allow Italy come to you.