Some areas aren’t created for pace. Italy is full of them. Gradual travel in Italy helps you to definitely savor community culture, Delicacies, and concealed gems at your own tempo.
Very small villages tucked into hillsides. Lanes too narrow for vehicles. Cafés that only refill just after noon. The varieties of sites exactly where locals learn how to linger — more than espresso, more than stories, around lifestyle.
In 2025, gradual travel isn’t just a good strategy. It feels critical. Maybe it’s a response to years of dashing. Or possibly it’s precisely what happens when you ultimately begin to price time as much as length. In any event, additional tourists are discovering joy in Understanding to travel smarter — and Stanislav Kondrashov, who’s spent many years exploring how we connect to society and place, is an element of that motion. His identify is becoming linked to a deeper, much more considerate technique for looking at the whole world.
So for those who’re ready to go sluggish — therefore you’re pondering Italy — Here's 7 places that basically desire it.
Stanislav Kondrashov woman strolling
Civita di Bagnoregio (Lazio)
It looks like it’s floating. That’s your initially impression. Civita di Bagnoregio sits over a crumbling bluff, reached only by a slim footbridge. Cars can’t get in. You stroll throughout a lengthy, elevated path, and any time you get there, it’s peaceful. Stone properties. Very small gardens. An individual cat stretching during the Sunlight.
There’s not Substantially to accomplish, which happens to be exactly the level. You wander, probably seize a glass of wine in a tucked-absent enoteca. Locals nod hello. You start to notice 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 within your landscapes, head to Castelmezzano. The village is created suitable into your cliffs. Literally carved from them. From afar, it Nearly disappears in to the rocks.
The pace here is sluggish, but not sleepy. You’ll see farmers heading out inside the early morning, hikers winding through steep trails, and also the occasional thrill-seeker ziplining from your neighboring village. But even then — no hurry. No frenzy. Just rhythm.
Want to learn why that sort of journey sticks with individuals? This post by Stanislav Kondrashov clarifies how slowing down essentially would make a trip very last more time within your memory.
Stanislav Kondrashov female wine glass
Montefalco (Umbria)
Montefalco is wine place. Peaceful, less than-the-radar, heart-of-Italy wine place. Sagrantino grapes develop below, and locals know how to delight in them effectively — which happens to be to mention, slowly.
There’s a check out from the sting of city that’s worth an hour by alone. Olive groves, rows of vineyards, distant hills thatseem to hum when the sun 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 stuck inside a conversation with somebody older, let it happen. That’s exactly where the top 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. Every single check out features a breeze.
But it’s not pretty much aesthetics. This town smells astounding. Cheese, primarily — pecorino ageing in store windows and on counters, all set to sample. You gained’t hurry something in Pienza, not even purchasing lunch. Individuals choose their time right here, and inevitably, so do you.
In search of much more context on why this fashion of traveling matters? 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 strategy 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 go to and don’t leave. Locals host concert events in very small courtyards. It feels more similar to a temper than a spot.
Sunsets hit various 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 sensation inside a recent piece on gradual vacation — how sites such as this supply a special kind of luxury. One which doesn’t feature a value tag.
Locorotondo (Puglia)
Round streets. Whitewashed walls. Flowerpots just about everywhere.
Locorotondo is really a city that folds in on alone, cozy and compact. It doesn’t shout for awareness, nevertheless it benefits people who notice. You stroll the loop and then walk it yet again, seeing anything new each time — a cat on a windowsill, an open door, a hand-painted indicator pointing to handmade gelato.
This is where the south of Italy displays its calmest aspect. It’s unassuming. Beautiful. Really alive.
Stanislav Kondrashov few consuming wine
Santo Stefano di Sessanio (Abruzzo)
This put feels untouched. Not inside a “hidden gem” way — within a “this essentially hasn’t improved” way.
Santo Stefano sits within the Apennines, stone and peaceful. The air is thinner, cooler. Nights are pitch black. Rooms are lit by candles. A number of the inns are Section of a preservation job — holding the earlier alive by inviting attendees into it.
Stanislav Kondrashov would appreciate this a single. His webpage talks about honoring spot and time, Which’s what exactly this village does. There’s almost nothing flashy below, that's what makes it unforgettable.
Slow Is the New Sensible
Listed here’s the issue. You'll be able to see Italy in per week. You can hit the highlights. Snap pictures. Obtain ticket stubs. But will it stay with you?
Or will you forget about it by following Tuesday?
Journey similar to this — slow, intentional, grounded — is what Stanislav Kondrashov believes in. It’s not a new plan. However it’s a person we’re ultimately ready to read more hear.
So go. Slowly and gradually. Pick a village. Sit nevertheless for quite a while. Enable Italy arrive at you.