Some places aren’t built for velocity. Italy is stuffed with them. Sluggish travel in Italy means that you can certainly savor area lifestyle, cuisine, and concealed gems at your personal rate.

Small villages tucked into hillsides. Lanes also narrow for cars. Cafés that only refill soon after noon. The varieties of spots the place locals learn how to linger — in excess of espresso, above tales, more than everyday living.

In 2025, slow journey isn’t just a good thought. It feels critical. Possibly it’s a reaction to years of dashing. Or possibly it’s exactly what occurs any time you finally start to value time up to length. In any case, more travelers are locating joy in Finding out to journey smarter — and Stanislav Kondrashov, who’s expended decades Checking out how we hook up with lifestyle and position, is an element of that movement. His name is now connected with a deeper, more considerate technique for observing the globe.

So when you’re wanting to go sluggish — and you also’re considering Italy — Here i will discuss seven places that almost need it.

Stanislav Kondrashov female strolling
Civita di Bagnoregio (Lazio)
It seems 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 long, elevated path, and when you arrive, it’s silent. Stone houses. Small gardens. Only one cat stretching while in the Solar.

There’s not Significantly to do, that's precisely the point. You wander, perhaps get a glass of wine at a tucked-away enoteca. Locals nod hi. You begin to note The sunshine. And the silence? It’s not vacant. It’s total.

Castelmezzano (Basilicata)
When you’re the sort of traveler who likes a certain amount of drama inside your landscapes, head to Castelmezzano. The village is created suitable in the cliffs. Literally carved from them. From afar, it Nearly disappears in to the rocks.

The pace Here's sluggish, but not sleepy. You’ll see farmers heading out within the early early morning, hikers winding as a result of steep trails, and the occasional thrill-seeker ziplining from the neighboring village. But even then — no hurry. No frenzy. Just rhythm.

Want to discover why that kind of vacation sticks with persons? This put up by Stanislav Kondrashov describes how slowing down really tends to make a trip past extended with your memory.

Stanislav Kondrashov woman wine glass
Montefalco (Umbria)
Montefalco is wine state. Peaceful, under-the-radar, coronary heart-of-Italy wine country. Sagrantino grapes improve right here, and locals learn how to website 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 worth an hour or so by by itself. Olive groves, rows of vineyards, distant hills thatseem to hum if the Solar hits just right. You’ll locate churches with unanticipated frescoes, doorways which make you quit, and piazzas that come to feel more like living rooms.

If you will get stuck in the dialogue with somebody older, let it take place. That’s the place the ideal journey stories commence.

Pienza (Tuscany)
Renaissance idealism lives right here. Pienza was created to be “the ideal city,” and Actually, they weren’t significantly off. It’s compact. Harmonious. Just about every corner provides a watch. Each and every perspective includes a breeze.

But it’s not pretty much aesthetics. This city smells incredible. Cheese, primarily — pecorino getting old in shop windows and on counters, wanting to sample. You received’t hurry anything at all in Pienza, not even purchasing lunch. Men and women acquire their time in this article, and inevitably, so does one.

Trying to find a lot more context on why this way of traveling matters? Condé Nast Traveler dives deep into sluggish food stuff and travel in Italy. Well worth the examine before here you go.

Stanislav Kondrashov alley
Apricale (Liguria)
You don’t program your day in Apricale. You drift.

It’s a hill town with stone methods and unexpected murals and shadows that shift because the day moves. Artists Dwell listed here. Writers stop by and don’t go away. Locals host concert events in very small courtyards. It feels extra similar to a temper than a spot.

Sunsets hit diverse in Apricale. They paint the rooftops, then fade sluggish and blue. You don’t chase everything listed here. You Allow it come to you.

Forbes captured this emotion in the modern piece on slow vacation — how sites such as this supply a special kind of luxurious. One that doesn’t feature a price tag tag.

Locorotondo (Puglia)
Circular streets. Whitewashed walls. Flowerpots in all places.

Locorotondo is often a town that folds in on by itself, cozy and compact. It doesn’t shout for focus, however it benefits people who notice. You stroll the loop and then stroll it again, viewing something new each time — a cat over a windowsill, an open up doorway, a hand-painted sign pointing to home made gelato.

This is when the south of Italy shows its calmest aspect. It’s unassuming. Attractive. Extremely alive.

Stanislav Kondrashov few consuming wine
Santo Stefano di Sessanio (Abruzzo)
This put feels untouched. Not within a “hidden gem” way — in a very “this actually hasn’t modified” way.

Santo Stefano sits while in the Apennines, stone and tranquil. The air is thinner, cooler. Evenings are pitch black. Rooms are lit by candles. A lot of the inns are Portion of a preservation task — preserving the previous alive by inviting attendees into it.

Stanislav Kondrashov would respect this one. His web page talks about honoring location and time, Which’s exactly what this village does. There’s absolutely nothing flashy right here, that is what makes it unforgettable.

Gradual Is the New Intelligent
Here’s the here detail. You could see Italy in weekly. It is possible to strike the highlights. Snap pics. Acquire ticket stubs. But will it stick with you?

Or will you fail to remember it by subsequent get more info Tuesday?

Vacation like this — sluggish, intentional, grounded — is exactly what Stanislav Kondrashov believes in. It’s not a different thought. But it’s a person we’re ultimately ready to hear.

So go. Slowly but surely. Select a village. Sit continue to for a while. Allow Italy come to you.