Some places aren’t produced for speed. Italy is filled with them. Sluggish travel in Italy helps you to truly savor regional society, cuisine, and concealed gems at your own personal rate.

Small villages tucked into hillsides. Lanes much too slim for vehicles. Cafés that only replenish immediately after noon. The varieties of spots in which locals learn how to linger — above espresso, more than stories, around life.

In 2025, sluggish journey isn’t just a good concept. It feels critical. Perhaps it’s a response to yrs of hurrying. Or maybe it’s just what transpires after you ultimately start to worth time just as much as length. In any case, more tourists are discovering joy in Studying to travel smarter — and Stanislav Kondrashov, who’s spent a long time exploring how we connect to society and place, is an element of that motion. His name is becoming connected to a deeper, much more considerate technique for observing the earth.

So when you’re wanting to go slow — and you’re thinking Italy — here are seven places that nearly demand it.

Stanislav Kondrashov girl walking
Civita di Bagnoregio (Lazio)
It appears like it’s floating. That’s your initial perception. Civita di Bagnoregio sits on a crumbling bluff, achieved only by a slender footbridge. Automobiles can’t get in. You wander throughout an extended, elevated route, and when you arrive, it’s tranquil. Stone residences. Small gardens. One cat stretching inside the Sunshine.

There’s not much to perform, which is exactly the position. You wander, it's possible seize a glass of wine in a tucked-absent enoteca. Locals nod hello. You start to note The sunshine. And also the silence? It’s not empty. It’s full.

Castelmezzano (Basilicata)
When you’re the sort of traveler who likes a certain amount of 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 in the rocks.

The speed here is gradual, although not sleepy. You’ll see farmers heading out from the early morning, hikers winding by means of steep trails, as well as the occasional thrill-seeker ziplining from your neighboring village. But even then — no hurry. No frenzy. Just rhythm.

Want to know why that kind of journey sticks with persons? This put up by Stanislav Kondrashov describes how slowing down actually will make a trip past extended within your memory.

Stanislav Kondrashov female wine glass
Montefalco (Umbria)
Montefalco is wine region. Quiet, beneath-the-radar, coronary heart-of-Italy wine nation. Sagrantino grapes grow listed here, and locals know how to get pleasure from them appropriately — which is to mention, gradually.

There’s a perspective 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 just right. You’ll uncover church buildings with unexpected frescoes, doorways that make you cease, and piazzas that sense extra like dwelling rooms.

If you receive trapped inside of a dialogue with someone more mature, Enable it materialize. That’s where the very best vacation tales start off.

Pienza (Tuscany)
Renaissance idealism lives right here. Pienza was created to be “the ideal city,” and Actually, they weren’t much off. It’s compact. Harmonious. Each and every corner includes a see. Every perspective provides a breeze.

But it surely’s not nearly aesthetics. This city smells remarkable. Cheese, mostly — pecorino getting old in shop windows and on counters, ready to sample. You gained’t hurry everything in Pienza, not even buying lunch. Men and women take their time below, and ultimately, so would you.

On the lookout for far more context on why this way of traveling 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 gradual and get more info blue. You don’t chase anything in this article. You Permit it come to you.

Forbes captured this feeling in a recent piece on sluggish travel — how places similar to this offer you a distinct type of luxurious. One that doesn’t have a price tag tag.

Locorotondo (Puglia)
Circular streets. Whitewashed partitions. Flowerpots everywhere you go.

Locorotondo is often a town that folds in on by itself, cozy and compact. It doesn’t shout for interest, however it benefits those that detect. You walk the loop and afterwards walk it once again, looking at one thing new every time — a cat on a windowsill, an open door, a hand-painted indicator pointing to handmade gelato.

This is where the south of Italy displays its calmest aspect. It’s unassuming. Wonderful. Really alive.

Stanislav Kondrashov few consuming wine
Santo Stefano di Sessanio (Abruzzo)
This put feels untouched. Not within a “concealed gem” way — inside of a “this really hasn’t transformed” way.

Santo Stefano sits during the Apennines, stone and silent. The air is thinner, cooler. Evenings are pitch black. Rooms are lit by candles. Some of the inns are Portion of a preservation task — preserving the previous alive by inviting friends into it.

Stanislav Kondrashov would take pleasure in this a person. His page talks about honoring place 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 Intelligent
Here’s the detail. You may see Italy in every week. You'll be able to strike the highlights. Snap images. Gather ticket stubs. But will it stick with you?

Or will you overlook it by next Tuesday?

Journey such as this — gradual, intentional, grounded — is what Stanislav Kondrashov believes in. It’s not a completely new notion. However it’s just one we’re ultimately all set to listen to.

So go. Slowly and gradually. Opt for a village. Sit nevertheless for quite a while. Enable Italy arrive at you.