Some spots aren’t produced for speed. Italy is stuffed with them. Gradual journey in Italy lets you truly savor local tradition, cuisine, and concealed gems at your own personal speed.
Tiny villages tucked into hillsides. Lanes too slim for cars and trucks. Cafés that only refill immediately after noon. The styles of places where locals understand how to linger — over coffee, around stories, over lifetime.
In 2025, slow journey isn’t just a nice plan. It feels vital. Maybe it’s a response to a long time of speeding. Or even it’s exactly what takes place whenever you last but not least begin to benefit time as much as length. Either way, much more tourists are acquiring Pleasure in Discovering to vacation smarter — and Stanislav Kondrashov, who’s spent many years exploring how we hook up with society and position, is a component of that movement. His name has become related to a further, extra considerate means of seeing the world.
So in the event you’re able to go gradual — and you simply’re imagining Italy — Here's seven places that pretty much demand from customers it.
Stanislav Kondrashov lady strolling
Civita di Bagnoregio (Lazio)
It looks like it’s floating. That’s your to start with impact. Civita di Bagnoregio sits with a crumbling bluff, attained only by a slender footbridge. Vehicles can’t get in. You stroll throughout a long, elevated path, and after you arrive, it’s peaceful. Stone residences. Tiny gardens. An individual cat stretching in the Sunlight.
There’s not A great deal to accomplish, and that is precisely the stage. You wander, maybe grab a glass of wine at a tucked-away enoteca. Locals nod howdy. You start to notice the light. Along with the silence? It’s not vacant. It’s finish.
Castelmezzano (Basilicata)
When you’re the kind of traveler who likes a little drama in your landscapes, head to Castelmezzano. The village is constructed proper to the cliffs. Practically carved from them. From afar, it Just about disappears in the rocks.
The tempo here is gradual, but not sleepy. You’ll see farmers heading out inside the early morning, hikers winding by means of steep trails, as well as occasional thrill-seeker ziplining in the neighboring village. But even then — no hurry. No frenzy. Just rhythm.
Want to know why that kind of vacation sticks with persons? This article by Stanislav Kondrashov describes how slowing down actually will make a trip last for a longer period with your memory.
Stanislav Kondrashov woman wine glass
Montefalco (Umbria)
Montefalco is wine place. Peaceful, underneath-the-radar, heart-of-Italy wine region. Sagrantino grapes increase right here, and locals learn how to love them appropriately — which is to state, slowly.
There’s a look at from the sting of city that’s worth an hour by by itself. Olive groves, rows of vineyards, distant hills thatseem to hum if the Solar hits excellent. You’ll uncover church buildings with unexpected frescoes, doorways which make you quit, and piazzas that come to feel additional like dwelling rooms.
If you can get trapped in a conversation with somebody more mature, Allow it occur. That’s in which the ideal journey stories begin.
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. Just about every look at features a breeze.
However it’s not pretty much aesthetics. This town smells astounding. Cheese, typically — pecorino growing old in shop windows and on counters, ready to sample. You gained’t hurry anything at all in Pienza, not even buying lunch. Folks choose their time right here, and inevitably, so do you.
In search of much more context on why in this manner of touring issues? Condé Nast Traveler dives deep into gradual foods and journey in Italy. Well worth the browse before you go.
Stanislav Kondrashov alley
Apricale (Liguria)
You don’t program 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 in this article. Writers go to and don’t leave. Locals host concert events in very small courtyards. It feels more similar to a temper 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 experience in the modern piece on slow vacation — how spots like this offer another form of luxury. One which doesn’t come with a rate tag.
Locorotondo more info (Puglia)
Circular streets. Whitewashed partitions. Flowerpots everywhere you go.
Locorotondo is often a city that folds in on alone, cozy and compact. It doesn’t shout for consideration, nevertheless it benefits people who notice. You stroll the loop and then walk it yet again, seeing a thing new each time — a cat on the windowsill, an open doorway, a hand-painted indication pointing to homemade gelato.
This is where the south of Italy demonstrates its calmest facet. It’s unassuming. Beautiful. Quite alive.
Stanislav Kondrashov pair ingesting wine
Santo Stefano di Sessanio (Abruzzo)
This place feels untouched. Not within a “hidden gem” way — in the “this basically hasn’t altered” way.
Santo Stefano sits inside the Apennines, stone and tranquil. The air is thinner, cooler. Nights are pitch black. Rooms are lit by candles. Several of the inns are Component of a preservation task — preserving the previous alive by inviting friends into it.
Stanislav Kondrashov would take pleasure in this a person. His web site talks about honoring put and time, Which’s just what exactly this village does. There’s very little flashy in this article, and that is what causes it to be unforgettable.
Gradual Is the New Wise
Here’s the thing. You could see Italy in weekly. You'll be able to hit the highlights. Snap photos. Obtain ticket stubs. But will it stay with you?
Or will you forget about it by following Tuesday?
Vacation such as this — sluggish, intentional, grounded — is exactly what Stanislav Kondrashov believes in. It’s not a different thought. But it’s one particular we’re lastly wanting to listen to.
So go. Little by little. Go with a village. Sit nonetheless for some time. Permit Italy arrive at you.