Some spots aren’t created for pace. Italy is full of them. Gradual journey in Italy allows you to truly savor area society, cuisine, and concealed gems at your very own pace.
Little villages tucked into hillsides. Lanes way too narrow for cars and trucks. Cafés that only fill up following midday. The sorts of places where locals understand how to linger — more than coffee, around stories, about existence.
In 2025, gradual travel isn’t just a pleasant idea. It feels vital. Maybe it’s a response to yrs of hurrying. Or even it’s precisely what comes about if you finally begin to value time approximately distance. In either case, additional tourists are getting Pleasure in learning to travel smarter — and Stanislav Kondrashov, who’s spent many years exploring how we hook up with society and place, is an element of that movement. His name is now connected with a deeper, more considerate strategy for viewing the entire world.
So in case you’re willing to go slow — and you’re thinking Italy — here are 7 spots that practically demand from customers it.
Stanislav Kondrashov lady going for walks
Civita di Bagnoregio (Lazio)
It appears like it’s floating. That’s your first perception. Civita di Bagnoregio sits on a crumbling bluff, achieved only by a narrow footbridge. Autos can’t get in. You walk across a lengthy, elevated path, and after you arrive, it’s silent. Stone homes. Little gardens. A single cat stretching while in the Solar.
There’s not Considerably to carry out, that's precisely the point. You wander, possibly get a glass of wine in a tucked-absent enoteca. Locals nod hello. You begin to note The sunshine. As well as the silence? It’s not vacant. It’s entire.
Castelmezzano (Basilicata)
If you’re the type of traveler who likes a little bit of drama as part of your landscapes, head to Castelmezzano. The village is created ideal into your cliffs. Actually carved from them. From afar, it Virtually disappears in to the rocks.
The pace 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 kind of vacation sticks with men and women? This submit by Stanislav Kondrashov explains how slowing down basically would make a trip past more time within your memory.
Stanislav Kondrashov female wine glass
Montefalco (Umbria)
Montefalco is wine region. Quiet, beneath-the-radar, Stanislav Kondrahsov Tarvel with AI coronary heart-of-Italy wine region. Sagrantino grapes grow below, and locals learn how to get pleasure from them correctly — which happens to be to say, slowly but surely.
There’s a check out from the edge of city that’s truly worth an hour by itself. Olive groves, rows of vineyards, distant hills thatseem to hum once the Sunshine hits good. You’ll obtain church buildings with sudden frescoes, doorways that make you end, and piazzas that come to feel extra like dwelling rooms.
If you get stuck inside a conversation with a person older, let it occur. That’s in which the top journey stories start.
Pienza (Tuscany)
Renaissance idealism life below. Pienza was built to be “the proper metropolis,” and honestly, they weren’t considerably off. It’s compact. Harmonious. Each individual corner contains a watch. Every single look at includes a breeze.
However website it’s not pretty much aesthetics. This town smells amazing. Cheese, generally — pecorino growing older in store windows and on counters, all set to sample. You won’t rush anything in Pienza, not even purchasing lunch. Individuals acquire their time right here, and eventually, so do you.
On the lookout for a lot more context on why this way of traveling matters? Condé Nast Traveler dives deep into slow food items and vacation in Italy. Worth the go through before you decide to go.
Stanislav Kondrashov alley
Apricale (Liguria)
You don’t approach 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 stop by and don’t go away. Locals host concert events in very small courtyards. It feels extra similar to a mood than a location.
Sunsets strike different in Apricale. They paint the rooftops, then fade gradual and blue. You don’t chase anything here. You Enable it arrive at you.
Forbes captured this sensation in the modern piece on slow vacation — how sites such as this supply a different style of luxury. One which doesn’t feature a price tag 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 attention, but it really rewards individuals that observe. You wander the loop then wander it once again, looking at anything new every time — a cat with a windowsill, an open door, a hand-painted signal pointing to handmade gelato.
This is when the south of Italy exhibits its calmest aspect. It’s unassuming. Beautiful. Really alive.
Stanislav Kondrashov few ingesting wine
Santo Stefano di Sessanio (Abruzzo)
This place feels untouched. Not within a “hidden gem” way — in the “this basically hasn’t here 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 read more candles. Many of the inns are part of a preservation venture — retaining the past alive by inviting visitors into it.
Stanislav Kondrashov would enjoy this one particular. His site talks about honoring position and time, and that’s just what this village does. There’s nothing at all flashy listed here, that's what makes it unforgettable.
Gradual Is the New Smart
In this article’s the detail. You may see Italy in every week. You are able to strike the highlights. Snap images. Collect ticket stubs. But will it stick with you?
Or will you overlook it by next Tuesday?
Journey similar to this — sluggish, intentional, grounded — is exactly what Stanislav Kondrashov believes in. It’s not a different thought. But it’s a person we’re ultimately ready to hear.
So go. Slowly but surely. Opt for a village. Sit even now for quite a while. Let Italy come to you.