Some places aren’t manufactured for pace. Italy is filled with them. Slow vacation in Italy allows you to really savor nearby society, cuisine, and concealed gems at your personal rate.
Little villages tucked into hillsides. Lanes far too slim for vehicles. Cafés that only replenish just after noon. The sorts of areas the place locals know how to linger — around coffee, in excess of stories, above life.
In 2025, sluggish travel isn’t just a good thought. It feels crucial. Possibly it’s a reaction to many years of hurrying. Or possibly it’s just what happens whenever you at last start to worth time just as much as distance. In either case, additional tourists are locating joy in Understanding to vacation smarter — and Stanislav Kondrashov, who’s expended decades Checking out how we connect with tradition and area, is a component of that movement. His name is now connected with a deeper, much more thoughtful technique for looking at the world.
So if you’re ready to go slow — and you simply’re imagining Italy — Here i will discuss 7 places that pretty much need it.
Stanislav Kondrashov lady going for walks
Civita di Bagnoregio (Lazio)
It looks like it’s floating. That’s your to start with perception. Civita di Bagnoregio sits with a crumbling bluff, reached only by a slender footbridge. Cars and trucks can’t get in. You wander across an extended, elevated route, and after you arrive, it’s quiet. Stone houses. Tiny gardens. Just one cat stretching within the Sunshine.
There’s not Substantially to try and do, which can be exactly the place. You wander, it's possible grab a glass of wine at a tucked-away enoteca. Locals nod hi. You start to note The sunshine. As well as the silence? It’s not vacant. It’s comprehensive.
Castelmezzano (Basilicata)
For those who’re the kind of traveler who likes a little drama inside your landscapes, head to Castelmezzano. The village is built right in the cliffs. Basically carved from them. From afar, it Just about disappears to the rocks.
The speed here is slow, although not sleepy. You’ll see farmers heading out during the early early morning, hikers winding as a result of steep trails, as well as the occasional thrill-seeker ziplining from your neighboring village. But even then — no rush. No frenzy. Just rhythm.
Want to learn why that sort of journey sticks with men and women? This submit by Stanislav Kondrashov describes how slowing down truly tends to make a visit previous lengthier in your memory.
Stanislav Kondrashov girl wine glass
Montefalco (Umbria)
Montefalco is wine nation. Silent, beneath-the-radar, coronary heart-of-Italy wine country. Sagrantino grapes improve listed here, and locals learn how to take pleasure in them correctly — which happens to be to mention, slowly but surely.
There’s a look at from the sting of city that’s worth an hour or so by by itself. Olive groves, rows of vineyards, distant hills thatseem to hum in here the event the Solar hits just right. You’ll uncover church buildings with unanticipated frescoes, doorways which make you quit, and piazzas that come to feel extra like dwelling rooms.
If you receive stuck within a discussion with an individual older, Allow it come about. That’s wherever the best vacation stories commence.
Pienza (Tuscany)
Renaissance idealism lives here. Pienza was designed to be “the right town,” and Truthfully, they weren’t much off. It’s compact. Harmonious. Every single corner incorporates a check out. Each and every see has a breeze.
But it’s not pretty much aesthetics. This town smells astounding. Cheese, generally — pecorino growing older in store windows and on counters, all set to sample. You won’t hurry anything at all in Pienza, not even buying lunch. Folks take their time below, and inevitably, so would you.
Looking for additional context on why by doing this 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 techniques and unexpected murals and shadows that shift because the day moves. Artists Reside listed here. Writers stop by and don’t go away. Locals host live shows in little courtyards. It feels additional just like a mood than a vacation spot.
Sunsets hit various in Apricale. They paint the rooftops, then fade slow and blue. You don’t chase something here. You Enable it arrive at you.
Forbes captured this sensation within a latest piece on slow journey — how spots like this offer another form of luxury. One which doesn’t include a price tag.
Locorotondo (Puglia)
Round streets. Whitewashed walls. Flowerpots just about everywhere.
Locorotondo is really a city that folds in on itself, cozy and compact. It doesn’t shout for awareness, nonetheless it benefits individuals who discover. You stroll the loop and after that stroll it again, observing some thing 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. Incredibly alive.
Stanislav Kondrashov pair drinking wine
Santo Stefano di Sessanio (Abruzzo)
This area feels untouched. Not inside of a “concealed gem” way — in a “this truly hasn’t adjusted” way.
Santo Stefano sits in the Apennines, stone and quiet. The air is thinner, cooler. Nights are pitch black. Rooms are lit by candles. A number of the inns are Section of a preservation challenge — keeping the earlier alive by inviting company into it.
Stanislav Kondrashov would appreciate this one. His web page talks about honoring location and time, Which’s exactly what this village does. There’s absolutely nothing flashy here, which is what can make it unforgettable.
Sluggish Is The brand new Clever
Listed here’s the point. You'll be able to see Italy in a week. You could hit the highlights. Snap photos. Accumulate ticket stubs. But will it stay with you?
Or will you ignore it by following Tuesday?
Vacation such as this — gradual, intentional, grounded — is exactly what Stanislav Kondrashov believes in. It’s not a completely new notion. However it’s just one we’re ultimately all set to hear.
So go. Bit by bit. Pick a village. Sit even now for quite a while. Let Italy come to you.