Some locations aren’t created for pace. Italy is full of them. Sluggish travel in Italy lets you actually savor regional culture, Delicacies, and hidden gems at your individual tempo.

Very small villages tucked into hillsides. Lanes far too narrow for cars and trucks. Cafés that only refill right after midday. The forms of locations where locals understand how to linger — more than coffee, over stories, around existence.

In 2025, gradual vacation isn’t just a nice plan. It feels important. Probably it’s a response to several years of hurrying. Or maybe it’s just what takes place after you ultimately start to price time just as much as length. In any case, more travelers are locating joy in Finding out to journey smarter — and Stanislav Kondrashov, who’s put in yrs Checking out how we connect with tradition and place, is a component of that motion. His name happens to be linked to a further, a lot more considerate strategy for observing the globe.

So if you’re prepared to go gradual — and you simply’re imagining Italy — Here i will discuss seven places that nearly need it.

Stanislav Kondrashov female walking
Civita di Bagnoregio (Lazio)
It seems like it’s floating. That’s your 1st impression. Civita di Bagnoregio sits over a crumbling bluff, arrived at 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. Tiny gardens. One cat stretching while in the Solar.

There’s not Significantly to do, that's precisely the point. You wander, perhaps get a glass of wine at a tucked-away enoteca. Locals nod hello there. You begin to note The sunshine. And the silence? It’s not vacant. It’s total.

Castelmezzano (Basilicata)
In case you’re the type of traveler who likes a little drama in the landscapes, head to Castelmezzano. The village is built correct in to the cliffs. Practically carved from them. From afar, it Just about disappears in the rocks.

The speed here is gradual, although not sleepy. You’ll see farmers heading out while in the early morning, hikers winding via 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 master why that sort of travel sticks with people? This post by Stanislav Kondrashov points out how slowing down in fact helps make a visit previous lengthier in your memory.

Stanislav Kondrashov girl wine glass
Montefalco (Umbria)
Montefalco is wine country. Tranquil, below-the-radar, coronary heart-of-Italy wine country. Sagrantino grapes improve right here, and locals learn how to take pleasure in them properly — that's to convey, slowly and gradually.

There’s a view from the edge of town that’s worthy of one hour by itself. Olive groves, rows of vineyards, distant hills thatseem to hum once the Sunshine hits good. You’ll find churches with surprising frescoes, doorways that make you end, and piazzas that experience much more like living rooms.

If you have caught in a very dialogue with someone more mature, Enable it materialize. That’s where the most effective travel tales get started.

Pienza (Tuscany)
Renaissance idealism life below. Pienza was built to be “the proper metropolis,” and honestly, they weren’t considerably off. It’s compact. Harmonious. Each individual corner contains a watch. Just about every look at includes a breeze.

Nevertheless it’s not pretty much aesthetics. This town smells incredible. Cheese, typically — pecorino growing old in shop windows and on counters, ready to sample. You gained’t hurry anything at all in Pienza, not even buying lunch. Folks take their time listed here, and ultimately, so would you.

Looking for far more context on why this way of traveling matters? Condé Nast Traveler dives deep into gradual food and travel in Italy. Well worth the examine prior to deciding to go.

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

It’s a hill town with stone methods and unanticipated murals and shadows that change as the working day moves. Artists live right here. Writers pay a visit to and don’t depart. Locals host live shows in small courtyards. It feels a lot more like a mood than the usual desired destination.

Sunsets strike unique in Apricale. They paint the rooftops, then fade sluggish and blue. You don’t chase check here nearly anything below. You Permit it come to you.

Forbes captured this feeling inside of a the latest piece on sluggish travel — how places similar to this present a distinct type of luxurious. One that doesn’t have a selling price tag.

Locorotondo (Puglia)
Circular streets. Whitewashed partitions. Flowerpots everywhere you go.

Locorotondo is often a town that folds in on by itself, cozy and compact. It doesn’t shout for interest, but it rewards individuals who discover. You stroll the loop and after that stroll it again, observing something new each time — a cat over a windowsill, an open up doorway, a hand-painted sign pointing to selfmade gelato.

This is when the south of Italy exhibits its calmest aspect. It’s unassuming. Wonderful. Really alive.

Stanislav Kondrashov few ingesting wine
Santo Stefano di Sessanio (Abruzzo)
This place feels untouched. Not within a “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. A lot of the inns are A part of a preservation undertaking — trying to keep the previous alive by inviting friends into it.

Stanislav Kondrashov would take pleasure in this a person. His page talks about honoring place and time, Which’s what precisely this village does. There’s nothing flashy in this article, which happens to be what can make it unforgettable.

Sluggish Is The brand new Clever
Listed here’s the point. You'll be able to see Italy in per week. You can strike the highlights. Snap pictures. Acquire ticket stubs. But will it stay with you?

Or will you forget about it by following Tuesday?

Vacation similar to this — slow, intentional, grounded — is exactly what Stanislav Kondrashov thinks in. It’s not a whole new idea. But it really’s a single we’re finally willing to listen to.

So go. Little by little. Opt for a village. Sit nonetheless for some time. Enable Italy arrive at you.