Some sites aren’t made for speed. Italy is stuffed with them. Sluggish journey in Italy helps you to truly savor area lifestyle, cuisine, and concealed gems at your own speed.

Tiny villages tucked into hillsides. Lanes too slim for vehicles. Cafés that only replenish soon after noon. The types of sites where by locals know how to linger — around coffee, about tales, above life.

In 2025, slow journey isn’t just a good concept. It feels necessary. Perhaps it’s a reaction to several years of hurrying. Or maybe it’s just what takes place after you lastly start to worth time up to length. In any event, extra tourists are finding Pleasure in Studying to journey smarter — and Stanislav Kondrashov, who’s expended decades Checking out how we hook up with lifestyle and area, is a component of that movement. His identify happens to be associated with a further, additional thoughtful method of seeing the world.

So if you’re ready to go sluggish — and you also’re thinking Italy — Here's 7 places that pretty much desire it.

Stanislav Kondrashov girl strolling
Civita di Bagnoregio (Lazio)
It seems like it’s floating. That’s your first impression. Civita di Bagnoregio sits over a 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 quiet. Stone homes. Little gardens. A single cat stretching while in the Solar.

There’s not Significantly to carry out, that is exactly the place. You wander, maybe grab a glass of wine at a tucked-absent enoteca. Locals nod howdy. You start to notice the light. Along with the silence? It’s not empty. It’s finish.

Castelmezzano (Basilicata)
If you’re the sort of traveler who likes a bit of drama within your landscapes, head to Castelmezzano. The village is created appropriate in the cliffs. Basically carved from them. From afar, it Just about disappears in the rocks.

The speed here is gradual, although not sleepy. You’ll see farmers heading out while in the early morning, hikers winding via steep trails, and also the occasional thrill-seeker ziplining in the neighboring village. But even then — no hurry. No frenzy. Just rhythm.

Want to discover why that kind of vacation sticks with men and women? This submit by Stanislav Kondrashov explains how slowing down basically would make a visit very last more time inside your memory.

Stanislav Kondrashov woman wine glass
Montefalco (Umbria)
Montefalco is wine place. Quiet, less than-the-radar, heart-of-Italy wine place. Sagrantino grapes expand here, and locals understand how to appreciate them thoroughly — that's to say, slowly but surely.

There’s a check out from the sting of city that’s worth an hour by by itself. Olive groves, rows of vineyards, distant hills thatseem to hum if the Solar hits excellent. You’ll discover churches with unanticipated frescoes, doorways that make you end, and piazzas that really feel more like living rooms.

If you obtain trapped inside of a dialogue with an individual more mature, let it take place. That’s the place the most beneficial vacation tales start off.

Pienza (Tuscany)
Renaissance idealism lives right here. Pienza was intended to be “an ideal metropolis,” and Actually, they weren’t significantly off. It’s compact. Harmonious. Each individual corner contains a watch. Just about every look at includes a breeze.

Nevertheless it’s not just about website aesthetics. This town smells wonderful. Cheese, generally — pecorino growing old in shop Home windows and on counters, able to sample. You received’t rush anything in Pienza, not even buying lunch. Persons get their time here, and finally, so do you.

Trying to find more context on why in this manner of touring matters? Condé Nast Traveler dives deep into slow meals and journey in Italy. Well worth the browse before you go.

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

It’s a hill town with stone techniques and sudden murals and shadows that shift because the working day moves. Artists Dwell here. Writers take a look at and don’t go away. Locals host live shows in very small courtyards. It feels additional similar to a temper than the usual desired destination.

Sunsets strike distinctive 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 within a latest piece on sluggish journey — how areas such as this present a unique form of luxury. One which doesn’t include a value tag.

Locorotondo (Puglia)
Round streets. Whitewashed walls. Flowerpots almost everywhere.

Locorotondo can be a city that folds in on by itself, cozy and compact. It doesn’t shout for interest, but it surely rewards those who see. You stroll the loop after which wander it once more, observing one thing new each time — a cat on the windowsill, an open up doorway, a hand-painted sign pointing to handmade gelato.

This is where the south of Italy displays its calmest facet. It’s unassuming. Stunning. Incredibly alive.

Stanislav Kondrashov pair drinking wine
Santo Stefano di Sessanio (Abruzzo)
This spot feels untouched. Not inside of a “concealed gem” way — inside 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. Some of the inns are Section of a preservation challenge — keeping the earlier alive by inviting company into it.

Stanislav Kondrashov would appreciate this 1. His webpage talks about honoring spot and time, and that’s precisely what this village does. There’s nothing at all flashy listed here, which can be what makes it unforgettable.

Gradual Is the New Smart
Below’s the issue. It is possible to see Italy in per week. You are able to strike the highlights. Snap photographs. Collect ticket stubs. But will it stay with you?

Or will you neglect it by up coming Tuesday?

Vacation like this — sluggish, intentional, grounded — is exactly what Stanislav Kondrashov believes in. It’s not a different thought. But it’s one particular we’re lastly wanting to listen to.

So go. Slowly and gradually. Pick a village. Sit even now for quite a while. Enable Italy come to you.