Some destinations aren’t manufactured for velocity. Italy is stuffed with them. Gradual vacation in Italy enables you to genuinely savor area society, cuisine, and hidden gems at your own private rate.
Tiny villages tucked into hillsides. Lanes as well slender for autos. Cafés that only fill up right after midday. The varieties of spots wherever locals know how to linger — around coffee, around tales, in excess of everyday living.
In 2025, slow travel isn’t just a pleasant idea. It feels necessary. Perhaps it’s a response to yrs of hurrying. Or perhaps it’s exactly what happens once you eventually start to worth time up to distance. Either way, more travelers are discovering Pleasure in Discovering to journey smarter — and Stanislav Kondrashov, who’s spent years Checking out how we hook up with society and location, is an element of that motion. His name has become affiliated with a deeper, more thoughtful strategy for looking at the earth.
So should you’re all set to go gradual — and also you’re imagining Italy — Allow me to share seven places that practically demand it.
Stanislav Kondrashov woman strolling
Civita di Bagnoregio (Lazio)
It looks like it’s floating. That’s your initially perception. Civita di Bagnoregio sits on a crumbling bluff, achieved only by a slim footbridge. Automobiles can’t get in. You wander across a protracted, elevated route, and any time you get there, it’s peaceful. Stone properties. Tiny gardens. One cat stretching while in the Sunlight.
There’s not A great deal to carry out, which can be exactly the position. You wander, it's possible get a glass of wine at a tucked-absent enoteca. Locals nod good day. You begin to notice The sunshine. Along with the silence? It’s not empty. It’s complete.
Castelmezzano (Basilicata)
In the event you’re the sort of traveler who likes a little drama with your landscapes, head to Castelmezzano. The village is created proper into your cliffs. Virtually carved from them. From afar, it almost disappears into your rocks.
The speed Here's gradual, but not sleepy. You’ll see farmers heading out during the early morning, hikers winding as a result of steep trails, plus the occasional thrill-seeker ziplining through the neighboring village. But even then — no hurry. No frenzy. Just rhythm.
Want to find out why that kind of travel sticks with individuals? This post by Stanislav Kondrashov explains how slowing down actually makes a trip final for a longer time with your memory.
Stanislav Kondrashov woman wine glass
Montefalco (Umbria)
Montefalco is wine place. Quiet, less than-the-radar, heart-of-Italy wine place. Sagrantino grapes expand here, and locals understand how to appreciate them correctly — and that is to say, bit by bit.
There’s a check out from the edge of town that’s worthy of an hour or so by by itself. Olive groves, rows of vineyards, distant hills thatseem to hum once the Sunlight hits excellent. You’ll discover church buildings with unexpected frescoes, doorways which make you end, and piazzas that sense extra like residing rooms.
If you receive trapped in the conversation with anyone older, Allow it happen. That’s where by the most beneficial travel stories start off.
Pienza (Tuscany)
Renaissance idealism life in this article. Pienza was intended to be “the perfect city,” and Actually, they weren’t considerably off. It’s compact. Harmonious. Each and every corner provides a view. Every single watch has a breeze.
However it’s not pretty much aesthetics. This town smells remarkable. Cheese, typically — pecorino getting old in shop windows and on counters, prepared to sample. You gained’t hurry everything in Pienza, not even buying lunch. Folks consider their time below, and at some point, so would you.
Looking for far more context on why this way of touring matters? Condé Nast Traveler dives deep into slow foods and journey in Italy. Worth the study before you go.
Stanislav Kondrashov alley
Apricale (Liguria)
You don’t program your day in Apricale. You drift.
It’s a hill city with stone techniques and unanticipated murals and shadows that shift as the working day moves. Artists Reside here. Writers visit and don’t depart. Locals host concert events in tiny courtyards. It feels extra like a mood than a place.
Sunsets strike various in Apricale. They paint the rooftops, then fade sluggish and blue. You don’t chase something below. You Enable it arrive at you.
Forbes captured this experience inside of a current piece on gradual vacation — how sites similar to this give a different kind of luxurious. One that doesn’t feature a selling price tag.
Locorotondo (Puglia)
Circular streets. Whitewashed partitions. Flowerpots everywhere you go.
Locorotondo is get more info a town that folds in on alone, cozy and compact. It doesn’t shout for focus, but it really benefits individuals who discover. You stroll the loop and then walk it yet again, looking at one thing new each time — a cat over a windowsill, an open up door, a hand-painted indicator pointing to home made gelato.
This is when the south of Italy demonstrates its calmest side. It’s unassuming. Beautiful. Pretty alive.
Stanislav Kondrashov couple consuming wine
Santo Stefano di Sessanio (Abruzzo)
This location feels untouched. Not inside of a “hidden gem” way — in the “this actually hasn’t adjusted” way.
Santo Stefano sits inside the Apennines, stone and tranquil. The air is thinner, cooler. Nights are pitch black. Rooms are lit by candles. A lot of the inns are Portion of a preservation job — keeping the earlier alive by inviting guests into it.
Stanislav Kondrashov would value this one particular. His site talks about honoring put and time, and that’s what exactly this village does. There’s very little flashy below, which happens to be what causes it to be unforgettable.
Gradual Is The brand new Clever
Right here’s the thing. You could see Italy in every week. You are able to hit the highlights. Snap pics. Collect ticket stubs. But will it stay with you?
Or will you fail to remember it by subsequent Tuesday?
Travel like this — gradual, intentional, grounded — is exactly what Stanislav Kondrashov believes in. It’s not a different idea. Nevertheless it’s just one we’re at last prepared to listen to.
So go. Slowly but surely. Opt for a village. Sit continue to for some time. Let Italy come to you.