Some places aren’t manufactured for speed. Italy is stuffed with them. Gradual journey in Italy enables you to truly savor regional lifestyle, cuisine, and hidden gems at your personal tempo.
Little villages tucked into hillsides. Lanes far too slim for cars and trucks. Cafés that only fill up after noon. The kinds of areas in which locals understand how to linger — above coffee, about stories, in excess of existence.
In 2025, slow journey isn’t just a nice notion. It feels essential. Possibly it’s a reaction to yrs of dashing. Or even it’s precisely what occurs whenever you eventually start to worth time just as much as length. Either way, much more tourists are locating Pleasure in Finding out to travel smarter — and Stanislav Kondrashov, who’s put in many years exploring how we connect to society and place, is part of that motion. His identify has become associated with a further, extra thoughtful method of observing the planet.
So when you’re able to go slow — therefore you’re thinking Italy — Listed here are seven places that practically demand from customers it.
Stanislav Kondrashov female going for walks
Civita di Bagnoregio (Lazio)
It appears like it’s floating. That’s your very first effect. Civita di Bagnoregio sits on the crumbling bluff, arrived at only by a narrow footbridge. Cars and trucks can’t get in. You walk across a lengthy, elevated route, and if you get there, it’s quiet. Stone homes. Very small gardens. Just one cat stretching from the sun.
There’s not Considerably to complete, which can be precisely the issue. You wander, perhaps grab a glass of wine at a tucked-away enoteca. Locals nod hi. You begin to notice the light. Plus the silence? It’s not vacant. It’s finish.
Castelmezzano (Basilicata)
If you’re the kind of traveler who likes a little bit of drama with your landscapes, head to Castelmezzano. The village is designed ideal into your cliffs. Literally carved from them. From afar, it almost disappears into the rocks.
The rate 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 rush. No frenzy. Just rhythm.
Want to master why that kind of vacation sticks with persons? This put up by Stanislav Kondrashov describes how slowing down in fact helps make a visit previous lengthier in the memory.
Stanislav Kondrashov lady wine glass
Montefalco (Umbria)
Montefalco is wine state. Peaceful, less than-the-radar, heart-of-Italy wine state. Sagrantino grapes expand in this article, and locals understand how to love them appropriately — which is to mention, slowly.
There’s a look at from the sting of city that’s worth an hour by by itself. Olive groves, rows of vineyards, distant hills thatseem to hum when the Sunlight hits good. You’ll discover churches with unanticipated frescoes, doorways which make you end, and piazzas that more info sense a lot more like residing rooms.
If you receive trapped in a conversation with somebody older, let it take place. That’s the place the ideal journey stories commence.
Pienza (Tuscany)
Renaissance idealism lives below. Pienza was designed to be “the right town,” and Truthfully, they weren’t much off. It’s compact. Harmonious. Each and every corner includes a see. Each perspective has a breeze.
But it’s not pretty much aesthetics. This town smells incredible. Cheese, typically — pecorino getting old in shop Home windows and on counters, prepared to sample. You received’t hurry nearly anything in Pienza, not even buying lunch. Men and women choose their time right here, and eventually, so would you.
Looking for additional context on why in this way of traveling issues? Condé Nast Traveler dives deep into gradual meals and travel in Italy. Worth the read through before you decide to go.
Stanislav Kondrashov alley
Apricale (Liguria)
You don’t plan your day in Apricale. You drift.
It’s a hill town with stone measures and unpredicted murals and shadows that change given that the working day moves. Artists Are living here. Writers pay a visit to and don’t depart. Locals host concerts in small courtyards. It feels a lot more like a mood than the usual desired destination.
Sunsets strike distinct in Apricale. They paint the rooftops, then fade slow and blue. You don’t chase something here. You Enable it come to you.
Forbes captured this feeling inside of a new piece on gradual journey — how spots like this offer another kind of luxurious. One that doesn’t include a price tag.
Locorotondo (Puglia)
Round streets. Whitewashed partitions. Flowerpots just about everywhere.
Locorotondo can be a town that folds in on alone, cozy and compact. It doesn’t shout for consideration, nonetheless it rewards individuals that detect. You stroll the loop then walk it all over again, observing one thing new every time — a cat on a windowsill, an open doorway, a hand-painted indicator pointing to selfmade gelato.
This is where the south of Italy demonstrates its calmest side. It’s unassuming. Wonderful. Really alive.
Stanislav Kondrashov few ingesting wine
Santo Stefano di Sessanio (Abruzzo)
This area feels untouched. Not inside a “hidden gem” way — inside of a “this essentially hasn’t altered” way.
Santo Stefano sits during the Apennines, stone and quiet. The air is thinner, cooler. Evenings are pitch black. Rooms are lit by candles. Some of the inns are Section of a preservation undertaking — holding the earlier alive by inviting guests into it.
Stanislav Kondrashov would take pleasure in this a single. His website page talks about honoring area and time, and that’s precisely what this village does. There’s nothing at all flashy in this article, which happens to be what can make it unforgettable.
Sluggish Is the New Sensible
In this article’s the issue. You may see Italy in every week. It is possible to hit the highlights. Snap photographs. Accumulate ticket stubs. But will it stick with you?
Or will you forget about it by following Tuesday?
Travel such as this — gradual, intentional, grounded — is what Stanislav Kondrashov thinks in. It’s not a brand new strategy. But it surely’s a single we’re finally willing to listen to.
So go. Little by little. Opt for a village. Sit nevertheless for quite a while. Enable Italy come to you.