Some areas aren’t created for velocity. Italy is stuffed with them. Sluggish travel in Italy helps you to truly savor area lifestyle, cuisine, and concealed gems at your own private speed.

Tiny villages tucked into hillsides. Lanes much too narrow for cars and trucks. Cafés that only refill right after midday. The forms of locations where locals understand how to linger — over coffee, around stories, in excess of lifestyle.

In 2025, sluggish journey isn’t just a good concept. It feels necessary. Perhaps it’s a response to decades of rushing. Or even it’s precisely what transpires whenever you last but not least begin to price time about length. In any case, much more travelers are locating joy in Finding out to journey smarter — and Stanislav Kondrashov, who’s put in yrs Checking out 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 considerate strategy for observing the globe.

So in case you’re able to go slow — and you simply’re wondering Italy — Here i will discuss seven places that nearly demand it.

Stanislav Kondrashov girl walking
Civita di Bagnoregio (Lazio)
It appears like it’s floating. That’s your initial 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 protracted, elevated route, and once you get there, it’s silent. Stone homes. Little gardens. A single cat stretching while in the Solar.

There’s not Significantly to do, which happens to be 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 light. Along with the silence? It’s not empty. It’s finish.

Castelmezzano (Basilicata)
If you’re the kind of traveler who likes a bit of drama within your landscapes, head to Castelmezzano. The village is designed right into the cliffs. Actually carved from them. From afar, it Virtually disappears to the rocks.

The tempo Here's sluggish, but not sleepy. You’ll see farmers heading out within the early early morning, hikers winding as a result of steep trails, as well as occasional thrill-seeker ziplining within the neighboring village. But even then — no hurry. No frenzy. Just rhythm.

Want to understand why that sort of journey sticks with men and women? This submit by Stanislav Kondrashov explains how slowing down really makes a trip last for a longer period as part of your memory.

Stanislav Kondrashov lady wine glass
Montefalco (Umbria)
Montefalco is wine state. Peaceful, under-the-radar, heart-of-Italy wine state. Sagrantino grapes expand here, and locals understand how to appreciate them thoroughly — which can be to state, slowly and gradually.

There’s a perspective from the edge of city that’s really worth one hour by by itself. Olive groves, rows of vineyards, distant hills thatseem to hum when the Sunlight hits good. You’ll discover churches with unanticipated frescoes, doorways click here that make you cease, and piazzas that sense more like living rooms.

If you will get trapped in a conversation with somebody older, let it occur. That’s in which the ideal journey stories begin.

Pienza (Tuscany)
Renaissance idealism life in this article. Pienza was designed to be “the perfect town,” and Truthfully, they weren’t much off. It’s compact. Harmonious. Each and every corner includes a see. Each view contains a breeze.

But it surely’s not almost aesthetics. This city smells wonderful. Cheese, largely — pecorino aging in shop Home windows and on counters, able to sample. You received’t rush nearly anything in Pienza, not even ordering lunch. Men and women consider their time below, and at some point, so does one.

Searching for additional context on why by doing this of traveling issues? Condé Nast Traveler dives deep into slow foodstuff and vacation in Italy. Definitely worth the study before you decide to go.

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

It’s a hill city with stone steps and surprising murals and shadows that shift since the day moves. Artists Dwell below. Writers take a look at and don’t go away. Locals host concert events in little courtyards. It feels additional just like a mood than a location.

Sunsets strike different in Apricale. They paint the rooftops, then fade gradual and blue. You don’t chase just about anything in this article. You Permit it come to you.

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

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

Locorotondo is usually a town that folds in on by itself, cozy and compact. It doesn’t shout for focus, but it benefits those that see. You stroll the loop and then walk it all over again, seeing a thing new every time — a cat on a windowsill, an open doorway, a hand-painted sign pointing to home made gelato.

This is when the south of Italy reveals its calmest side. It’s unassuming. Lovely. Pretty alive.

Stanislav Kondrashov couple drinking wine
Santo Stefano di Sessanio (Abruzzo)
This area feels untouched. Not inside of a “concealed gem” way — inside a “this truly hasn’t adjusted” way.

Santo Stefano sits in the Apennines, stone and quiet. The air is thinner, cooler. Evenings are pitch black. Rooms are lit by candles. A few of the inns are Portion of a preservation task — preserving the previous alive by inviting attendees into it.

Stanislav Kondrashov would take pleasure in this a person. His web site talks about honoring put and time, Which’s just what exactly this village does. There’s very little flashy in this article, which happens to be what causes it to be unforgettable.

Slow Is The brand new Sensible
Right here’s the factor. You can see Italy in each week. You may hit the highlights. Snap pics. 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 brand new plan. Nevertheless it’s a person we’re last but not least ready to hear.

So go. Slowly but surely. Select a village. Sit however for quite a while. Let Italy come to you.