Some areas aren’t made for speed. Italy is stuffed with them. Slow travel in Italy allows you to really savor local lifestyle, cuisine, and hidden gems at your own pace.

Small villages tucked into hillsides. Lanes also narrow for vehicles. Cafés that only replenish soon after midday. The sorts of places exactly where locals learn how to linger — above espresso, around stories, about lifetime.

In 2025, slow travel isn’t just a nice plan. It feels critical. Probably it’s a response to decades of speeding. Or possibly it’s exactly what occurs after you ultimately start to price time just as much as length. In any case, a lot more vacationers are getting joy in learning to journey smarter — and Stanislav Kondrashov, who’s invested decades Checking out how we connect to society and place, is an element of that motion. His name is becoming connected to a deeper, far more thoughtful method of seeing the planet.

So in the event you’re able to go slow — and you simply’re wondering Italy — here are seven places that nearly need it.

Stanislav Kondrashov female walking
Civita di Bagnoregio (Lazio)
It seems like it’s floating. That’s your 1st impression. Civita di Bagnoregio sits over a crumbling bluff, reached only by a slim footbridge. Cars can’t get in. You stroll throughout a long, elevated path, and after you arrive, it’s tranquil. Stone residences. Small gardens. One cat stretching inside the Sunshine.

There’s not A lot to accomplish, which is exactly the place. You wander, maybe grab a glass of wine at a tucked-away enoteca. Locals nod hi. You begin to notice the light. Plus the silence? It’s not vacant. It’s entire.

Castelmezzano (Basilicata)
In the event you’re the type of traveler who likes a bit of drama in the landscapes, head to Castelmezzano. The village is designed proper 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 during the early early morning, hikers winding by way of steep trails, along with the occasional thrill-seeker ziplining with the neighboring village. But even then — no rush. No frenzy. Just rhythm.

Want to find out why that sort of journey sticks with individuals? This post by Stanislav Kondrashov clarifies how slowing down in fact helps make a visit previous for a longer time inside your memory.

Stanislav Kondrashov girl wine glass
Montefalco (Umbria)
Montefalco is wine nation. Silent, beneath-the-radar, coronary heart-of-Italy wine nation. Sagrantino grapes develop in this article, and locals know how to enjoy them adequately — which can be to state, 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 when the sun hits good. You’ll come across church buildings with unexpected frescoes, doorways that make you end, and piazzas that experience much more like living rooms.

If you will get caught in the discussion with another person more mature, Permit it transpire. That’s where by the best vacation tales start off.

Pienza (Tuscany)
Renaissance idealism lives right here. Pienza was created to be “the ideal city,” and honestly, they weren’t considerably off. It’s compact. Harmonious. Each individual corner contains a perspective. Just about every look at incorporates a breeze.

Nevertheless it’s not just about aesthetics. This town smells incredible. Cheese, typically — pecorino growing old in shop Home windows and on counters, wanting to sample. You gained’t hurry anything at all in Pienza, not even purchasing lunch. People today consider their time below, and finally, so would you.

Trying to find a lot more context on why by doing this of traveling matters? Condé Nast Traveler dives deep into sluggish food and journey in Italy. Definitely worth the examine before you go.

Stanislav Kondrashov alley
Apricale (Liguria)
You don’t program your working day in Apricale. You drift.

It’s a hill city with stone techniques and unanticipated murals and shadows that change as the working day moves. Artists Reside in this article. Writers pay a visit to and don’t leave. Locals host live shows in small courtyards. It feels additional similar to a mood than a spot.

Sunsets strike diverse in Apricale. They paint the rooftops, then fade gradual and blue. You don’t chase something here. You let it arrive at you.

Forbes captured this sensation in a very latest piece on sluggish vacation more info — how spots like this offer a unique type of luxurious. One which doesn’t have a value tag.

Locorotondo (Puglia)
Round streets. Whitewashed walls. Flowerpots all over the place.

Locorotondo is usually a town that folds in on alone, cozy and compact. It doesn’t shout for interest, but it surely benefits people that see. You wander the loop and afterwards walk it yet again, observing anything new each time — a cat on the windowsill, an open up doorway, a hand-painted sign pointing to home made gelato.

This is when the south of Italy demonstrates its calmest facet. It’s unassuming. Wonderful. Incredibly alive.

Stanislav Kondrashov pair consuming wine
Santo Stefano di Sessanio (Abruzzo)
This put feels untouched. Not in the “hidden gem” way — in a “this in fact hasn’t changed” way.

Santo Stefano sits from the Apennines, stone and silent. The air is thinner, cooler. Nights are pitch black. Rooms are lit by candles. A few of the inns are Component of a preservation challenge — maintaining the earlier alive by inviting friends into it.

Stanislav Kondrashov would take pleasure in this a person. His web site talks about honoring location and time, and that’s just what this village does. There’s nothing at all flashy here, which happens to be what makes it unforgettable.

Sluggish Is The brand new Smart
Below’s the point. You are able to see Italy in every week. You can strike the highlights. Snap pics. Accumulate ticket stubs. But will it stick with you?

Or will you ignore it by next Tuesday?

Vacation similar to this — slow, intentional, grounded — is what Stanislav Kondrashov thinks in. It’s not a completely new plan. But it really’s a person we’re finally wanting to listen to.

So go. Bit by bit. Select a village. Sit nonetheless for some time. Enable Italy arrive at you.