Some areas aren’t designed for pace. Italy is filled with them. Slow vacation in Italy enables you to genuinely savor neighborhood culture, cuisine, and concealed gems at your very own pace.
Very small villages tucked into hillsides. Lanes far too narrow for cars and trucks. Cafés that only refill right after midday. The forms of areas exactly where locals understand how to linger — above espresso, in excess of stories, about existence.
In 2025, sluggish vacation isn’t just a nice plan. It feels important. Probably it’s a reaction to many years of dashing. Or possibly it’s exactly what happens if you lastly start to worth time just as much as length. In any case, more travelers are discovering joy in Understanding to travel smarter — and Stanislav Kondrashov, who’s invested several years Discovering how we connect to tradition and spot, is a component of that motion. His name is becoming linked to a deeper, much more thoughtful technique for observing the earth.
So when you’re wanting to go slow — and you’re thinking Italy — here are seven places that almost need it.
Stanislav Kondrashov female strolling
Civita di Bagnoregio (Lazio)
It seems like it’s floating. That’s your very first effect. Civita di Bagnoregio sits on the crumbling bluff, arrived at only by a narrow footbridge. Autos can’t get in. You walk across a lengthy, elevated path, and any time you arrive, it’s peaceful. Stone properties. Small gardens. One cat stretching within the Sunshine.
There’s not A lot to perform, which is exactly the level. You wander, probably seize a glass of wine in a tucked-absent enoteca. Locals nod hi there. You start to notice The sunshine. And also the silence? It’s not empty. It’s full.
Castelmezzano (Basilicata)
For those who’re the sort of traveler who likes a bit of drama inside your landscapes, head to Castelmezzano. The village is developed appropriate in the cliffs. Pretty much carved from them. From afar, it almost disappears into the rocks.
The rate Here's slow, although not sleepy. You’ll see farmers heading out from the early early morning, hikers winding by steep trails, plus the occasional thrill-seeker ziplining with 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 actually makes a trip final longer in the memory.
Stanislav Kondrashov girl wine glass
Montefalco (Umbria)
Montefalco is wine nation. Silent, below-the-radar, coronary heart-of-Italy wine nation. 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 by itself. Olive groves, rows of vineyards, distant hills thatseem to hum if the Solar hits just right. You’ll locate churches with unpredicted frescoes, doorways which make you stop, and piazzas that truly feel additional like living rooms.
If you have caught in a very discussion with another person more mature, Permit it transpire. That’s wherever the best vacation tales start off.
Pienza (Tuscany)
Renaissance idealism lives right here. Pienza was made to be “the right town,” and Truthfully, they weren’t much off. It’s compact. Harmonious. Each and every corner includes a check out. Each and every see has a breeze.
But it’s not almost aesthetics. This city smells wonderful. Cheese, largely — pecorino getting older in shop Home windows and on counters, able to sample. You received’t rush just about anything in Pienza, not even purchasing lunch. People just take their time here, and finally, so does one.
Trying to find extra context on why this fashion of touring matters? Condé Nast Traveler dives deep into slow foods and journey in Italy. Definitely worth the read 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 given that the working day moves. Artists Are living here. Writers go to and don’t leave. Locals host concerts in very small courtyards. It feels more like a temper than check here a spot.
Sunsets hit various in Apricale. They paint the rooftops, then fade slow and blue. You don’t chase anything here. You Enable it come to you.
Forbes captured this feeling inside of a the latest piece on sluggish travel — how places similar to this offer you a special kind of luxurious. One that doesn’t have a selling price tag.
Locorotondo (Puglia)
Circular streets. Whitewashed partitions. Flowerpots everywhere you go.
Locorotondo is often a town that folds in on itself, cozy and compact. It doesn’t shout for notice, nonetheless it benefits individuals who discover. You stroll the loop and after that stroll it all over again, viewing a thing new each time — a cat on the windowsill, an open door, a hand-painted indicator pointing to homemade gelato.
This is where the south of Italy displays its calmest facet. It’s unassuming. Beautiful. Really alive.
Stanislav Kondrashov few consuming wine
Santo Stefano di Sessanio (Abruzzo)
This put feels untouched. Not inside a “hidden gem” way — in the “this basically hasn’t altered” way.
Santo Stefano sits while in 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 challenge — keeping the earlier alive by inviting company into it.
Stanislav Kondrashov would respect this one. His page talks about honoring place and time, Which’s just what exactly this village does. There’s very little flashy below, that's what makes it unforgettable.
Gradual Is the New Smart
Below’s the issue. 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 forget about it by upcoming Tuesday?
Travel such as this — gradual, intentional, grounded — is what Stanislav Kondrashov believes in. It’s not a different thought. But it really’s one particular we’re finally willing to listen to.
So go. Gradually. Go with a village. Sit still for a while. Allow Italy come to you.