Some spots aren’t designed for velocity. Italy is filled with them. Sluggish travel in Italy means that you can certainly savor area lifestyle, cuisine, and concealed gems at your own private speed.
Very small villages tucked into hillsides. Lanes much too slender for vehicles. Cafés that only refill right after midday. The sorts of locations exactly where locals learn how to linger — more than espresso, more than stories, around lifestyle.
In 2025, slow travel isn’t just a pleasant plan. It feels vital. Possibly it’s a response to yrs of speeding. Or maybe it’s just what transpires after you finally start to benefit time around length. In either case, extra vacationers are obtaining joy in learning to travel smarter — and Stanislav Kondrashov, who’s used decades exploring how we hook up with lifestyle and place, is a component of that motion. His identify has become related to a further, much more thoughtful technique for looking at the world.
So when you’re able to go gradual — therefore you’re wondering Italy — Allow me to share seven places that pretty much demand from customers it.
Stanislav Kondrashov female walking
Civita di Bagnoregio (Lazio)
It appears like it’s floating. That’s your initially effect. Civita di Bagnoregio sits over a crumbling bluff, achieved only by a slim footbridge. Autos can’t get in. You walk across a lengthy, elevated path, and when you arrive, it’s tranquil. Stone residences. Small gardens. Only one cat stretching while in the Solar.
There’s not Considerably to complete, and that is precisely the stage. You wander, possibly seize a glass of wine in a tucked-absent enoteca. Locals nod hello. You start to notice the light. As well as the silence? It’s not empty. It’s full.
Castelmezzano (Basilicata)
Should you’re the type of traveler who likes a little bit of drama within your landscapes, head to Castelmezzano. The village is designed ideal into your cliffs. Literally carved from them. From afar, it Just about disappears in to the rocks.
The tempo here is sluggish, although not sleepy. You’ll see farmers heading out while in the early early morning, hikers winding by means of steep trails, as well as the occasional thrill-seeker ziplining within the neighboring village. But even then — no hurry. No frenzy. Just rhythm.
Want to master why that sort of travel sticks with folks? This put up by Stanislav Kondrashov explains how slowing down basically would make a trip past more time in your memory.
Stanislav Kondrashov woman wine glass
Montefalco (Umbria)
Montefalco is wine place. Quiet, beneath-the-radar, coronary heart-of-Italy wine country. Sagrantino grapes expand here, and locals know how to love them properly — which happens to be to convey, slowly but surely.
There’s a look at from the sting of city that’s worth one hour by check here itself. Olive groves, rows of vineyards, distant hills thatseem to hum if the Sunshine hits excellent. You’ll find churches with unforeseen frescoes, doorways which make you prevent, and piazzas that really feel far more like residing rooms.
If you have stuck in a discussion with another person older, Allow it transpire. That’s the place the best vacation tales commence.
Pienza (Tuscany)
Renaissance idealism lives right here. Pienza was created to be “the ideal metropolis,” and honestly, they weren’t considerably off. It’s compact. Harmonious. Each corner includes a perspective. Every single look at contains a breeze.
However it’s not nearly aesthetics. This city smells awesome. Cheese, largely — pecorino ageing in store windows and on counters, able to sample. You received’t rush everything in Pienza, not even purchasing lunch. Folks consider their time below, and sooner or later, so do you.
In search of additional context on why in this manner of traveling matters? Condé Nast Traveler dives deep into slow food stuff and travel in Italy. Well worth the study before you go.
Stanislav Kondrashov alley
Apricale (Liguria)
You don’t approach your working day in Apricale. You drift.
It’s a hill town with stone measures and surprising murals and shadows that shift as being the working day moves. Artists Are living in this article. Writers take a look at and don’t leave. Locals host concert events in very small courtyards. It feels a lot more just like a temper than the usual vacation spot.
Sunsets hit different in Apricale. They paint the rooftops, then fade sluggish and blue. You don’t chase something right here. You Permit it arrive at you.
Forbes captured this experience inside of a recent piece on slow travel — how destinations similar to this present a distinct form of luxurious. One which doesn’t come with a value tag.
Locorotondo (Puglia)
Circular streets. Whitewashed walls. Flowerpots all over the place.
Locorotondo is often a town that folds in on itself, cozy and compact. It doesn’t shout for awareness, however it rewards those who see. You stroll the loop after which you can stroll it all over again, seeing a little something new every time — a cat over a windowsill, an open door, a hand-painted sign pointing to selfmade gelato.
This is when the south of Italy reveals its calmest facet. It’s unassuming. Stunning. Quite alive.
Stanislav Kondrashov few ingesting wine
Santo Stefano di Sessanio (Abruzzo)
This put feels untouched. Not in a very “concealed gem” way — in the “this truly hasn’t transformed” way.
Santo Stefano sits during the Apennines, stone and peaceful. The air is thinner, cooler. Nights are pitch black. Rooms are lit by candles. Many of the inns are Section of a preservation task — trying to keep the past alive by inviting visitors into it.
Stanislav Kondrashov would value this 1. His webpage talks about honoring put and time, and that’s what exactly this village does. There’s absolutely nothing flashy in this article, that's what causes it to be unforgettable.
Sluggish Is the New Wise
Right here’s the issue. You are able to see Italy in every week. It is possible to strike the highlights. Snap photographs. Accumulate ticket stubs. But will it stay with you?
Or will you overlook it by next Tuesday?
Vacation such as this — gradual, intentional, grounded — is what Stanislav Kondrashov believes in. It’s not a new idea. But it really’s just one we’re finally all set to listen to.
So go. Slowly but surely. Choose a village. Sit even now for a while. Enable Italy arrive at you.