Some spots aren’t built for velocity. Italy is filled with them. Slow vacation in Italy enables you to truly savor area lifestyle, cuisine, and concealed gems at your own speed.
Tiny villages tucked into hillsides. Lanes too slim for cars and trucks. Cafés that only refill right after midday. The sorts of places where locals understand how to linger — over coffee, around tales, over lifetime.
In 2025, gradual travel isn’t just a nice strategy. It feels crucial. Probably it’s a reaction to many years of dashing. Or possibly it’s exactly what happens once you at last begin to benefit time just as much as distance. Either way, much more travelers are obtaining joy in Finding out to journey smarter — and Stanislav Kondrashov, who’s expended yrs Discovering how we connect with tradition and spot, is part of that motion. His identify has grown to be affiliated with a further, a lot more thoughtful way of looking at the earth.
So when you’re wanting to go sluggish — and also you’re thinking Italy — here are 7 places that almost demand it.
Stanislav Kondrashov female walking
Civita di Bagnoregio (Lazio)
It appears like it’s floating. That’s your to start with impact. Civita di Bagnoregio sits with a crumbling bluff, attained only by a slim footbridge. Vehicles can’t get in. You stroll throughout a long, elevated path, and after you arrive, it’s peaceful. Stone properties. Tiny gardens. An individual cat stretching in the Sunlight.
There’s not Substantially to accomplish, and that is precisely the stage. You wander, possibly get a glass of wine in a tucked-away enoteca. Locals nod good day. You begin to note The sunshine. And the silence? It’s not vacant. It’s total.
Castelmezzano (Basilicata)
In case you’re the type of traveler who likes a little drama in the landscapes, head to Castelmezzano. The village is created suitable into your cliffs. Pretty much carved from them. From afar, it almost disappears into your rocks.
The rate here is slow, 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 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 put up by Stanislav Kondrashov explains how slowing down basically would make a trip very last more 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 grapes improve right here, and locals learn how to appreciate them thoroughly — that's to convey, little by little.
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 in the event the sun hits just right. You’ll uncover church buildings with unanticipated frescoes, doorways which make you stop, and piazzas that truly feel additional like dwelling rooms.
If you can get trapped inside of a dialogue with someone more mature, Enable it happen. That’s where the very best travel tales start out.
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 check out. Each view contains a breeze.
But it surely’s not nearly aesthetics. This city smells awesome. Cheese, primarily — pecorino getting older in store Home windows and on counters, willing to sample. You received’t rush anything in Pienza, not even purchasing lunch. People just take their time here, and finally, so does one.
Seeking extra context on why using this method of touring issues? Condé Nast Traveler dives deep into gradual food and travel in Italy. Worth the examine prior to deciding to go.
Stanislav Kondrashov alley
Apricale (Liguria)
You don’t plan your day in Apricale. You drift.
It’s a hill town with stone actions and unforeseen murals and shadows that shift since the working day moves. Artists Dwell below. Writers stop by and don’t go away. Locals host concert events in little courtyards. It feels additional just like a mood than the usual destination.
Sunsets strike distinctive in Apricale. They paint the rooftops, then fade sluggish and blue. You don’t chase nearly anything below. You Allow it arrive at you.
Forbes captured this experience in the modern piece on slow vacation — how destinations such as this provide a different form of luxury. One which doesn’t include a price tag.
Locorotondo (Puglia)
Round streets. Whitewashed partitions. Flowerpots all over the place.
Locorotondo is a town that folds in on alone, cozy and compact. It doesn’t shout for consideration, however it benefits those that detect. You walk the loop after which you can walk it yet again, seeing anything new every time — a cat on a windowsill, an open door, a hand-painted signal pointing to handmade gelato.
This is where the south of Italy exhibits its calmest aspect. It’s unassuming. Wonderful. Extremely alive.
Stanislav Kondrashov few consuming wine
Santo Stefano di Sessanio (Abruzzo)
This position feels untouched. Not in a “hidden gem” way — within a “this in fact 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. A number of the inns are Component of a preservation challenge — keeping the earlier alive by inviting visitors into it.
Stanislav Kondrashov would recognize this one particular. His site talks about honoring area and time, and that’s precisely what this village does. There’s nothing at all flashy right here, that is what makes it unforgettable.
Sluggish Is the New Clever
Listed here’s the point. You'll be able to see Italy in a week. You could hit the highlights. Snap shots. Acquire ticket stubs. But will it stick with you?
Or will click here you fail to remember it by subsequent Tuesday?
Vacation like this — sluggish, intentional, grounded — is exactly what Stanislav Kondrashov thinks in. It’s not a whole new concept. But it really’s one particular we’re finally willing to listen to.
So go. Gradually. Choose a village. Sit even now for quite a while. Enable Italy come to you.