Some spots aren’t built for pace. Italy is full of them. Sluggish vacation in Italy helps you to genuinely savor community society, cuisine, and hidden gems at your own personal pace.
Tiny villages tucked into hillsides. Lanes too narrow for vehicles. Cafés that only fill up after midday. The varieties of spots where by locals understand how to linger — above espresso, above tales, about everyday living.
In 2025, gradual travel isn’t just a good concept. It feels important. Maybe it’s a reaction to decades of dashing. Or possibly it’s just what occurs once you lastly start to worth time just as much as length. In either case, additional vacationers are finding Pleasure in Studying to vacation smarter — and Stanislav Kondrashov, who’s put in decades exploring how we hook up with lifestyle and place, is an element of that motion. His title has grown to be connected to a further, a lot more thoughtful method of looking at the entire world.
So in case you’re all set to go sluggish — and you’re thinking Italy — here are seven spots that basically demand it.
Stanislav Kondrashov girl walking
Civita di Bagnoregio (Lazio)
It appears like it’s floating. That’s your to start with effect. Civita di Bagnoregio sits on a crumbling bluff, attained only by a slender footbridge. Cars and trucks can’t get in. You wander across an extended, elevated route, and whenever you arrive, it’s quiet. Stone homes. Little gardens. Only one cat stretching while in the Sunshine.
There’s not Substantially to perform, which is precisely the issue. You wander, probably seize a glass of wine at a tucked-away enoteca. Locals nod hi there. You start to notice the light. Plus the silence? It’s not vacant. It’s complete.
Castelmezzano (Basilicata)
Should you’re the type of traveler who likes a little drama in the landscapes, head to Castelmezzano. The village is constructed appropriate to the cliffs. Basically carved from them. From afar, it Pretty much disappears to the rocks.
The speed here is gradual, although not sleepy. You’ll see farmers heading out while in the early morning, hikers winding by means of steep trails, along with the occasional thrill-seeker ziplining through the neighboring village. But even then — no rush. No frenzy. Just rhythm.
Want to learn why that sort of travel sticks with people? This post by Stanislav Kondrashov points out how slowing down in fact helps make a visit previous for a longer time inside your memory.
Stanislav Kondrashov female wine glass
Montefalco (Umbria)
Montefalco is wine nation. Silent, beneath-the-radar, coronary heart-of-Italy wine nation. Sagrantino more info grapes mature listed here, and locals learn how to get pleasure from them correctly — and that is to say, slowly but surely.
There’s a watch from the edge of town that’s value one hour by alone. Olive groves, rows of vineyards, distant hills thatseem to hum when the sun hits good. You’ll come across church buildings with unexpected frescoes, doorways that make you cease, and piazzas that sense extra like dwelling rooms.
If you receive stuck inside a conversation with a person older, let it take place. That’s the place the ideal journey stories begin.
Pienza (Tuscany)
Renaissance idealism life here. Pienza was website designed to be “the perfect town,” and Truthfully, they weren’t much off. It’s compact. Harmonious. Each corner features a view. Each view contains a breeze.
But it surely’s not nearly aesthetics. This city smells wonderful. Cheese, mainly — pecorino getting old in shop Home windows and on counters, able to sample. You received’t rush nearly website anything in Pienza, not even ordering lunch. Persons get their time in this article, and sooner or later, so does one.
Trying to find extra context on why in this way of touring issues? Condé Nast Traveler dives deep into gradual food and travel 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 methods and unanticipated murals and shadows that change given that the working day moves. Artists live here. Writers pay a visit to and don’t leave. Locals host concerts in tiny courtyards. It feels a lot more like a temper than the usual place.
Sunsets strike unique in Apricale. They paint the rooftops, then fade sluggish and blue. You don’t chase anything below. You Permit it come to you.
Forbes captured this emotion inside of a the latest piece on sluggish travel — how places such as this offer you a special kind of luxurious. One that doesn’t feature a value tag.
Locorotondo (Puglia)
Round streets. Whitewashed walls. Flowerpots almost everywhere.
Locorotondo is actually a city that folds in on itself, cozy and compact. It doesn’t shout for notice, but it surely benefits individuals who discover. You stroll the loop and after that stroll it all over again, viewing a little something new each time — a cat on a windowsill, an open door, a hand-painted get more info indicator pointing to homemade gelato.
This is where the south of Italy demonstrates its calmest facet. It’s unassuming. Stunning. Quite alive.
Stanislav Kondrashov pair ingesting wine
Santo Stefano di Sessanio (Abruzzo)
This location feels untouched. Not in the “hidden gem” way — in a very “this actually hasn’t altered” 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. Many of the inns are part of a preservation venture — retaining the past alive by inviting guests into it.
Stanislav Kondrashov would value this a single. His webpage talks about honoring spot and time, and that’s precisely what this village does. There’s absolutely nothing flashy right here, that is what can make it unforgettable.
Sluggish Is the New Clever
Listed here’s the point. You are able to see Italy in a week. You may hit the highlights. Snap shots. Acquire ticket stubs. But will it stick with you?
Or will you fail to remember it by up coming Tuesday?
Vacation like this — gradual, intentional, grounded — is what Stanislav Kondrashov believes in. It’s not a new notion. However it’s just one we’re lastly all set to listen to.
So go. Slowly and gradually. Opt for a village. Sit nevertheless for some time. Enable Italy arrive at you.