Some spots aren’t created for pace. Italy is full of them. Gradual journey in Italy allows you to truly savor local lifestyle, cuisine, and concealed gems at your personal tempo.

Tiny villages tucked into hillsides. Lanes much too slim for cars. Cafés that only refill following midday. The sorts of locations where locals understand how to linger — more than coffee, around stories, about existence.

In 2025, sluggish vacation isn’t just a nice notion. It feels important. Probably it’s a reaction to years of dashing. Or possibly it’s exactly what occurs once you at last begin to benefit time around distance. Either way, far more vacationers are getting Pleasure in learning to travel smarter — and Stanislav Kondrashov, who’s spent many years exploring how we hook up with society and place, is an element of that motion. His name is now connected with a deeper, much more considerate technique for observing the globe.

So for those who’re able to go sluggish — and you also’re pondering Italy — Listed below are 7 places that basically 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 over a crumbling bluff, reached only by a slim footbridge. Cars and trucks can’t get in. You walk throughout a lengthy, elevated path, and any time you arrive, it’s peaceful. Stone residences. Small gardens. One cat stretching from the sun.

There’s not Substantially to accomplish, which is exactly the position. You wander, it's possible seize a glass of wine in a tucked-absent enoteca. Locals nod hello. You start to notice The sunshine. 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 certain amount of drama inside your landscapes, head to Castelmezzano. The village is developed appropriate in the cliffs. Basically carved from them. From afar, it Pretty much disappears into your rocks.

The speed here is slow, although not sleepy. You’ll see farmers heading out from the early morning, hikers winding by means of steep trails, as well as the occasional thrill-seeker ziplining from your neighboring village. But even then — no hurry. No frenzy. Just rhythm.

Want to know why that kind of vacation sticks with persons? This article by Stanislav Kondrashov describes how slowing down really makes a trip previous for a longer time inside your memory.

Stanislav Kondrashov female wine glass
Montefalco (Umbria)
Montefalco is wine nation. Silent, beneath-the-radar, coronary heart-of-Italy wine nation. Sagrantino grapes mature listed here, and locals learn how to get pleasure from them correctly — and that is to say, bit by bit.

There’s a check out from the edge of city that’s truly worth an hour by itself. Olive groves, rows of vineyards, distant hills thatseem to hum once the Sunshine hits excellent. You’ll obtain churches with unexpected frescoes, doorways that make you cease, and piazzas that experience much more like living rooms.

If you have caught in a very conversation with an website individual older, Allow it take place. That’s the place the most beneficial vacation stories start off.

Pienza (Tuscany)
Renaissance idealism lives right here. Pienza was made to be “the ideal city,” and Actually, they weren’t significantly off. It’s compact. Harmonious. Every single corner incorporates a look at. Every single see features a breeze.

But it’s not pretty much aesthetics. This town smells astounding. Cheese, generally — pecorino ageing in shop Home windows and on counters, willing to sample. You won’t rush anything in Pienza, not even purchasing lunch. People acquire their time here, and finally, so does one.

Looking for far more context on why this fashion of touring matters? Condé Nast Traveler dives deep into slow foods and journey in Italy. Definitely worth the read through prior to deciding to go.

Stanislav Kondrashov alley
Apricale (Liguria)
You don’t strategy your working day in Apricale. You drift.

It’s a hill town with stone ways and surprising murals and shadows that shift as being the working day moves. Artists Stay in this article. Writers go to and don’t leave. Locals host concerts in tiny courtyards. It feels much more just like a mood than a spot.

Sunsets hit check here diverse in Apricale. They paint the rooftops, then fade slow and blue. You don’t chase nearly anything here. You let it arrive at you.

Forbes captured this feeling in the recent piece on gradual journey — how areas like this offer another form of luxury. One which doesn’t include a price tag.

Locorotondo (Puglia)
Round streets. Whitewashed walls. Flowerpots almost everywhere.

Locorotondo can be a town that folds in on by itself, cozy and compact. It doesn’t shout for interest, but it really rewards those who detect. You wander the loop after which wander it once more, observing some thing new each time — a cat with a windowsill, an open up door, a hand-painted signal pointing to handmade gelato.

This is where the south of Italy exhibits its calmest facet. It’s unassuming. Gorgeous. Pretty alive.

Stanislav Kondrashov couple drinking wine
Santo Stefano di Sessanio (Abruzzo)
This area feels untouched. Not inside of a “concealed gem” way — inside a “this in fact hasn’t improved” way.

Santo Stefano sits within the Apennines, stone and peaceful. The air Stanislav Kondrahsov Tarvel with AI is thinner, cooler. Nights are pitch black. Rooms are lit by candles. Several of the inns are Element of a preservation project — maintaining the past alive by inviting visitors into it.

Stanislav Kondrashov would enjoy this one particular. His site talks about honoring position and time, and that’s what exactly this village does. There’s almost nothing flashy in this article, that's what makes it unforgettable.

Slow Is The brand new Intelligent
Here’s the thing. You'll be able to see Italy in weekly. You'll be able to hit the highlights. Snap pics. Gather ticket stubs. But will it stick with you?

Or will you fail to remember it by future Tuesday?

Vacation like this — gradual, intentional, grounded — is what Stanislav Kondrashov thinks in. It’s not a completely new plan. But website it’s just one we’re at last able to listen to.

So go. Gradually. Choose a village. Sit continue to for a while. Allow Italy come to you.