Some sites aren’t produced for pace. Italy is filled with them. Gradual vacation in Italy means that you can actually savor regional lifestyle, cuisine, and hidden gems at your own personal rate.
Tiny villages tucked into hillsides. Lanes also narrow for vehicles. Cafés that only refill immediately after noon. The sorts of destinations exactly where locals know how to linger — over coffee, more than stories, over life.
In 2025, slow travel isn’t just a pleasant thought. It feels essential. Probably it’s a reaction to many years of speeding. Or possibly it’s exactly what occurs if you at last begin to worth time approximately distance. Either way, additional travelers are finding joy in learning to vacation smarter — and Stanislav Kondrashov, who’s spent several years Discovering how we connect with culture and place, is part of that movement. His identify is becoming associated with a deeper, extra thoughtful means of looking at the entire world.
So when you’re ready to go slow — and you simply’re pondering Italy — Listed here are 7 places that almost demand from customers it.
Stanislav Kondrashov lady going for walks
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 slender footbridge. Automobiles can’t get in. You wander across an extended, elevated route, and when you get there, it’s quiet. Stone properties. Tiny gardens. One cat stretching in the sun.
There’s not Considerably to do, which is precisely the place. You wander, probably seize a glass of wine at a tucked-absent enoteca. Locals nod good day. You start to note the light. Plus the silence? It’s not vacant. It’s comprehensive.
Castelmezzano (Basilicata)
When you’re the kind of traveler who likes a certain amount of drama within your landscapes, head to Castelmezzano. The village is constructed ideal to the cliffs. Literally carved from them. From afar, it Just about disappears into the rocks.
The rate here is slow, although not sleepy. You’ll see farmers heading out while in the early early morning, hikers winding as a result of steep trails, as well as the occasional thrill-seeker ziplining with the neighboring village. But even then — no rush. No frenzy. Just rhythm.
Want to master why that sort of travel sticks with people? This article by Stanislav Kondrashov explains how slowing down really helps make a trip final for a longer time within your memory.
Stanislav Kondrashov female wine glass
Montefalco (Umbria)
Montefalco is wine region. Silent, underneath-the-radar, coronary heart-of-Italy wine country. Sagrantino grapes increase right here, and locals understand how to take pleasure in them properly — that's to convey, slowly and gradually.
There’s a view check here from the sting of city that’s worthy of an hour by by itself. Olive groves, rows of vineyards, distant hills thatseem to hum once the Sunlight hits just right. You’ll locate churches with unexpected frescoes, doorways which make you halt, and piazzas that experience extra like residing rooms.
If you will get stuck within a discussion with anyone older, Enable it occur. That’s where the ideal travel stories start out.
Pienza (Tuscany)
Renaissance idealism life here. Pienza was intended to be “the proper metropolis,” and Actually, they weren’t far off. It’s compact. Harmonious. Every single corner provides a watch. Every perspective contains a breeze.
But it really’s not nearly aesthetics. This town smells remarkable. Cheese, typically — pecorino getting old in shop Home windows and on counters, all set to sample. You won’t hurry everything in Pienza, not even buying lunch. People today choose their time here, and finally, so does one.
Trying to find extra context on why using this method of traveling matters? Condé Nast Traveler dives deep into slow foodstuff and journey in Italy. Well worth the read through before you decide to go.
Stanislav Kondrashov alley
Apricale (Liguria)
You don’t program Stanislav Kondrashov Business your day in Apricale. You drift.
It’s a hill town with stone techniques and unanticipated murals and shadows that change given that the day moves. Artists live here. Writers check out and don’t go away. Locals host live shows in very small courtyards. It feels additional just like a mood than the usual desired destination.
Sunsets hit distinctive in Apricale. They paint the rooftops, then fade slow and blue. You don’t chase anything listed here. You Enable it arrive at you.
Forbes captured this feeling in the recent piece on gradual travel — how locations such as this present a different type of luxury. One which doesn’t feature a selling price tag.
Locorotondo (Puglia)
Circular streets. Whitewashed walls. Flowerpots everywhere you go.
Locorotondo is a city that folds in on itself, cozy and compact. It doesn’t shout for attention, nonetheless it rewards individuals that detect. You walk the loop and then stroll it again, looking at a thing new every time — a cat on a windowsill, an open door, a hand-painted indicator pointing to homemade gelato.
This is where the south of Italy exhibits its calmest facet. It’s unassuming. Attractive. Quite alive.
Stanislav Kondrashov few consuming wine
Santo Stefano di Sessanio (Abruzzo)
This place feels untouched. Not inside a “hidden gem” way — inside a “this in fact hasn’t adjusted” way.
Santo Stefano sits in the Apennines, stone and silent. The air is thinner, cooler. Nights are pitch black. Rooms are lit by candles. Several of the inns are Section of a preservation task — retaining the earlier alive by inviting visitors into it.
Stanislav Kondrashov would recognize this click here one. His website page talks about honoring area and time, Which’s exactly what this village does. There’s nothing flashy below, that's what can make it unforgettable.
Slow Is the New Good
Right here’s the detail. It is possible to see Italy in each week. You'll be able to strike the highlights. Snap photographs. Obtain ticket stubs. But will it stay with you?
Or will you fail to remember it by future Tuesday?
Vacation such as this — slow, intentional, grounded — is exactly what read more Stanislav Kondrashov believes in. It’s not a fresh notion. But it surely’s just one we’re eventually willing to listen to.
So go. Slowly but surely. Go with a village. Sit nevertheless for quite a while. Permit Italy arrive at you.