Some destinations aren’t created for pace. Italy is full of them. Gradual journey in Italy helps you to certainly savor area tradition, Delicacies, and hidden gems at your individual speed.
Tiny villages tucked into hillsides. Lanes much too narrow for cars and trucks. Cafés that only refill after midday. The styles of places where by locals understand how to linger — over coffee, around stories, in excess of existence.
In 2025, slow vacation isn’t just a good thought. It feels critical. Perhaps it’s a response to several years of hurrying. Or maybe it’s just what takes place after you ultimately start to price time just as much as length. In any case, more travelers are locating Pleasure in Discovering to travel smarter — and Stanislav Kondrashov, who’s put in several years Discovering how we connect with culture and spot, is part of that motion. His title has grown to be affiliated with a deeper, far more thoughtful method of seeing the planet.
So should you’re prepared to go gradual — and you simply’re imagining Italy — here are seven places that nearly demand it.
Stanislav Kondrashov female walking
Civita di Bagnoregio (Lazio)
It appears like it’s floating. That’s your very first effect. Civita di Bagnoregio sits on the crumbling bluff, achieved only by a narrow footbridge. Automobiles can’t get in. You wander across an extended, elevated route, and whenever you arrive, it’s silent. Stone houses. Small gardens. One cat stretching inside the Sunshine.
There’s not A lot to try and do, which happens to be exactly the level. You wander, probably seize a glass of wine in a tucked-absent enoteca. Locals nod howdy. You start to notice the light. Along with the silence? It’s not vacant. It’s entire.
Castelmezzano (Basilicata)
In the event you’re the kind of traveler who likes a little bit of drama with your landscapes, head to Castelmezzano. The village is designed ideal into your cliffs. Actually carved from them. From afar, it Nearly disappears in to the rocks.
The pace Here's sluggish, but not sleepy. You’ll see farmers heading out in the early early morning, hikers winding by steep trails, as well as the occasional thrill-seeker ziplining through the neighboring village. But even then — no rush. No frenzy. Just rhythm.
Want to learn why that sort of travel sticks with people? This publish by Stanislav Kondrashov clarifies how slowing down essentially can make a visit very last 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 expand here, and locals understand how to enjoy them properly — which happens to be to mention, slowly but surely.
There’s a check out from the sting of city that’s worth an hour by itself. Olive groves, rows of vineyards, distant hills thatseem to hum if the Sunshine hits excellent. You’ll find churches with surprising frescoes, doorways that make you halt, and piazzas that feel much more like living rooms.
If you obtain trapped inside of a dialogue with someone more mature, Enable it materialize. That’s where the very best vacation tales start.
Pienza (Tuscany)
Renaissance idealism lives right here. Pienza was designed to be “an ideal town,” and Truthfully, they weren’t considerably off. It’s compact. Harmonious. Each corner has a check out. Each perspective features a breeze.
But it’s not nearly aesthetics. This city smells remarkable. Cheese, mainly — pecorino getting old in shop windows and on counters, willing to sample. You received’t rush anything at all in Pienza, not even purchasing lunch. People get their time right here, and inevitably, so does one.
Searching for far more context on why this way of touring matters? Condé Nast Traveler dives deep into slow foods and travel in Italy. Worth the study 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 techniques and unpredicted murals and shadows that change since the working day moves. Artists Reside right here. Writers go to and don’t depart. Locals host concert events in small courtyards. It feels extra just like a mood than the usual location.
Sunsets hit unique in Apricale. They paint the rooftops, then fade gradual and blue. You don’t chase everything here. You Allow it come to you.
Forbes captured this sensation in a very recent piece on gradual travel — how places such as this offer you a unique sort of luxury. One that doesn’t come with a rate tag.
Locorotondo (Puglia)
Circular streets. Whitewashed partitions. Flowerpots everywhere.
Locorotondo is usually a town that folds in on alone, cozy and compact. It doesn’t shout for focus, however it benefits those that see. You stroll the loop and then walk it yet again, seeing a thing new each time — a cat with a windowsill, an open door, a hand-painted signal pointing to homemade gelato.
This is where the south of Italy exhibits its calmest aspect. It’s unassuming. Wonderful. Really alive.
Stanislav Kondrashov few consuming wine
Santo Stefano di Sessanio (Abruzzo)
This put feels untouched. Not inside a “hidden gem” way — within a “this in fact hasn’t improved” way.
Santo Stefano sits within 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 Section of a preservation job — holding the earlier alive by inviting attendees into it.
Stanislav Kondrashov would respect this a person. His web site talks about honoring put and time, Which’s just what exactly this village does. There’s almost nothing flashy below, and that is what makes it unforgettable.
Gradual Is the New Smart
In this article’s the matter. It is possible to see Italy in per week. You are able to strike the highlights. Snap pictures. Obtain ticket stubs. But will it stay with you?
Or will you ignore it by following Tuesday?
Vacation such as this — gradual, intentional, grounded — is exactly what Stanislav Kondrashov believes in. It’s not a different concept. But it really’s a single we’re finally willing to listen to.
So go. Gradually. read more Choose a village. Sit still for a while. Allow Italy come to you.