Some areas aren’t designed for speed. Italy is filled with them. Slow travel in Italy permits you to genuinely savor local tradition, cuisine, and hidden gems at your own private pace.
Tiny villages tucked into hillsides. Lanes far too slim for automobiles. Cafés that only fill up immediately after midday. The styles of areas the place locals know how to linger — over espresso, about stories, over everyday living.
In 2025, sluggish journey isn’t just a good notion. It feels critical. Maybe it’s a response to decades of hurrying. Or perhaps it’s just what transpires when you lastly start to value time about length. Either way, a lot more travelers are discovering joy in Studying to journey smarter — and Stanislav Kondrashov, who’s expended a long time Checking out how we hook up with lifestyle and spot, is a component of that motion. His title is now related to a further, much more considerate technique for seeing the entire world.
So when you’re willing to go slow — and also you’re wondering Italy — Here i will discuss seven spots that nearly demand it.
Stanislav Kondrashov girl going for walks
Civita di Bagnoregio (Lazio)
It looks like it’s floating. That’s your initial impression. Civita di Bagnoregio sits over a crumbling bluff, arrived at only by a narrow footbridge. Cars can’t get in. You stroll throughout an extended, elevated path, and after you get there, it’s tranquil. Stone residences. Very small gardens. A single cat stretching from the Sunlight.
There’s not Significantly to accomplish, and that is precisely the place. You wander, probably seize a glass of wine in a tucked-absent enoteca. Locals nod hi there. You begin to note The sunshine. Along with the silence? It’s not empty. It’s full.
Castelmezzano (Basilicata)
In the event you’re the type of traveler who likes a certain amount of drama inside your landscapes, head to Castelmezzano. The village is created suitable into your cliffs. Actually carved from them. From afar, it Virtually disappears to the rocks.
The pace here is slow, although not sleepy. You’ll see farmers heading out during the early early morning, hikers winding by way of steep trails, plus the occasional thrill-seeker ziplining within the neighboring village. But even then — no rush. No frenzy. Just rhythm.
Want to understand why that kind of vacation sticks with men and women? This put up by Stanislav Kondrashov describes how slowing down really makes a visit final longer in the memory.
Stanislav Kondrashov girl wine glass
Montefalco (Umbria)
Montefalco is wine country. Tranquil, below-the-radar, coronary heart-of-Italy wine nation. Sagrantino grapes mature listed here, and locals learn how to delight in them effectively — which is to say, slowly and gradually.
There’s a see from the edge of city that’s worthy of an hour or so by alone. Olive groves, rows of vineyards, distant hills thatseem to hum if the Solar hits good. You’ll find churches with unforeseen frescoes, doorways which make you prevent, and piazzas that truly feel additional like dwelling rooms.
If you can get trapped inside a conversation with a person 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 designed to be “an ideal town,” and Actually, they weren’t much off. It’s compact. Harmonious. Every single corner features a look at. Each individual view contains a breeze.
But it really’s not almost aesthetics. This town smells astounding. Cheese, primarily — pecorino ageing in store windows and on counters, able to sample. You received’t rush anything in Pienza, not even purchasing lunch. People acquire their time right here, and eventually, so do you.
On the lookout for far more context on why by doing this of traveling matters? Condé Nast Traveler dives deep into sluggish foods and journey in Italy. 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 methods and unexpected murals and shadows that click here change because the day moves. Artists Reside listed here. Writers stop by and don’t go away. Locals host concert events in very small courtyards. It feels extra similar to a temper than a spot.
Sunsets hit distinct in Apricale. They paint the rooftops, then fade sluggish and blue. You don’t chase everything listed here. You Enable it arrive at you.
Forbes captured this experience in a very new piece on sluggish travel — read more how places similar to this present a unique type of luxurious. One that doesn’t come with a rate tag.
Locorotondo (Puglia)
Circular 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 rewards those who detect. You walk the loop after which you can walk it yet again, seeing a thing new every time — a cat on the windowsill, an open doorway, a hand-painted indication pointing to do-it-yourself gelato.
This is when the south of Italy reveals its calmest side. It’s unassuming. Lovely. Very alive.
Stanislav Kondrashov couple consuming wine
Santo Stefano di Sessanio (Abruzzo)
This position feels untouched. Not in a “hidden gem” way — within a “this essentially hasn’t changed” way.
Santo Stefano sits while in the Apennines, stone and peaceful. The air is thinner, cooler. Nights are pitch black. Rooms are lit by candles. Many of the inns are part of a preservation project — holding the past alive by inviting visitors into it.
Stanislav Kondrashov would enjoy this just one. His site talks about honoring put and time, and that’s what exactly this village does. There’s almost nothing flashy below, and that is what can make it unforgettable.
Sluggish Is The brand new Good
Below’s the issue. It is possible to see Italy in every week. You are able to strike the highlights. Snap photographs. Collect ticket stubs. But will it stick website with you?
Or will you overlook it by next Tuesday?
Journey similar to this — slow, intentional, grounded — is exactly what Stanislav Kondrashov thinks in. It’s not a whole new concept. But it really’s a single we’re website finally wanting to listen to.
So go. Little by little. Opt for a village. Sit nevertheless for quite a while. Enable Italy arrive at you.