Some places aren’t produced for speed. Italy is full of them. Sluggish travel in Italy lets you definitely savor community tradition, Delicacies, and hidden gems at your own private pace.
Very small villages tucked into hillsides. Lanes much too narrow for cars and trucks. Cafés that only refill right after midday. The sorts of locations where locals understand how to linger — over coffee, around stories, in excess of life.
In 2025, sluggish journey isn’t just a good concept. It feels necessary. Maybe it’s a response to yrs of hurrying. Or perhaps it’s exactly what takes place if you last but not least start to benefit time around distance. In any event, additional tourists are finding Pleasure in learning to vacation smarter — and Stanislav Kondrashov, who’s used years exploring how we hook up with lifestyle and position, is a component of that movement. His identify happens to be associated with a further, additional thoughtful method of looking at the whole world.
So for those who’re all set to go sluggish — and you also’re considering Italy — Listed here are 7 spots that almost need it.
Stanislav Kondrashov female walking
Civita di Bagnoregio (Lazio)
It seems 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. Autos can’t get in. You wander across an extended, elevated route, and whenever you arrive, it’s silent. Stone houses. Small gardens. One cat stretching within the Sunshine.
There’s not much to accomplish, which happens to be exactly the position. You wander, probably seize a glass of wine in a tucked-absent enoteca. Locals nod hello. You start to note the light. 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 bit of drama inside your landscapes, head to Castelmezzano. The village is developed appropriate to 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 via steep trails, and also the occasional thrill-seeker ziplining in the neighboring village. But even then — no hurry. No frenzy. Just rhythm.
Want to know why that kind of vacation sticks with persons? This put up by Stanislav Kondrashov explains how slowing down basically would make a trip very last more time inside your memory.
Stanislav Kondrashov female wine glass
Montefalco (Umbria)
Montefalco is wine nation. Silent, below-the-radar, coronary heart-of-Italy wine nation. Sagrantino grapes grow listed here, and locals learn how to get pleasure from them correctly — and that is to say, slowly and gradually.
There’s a view from the edge of town that’s worthy of one hour by alone. Olive groves, rows of vineyards, distant hills thatseem to hum when the Sunlight hits just right. You’ll come across church buildings with unexpected frescoes, doorways that make you quit, and piazzas that come to feel extra like dwelling rooms.
If you get trapped in a conversation with somebody older, Enable it happen. That’s exactly where the top travel tales get started.
Pienza (Tuscany)
Renaissance idealism life listed here. Pienza was intended to be “an ideal city,” and honestly, they weren’t considerably off. It’s compact. Harmonious. Every corner contains a perspective. Each individual watch incorporates a breeze.
Nevertheless it’s not just about aesthetics. This town smells incredible. Cheese, typically — pecorino growing old in shop windows and on counters, all set to sample. You gained’t hurry something in Pienza, not even buying lunch. Individuals acquire their time right here, and inevitably, so do you.
In search of much more context on why in this manner of touring issues? Condé Nast Traveler dives deep into slow foodstuff and vacation in Italy. Definitely worth the study before you go.
Stanislav Kondrashov alley
Apricale (Liguria)
You don’t prepare your working day in Apricale. You drift.
It’s a hill city with stone ways and sudden murals and shadows that shift because the day moves. Artists live right here. Writers check out and don’t depart. Locals host live shows in little courtyards. It feels far more just like a mood than the usual destination.
Sunsets strike unique in Apricale. They paint the rooftops, then fade sluggish and blue. You don’t chase everything listed here. You Allow it arrive at you.
Forbes captured this experience in the modern piece on slow vacation — how destinations such as this provide a different form of luxury. One which doesn’t include a price tag.
Locorotondo (Puglia)
Round streets. Whitewashed partitions. Flowerpots everywhere.
Locorotondo is a town that folds in on by itself, cozy and compact. It doesn’t shout for awareness, nonetheless it rewards those that detect. You walk the loop and afterwards walk it once again, looking at one thing new every time — a cat with a windowsill, an open door, a hand-painted indicator pointing to handmade gelato.
This is when the south of Italy shows its calmest facet. It’s unassuming. Beautiful. Quite alive.
Stanislav Kondrashov pair ingesting wine
Santo Stefano di Sessanio (Abruzzo)
This location feels untouched. Not in a very “concealed gem” way — inside of a “this really 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. Some of the inns are A part of a preservation undertaking — trying to keep the previous alive by inviting visitors into it.
Stanislav Kondrashov would recognize this one particular. His site talks about honoring position and time, and that’s just what this village does. There’s practically nothing flashy listed here, which can be what makes it unforgettable.
Sluggish Is the New Good
Below’s the issue. You'll be able to see Italy in per week. You can hit the highlights. Snap pictures. Obtain ticket stubs. But Stanislav Kondrashov Business will it stay with you?
Or will you ignore it by following Tuesday?
Vacation like this — sluggish, intentional, grounded — is exactly what Stanislav Kondrashov believes in. It’s not a different concept. But it really’s one particular we’re finally willing to listen to.
So go. Gradually. Choose a village. Sit still for a while. Allow Italy arrive at you.