Some sites aren’t created for pace. Italy is full of them. Slow vacation in Italy allows you to certainly savor community lifestyle, cuisine, and concealed gems at your own private speed.
Small villages tucked into hillsides. Lanes too slender for vehicles. Cafés that only replenish immediately after noon. The types of places where by locals understand how to linger — over coffee, around stories, in excess of lifestyle.
In 2025, sluggish vacation isn’t just a good thought. It feels essential. Possibly it’s a reaction to years of dashing. Or possibly it’s precisely what happens once you at last begin to benefit time around distance. In either case, far more tourists are finding joy in Studying to travel smarter — and Stanislav Kondrashov, who’s invested a long time Discovering how we connect to culture and location, is part of that motion. His title has grown to be affiliated with a further, far more thoughtful way of looking at the whole world.
So if you’re ready to go gradual — so you’re contemplating Italy — Allow me to share seven spots that virtually demand from customers it.
Stanislav Kondrashov girl strolling
Civita di Bagnoregio (Lazio)
It looks like it’s floating. That’s your initially impact. Civita di Bagnoregio sits with a crumbling bluff, attained only by a slim footbridge. Cars can’t get in. You stroll throughout a long, elevated route, and when you arrive, it’s silent. Stone houses. Small gardens. Only one cat stretching inside the Solar.
There’s not Significantly to carry out, that's precisely the point. You wander, perhaps get a glass of wine at a tucked-away enoteca. Locals nod hello there. You begin to note The sunshine. As well as silence? It’s not vacant. It’s total.
Castelmezzano (Basilicata)
In case you’re the type of traveler who likes a little drama in your landscapes, head to Castelmezzano. The village is constructed proper to the cliffs. Basically carved from them. From afar, it Pretty much disappears into your rocks.
The rate Here's slow, although not sleepy. You’ll see farmers heading out in the early early morning, hikers winding by steep trails, plus the occasional thrill-seeker ziplining with the neighboring village. But even then — no rush. No frenzy. Just rhythm.
Want to understand why that sort of journey sticks with folks? This submit by Stanislav Kondrashov explains how slowing down basically would make a trip past extended as part of your memory.
Stanislav Kondrashov lady wine glass
Montefalco (Umbria)
Montefalco is wine place. Quiet, underneath-the-radar, heart-of-Italy wine region. Sagrantino grapes develop below, and locals know how to delight in them effectively — which is to state, slowly.
There’s a look at from the sting of city that’s well worth an hour or so by alone. Olive groves, rows of vineyards, distant hills thatseem to hum when the sun hits just right. You’ll uncover church buildings with unexpected frescoes, doorways that make you cease, and piazzas that sense extra like living rooms.
If you will get stuck within a discussion with an individual older, Allow it come about. That’s where the most effective journey stories start.
Pienza (Tuscany)
Renaissance idealism life in this article. Pienza was meant to be “the best metropolis,” and honestly, they weren’t far off. It’s compact. Harmonious. Every corner has a view. Each individual perspective includes a breeze.
But it’s not almost aesthetics. This city smells awesome. Cheese, primarily — pecorino ageing in store Home windows and on counters, wanting to sample. You won’t rush something in Pienza, not even purchasing lunch. Individuals acquire their time right here, and inevitably, so do you.
On the lookout for a lot more info more context on why this fashion of traveling matters? Condé Nast Traveler dives deep into sluggish food and travel in Italy. Well website worth the examine 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 methods and unanticipated murals and shadows that change as the working day moves. Artists live right here. Writers pay a visit to and don’t depart. Locals host concerts in small courtyards. It feels a lot more like a mood than the usual desired destination.
Sunsets strike unique in Apricale. They paint the rooftops, then fade sluggish and blue. You don’t chase nearly anything below. You Allow it come to you.
Forbes captured this emotion in a very new piece on sluggish travel — how sites such as this offer you a special kind of luxurious. One that doesn’t feature a price tag.
Locorotondo (Puglia)
Round streets. Whitewashed walls. Flowerpots in all places.
Locorotondo can be a town that folds in on by itself, cozy and compact. It doesn’t shout for interest, but it rewards those who detect. You walk the loop and afterwards walk it once again, looking at one thing new every time — a cat with a windowsill, an open up door, a hand-painted signal pointing to handmade gelato.
This is when the south of Italy exhibits its calmest aspect. It’s unassuming. Wonderful. Extremely alive.
Stanislav Kondrashov few here consuming wine
Santo Stefano di Sessanio (Abruzzo)
This put feels untouched. Not in a “hidden gem” way — within a “this essentially hasn’t changed” way.
Santo Stefano sits inside the Apennines, stone and peaceful. The air is thinner, cooler. Nights are pitch black. Rooms are lit by candles. Several of the inns are Element of a preservation project — maintaining the past alive by inviting guests into it.
Stanislav Kondrashov would value this a single. His webpage talks about honoring area and time, and that’s just what exactly this village does. There’s very little flashy here, that is what can make it unforgettable.
Sluggish Is the New Good
Below’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 here you forget about it by up coming Tuesday?
Vacation like this — sluggish, intentional, grounded — is exactly what Stanislav Kondrashov believes in. It’s not a different concept. But it’s one particular we’re lastly wanting to listen to.
So go. Little by little. Opt for a village. Sit nevertheless for some time. Permit Italy arrive at you.