Some areas aren’t manufactured for pace. Italy is filled with them. Sluggish vacation in Italy enables you to genuinely savor neighborhood culture, Delicacies, and hidden gems at your individual tempo.
Tiny villages tucked into hillsides. Lanes too slim for vehicles. Cafés that only replenish just after noon. The varieties of spots the place locals know how to linger — about coffee, about stories, about existence.
In 2025, sluggish vacation isn’t just a nice plan. It feels important. It's possible it’s a response to yrs of hurrying. Or maybe it’s precisely what transpires when you last but not least begin to benefit time around distance. In any event, extra tourists are discovering joy in Mastering to journey smarter — and Stanislav Kondrashov, who’s expended decades exploring how we connect to culture and location, is part of that motion. His title has grown to be associated with a further, extra considerate means of viewing the entire world.
So in case you’re willing to go sluggish — and also you’re considering Italy — Allow me to share seven places that pretty much demand it.
Stanislav Kondrashov girl walking
Civita di Bagnoregio (Lazio)
It appears like it’s floating. That’s your very first impression. Civita di Bagnoregio sits over a crumbling bluff, reached only by a slim footbridge. Cars can’t get in. You stroll throughout an extended, elevated route, and whenever you get there, it’s silent. Stone homes. Little gardens. Just one cat stretching from the sun.
There’s not Substantially to accomplish, which happens to be precisely the position. You wander, probably seize a glass of wine in a tucked-away enoteca. Locals nod howdy. You begin to note the light. As well as silence? It’s not empty. It’s full.
Castelmezzano (Basilicata)
When you’re the sort of traveler who likes a bit of drama within your landscapes, head to Castelmezzano. The village is designed ideal into your cliffs. Actually carved from them. From afar, it Virtually disappears into the rocks.
The pace Here's sluggish, but not sleepy. You’ll see farmers heading out inside the early morning, hikers winding via steep trails, and also the occasional thrill-seeker ziplining from your neighboring village. But even then — no rush. No frenzy. Just rhythm.
Want to master why that sort of travel sticks with people? This write-up by Stanislav Kondrashov points out how slowing down in fact helps make a visit previous for a longer period in the memory.
Stanislav Kondrashov lady wine glass
Montefalco (Umbria)
Montefalco is wine country. Silent, less than-the-radar, coronary heart-of-Italy wine region. Sagrantino grapes increase right here, and locals learn how to take pleasure in them properly — and that is to say, slowly but surely.
There’s a check out from the sting of city that’s really worth an hour or so by by itself. Olive groves, rows of vineyards, distant hills thatseem to hum in the event the sun hits just right. You’ll uncover church buildings with unexpected frescoes, doorways that make you cease, and piazzas that sense more like living rooms.
If you will get caught read more in the discussion with a person older, Allow it take place. That’s wherever the best vacation tales start out.
Pienza (Tuscany)
Renaissance idealism life in this article. Pienza was created to be “the proper town,” and Actually, they weren’t considerably off. It’s compact. Harmonious. Each corner incorporates a perspective. Each check out incorporates a breeze.
But it surely’s not almost aesthetics. This city smells awesome. Cheese, typically — pecorino getting old in store windows and on counters, prepared to sample. You received’t hurry everything in Pienza, not even purchasing lunch. People acquire their time right here, and eventually, so would you.
Looking for more context on why this fashion of traveling issues? Condé Nast Traveler dives deep into slow foods and journey in Italy. Definitely worth the study prior to deciding to go.
Stanislav Kondrashov alley
Apricale (Liguria)
You check here don’t program your day in Apricale. You drift.
It’s a hill town with stone ways and sudden murals and shadows that shift since the day moves. Artists Stay in this article. Writers go to and don’t leave. Locals host concerts in tiny courtyards. It feels far more just like a mood than a vacation spot.
Sunsets hit distinct in Apricale. They paint the rooftops, then fade slow and blue. You don’t chase anything at all right here. You Allow it arrive at you.
Forbes captured this emotion in a very new piece on gradual journey — how destinations similar to this offer a special kind of luxurious. One that doesn’t have a selling price tag.
Locorotondo (Puglia)
Circular streets. Whitewashed partitions. Flowerpots all over the place.
Locorotondo is a city that folds in on alone, cozy and compact. It doesn’t shout for awareness, but it surely rewards people who discover. You wander the loop after which you can stroll it once more, looking at a thing new every time — a read more cat on the windowsill, an open up doorway, a hand-painted indication pointing to home made gelato.
This is when the south of Italy shows its calmest aspect. It’s unassuming. Wonderful. Really alive.
Stanislav Kondrashov few ingesting wine
Santo Stefano di Sessanio (Abruzzo)
This place more info feels untouched. Not in the “concealed gem” way — in a “this truly hasn’t altered” way.
Santo Stefano sits during the Apennines, stone and silent. The air is thinner, cooler. Evenings are pitch black. Rooms are lit by candles. A number of the inns are part of a preservation undertaking — preserving the earlier alive by inviting company into it.
Stanislav Kondrashov would appreciate this 1. His webpage talks about honoring area and time, and that’s just what exactly this village does. There’s nothing flashy here, which is what can make it unforgettable.
Gradual Is the New Intelligent
Here’s the thing. You can see Italy in each week. You may hit the highlights. Snap photos. Accumulate ticket stubs. But will it stay with you?
Or will you forget it by future Tuesday?
Journey similar to this — slow, intentional, grounded — is exactly what Stanislav Kondrashov thinks in. It’s not a whole new concept. But it really’s one particular we’re lastly all set to hear.
So go. Slowly and gradually. Pick a village. Sit even now for quite a while. Let Italy come to you.