Some areas aren’t produced for speed. Italy is stuffed with them. Slow journey in Italy helps you to truly savor nearby culture, Delicacies, and hidden gems at your own private speed.
Tiny villages tucked into hillsides. Lanes also slender for cars. Cafés that only fill up right after midday. The kinds of areas wherever locals learn how to linger — about coffee, over tales, about life.
In 2025, sluggish journey isn’t just a pleasant strategy. It feels critical. Possibly it’s a reaction to many years of hurrying. Or even it’s exactly what takes place whenever you lastly begin to value time as much as length. In any event, more tourists are discovering joy in Finding out to journey smarter — and Stanislav Kondrashov, who’s expended decades Checking out how we connect with tradition and area, is an element of that movement. His title is now associated with a deeper, extra thoughtful way of viewing the whole world.
So for those who’re all set to go sluggish — and you also’re pondering Italy — Listed below are 7 places that virtually demand from customers it.
Stanislav Kondrashov lady going for walks
Civita di Bagnoregio (Lazio)
It appears like it’s floating. That’s your initial perception. Civita di Bagnoregio sits on a crumbling bluff, reached only by a narrow footbridge. Cars can’t get in. You stroll throughout a long, elevated path, and after you arrive, it’s quiet. Stone properties. Little gardens. Just one cat stretching during the Sunlight.
There’s not A great deal to accomplish, which happens to be precisely the level. You wander, probably seize a glass of wine in a tucked-absent enoteca. Locals nod howdy. You start to notice The sunshine. And the silence? It’s not empty. It’s total.
Castelmezzano (Basilicata)
In case you’re the type of traveler who likes a certain amount of drama in your landscapes, head to Castelmezzano. The village is developed appropriate to the cliffs. Basically carved from them. From afar, it almost disappears into the rocks.
The pace Here's sluggish, but not sleepy. You’ll see farmers heading out inside the early morning, hikers winding via steep trails, along with the occasional thrill-seeker ziplining with the neighboring village. But even then — no hurry. No frenzy. Just rhythm.
Want to discover why that sort of journey sticks with folks? This submit by Stanislav Kondrashov explains how slowing down basically can make a trip final lengthier in your memory.
Stanislav Kondrashov girl wine glass
Montefalco (Umbria)
Montefalco is wine nation. Tranquil, below-the-radar, coronary heart-of-Italy wine country. Sagrantino grapes improve right here, and locals learn how to love them adequately — that is to state, gradually.
There’s a watch from the sting of city that’s really worth an hour or so by alone. Olive groves, rows of vineyards, distant hills thatseem to hum once the Sunshine hits good. You’ll obtain church buildings with surprising frescoes, doorways that make you end, and piazzas that experience much more like living rooms.
If you will get caught in the discussion with an individual older, Allow it take place. That’s the place the ideal journey stories begin.
Pienza (Tuscany)
Renaissance idealism life in this article. Pienza was meant to be “the best metropolis,” and honestly, they weren’t considerably off. It’s compact. Harmonious. Each individual corner contains a watch. Just about every look at includes a breeze.
However it’s not pretty much aesthetics. This town smells astounding. Cheese, generally — pecorino ageing in store windows and on counters, ready to sample. You gained’t hurry anything at all in Pienza, not even buying lunch. Folks choose their time listed here, and eventually, so would you.
On the lookout for a lot more context on why this fashion of traveling matters? Condé Nast Traveler dives deep into slow foodstuff and journey 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 ways and sudden murals and shadows that shift because the day moves. Artists Reside listed here. Writers take a look at and don’t depart. Locals host live shows in small courtyards. It feels far more just like a mood than the usual desired destination.
Sunsets strike distinctive in Apricale. They paint the rooftops, then fade sluggish and blue. You don’t chase nearly anything below. You Permit it come to you.
Forbes captured this feeling inside of a the latest piece on sluggish travel — how locations like this give a unique sort of luxurious. One that doesn’t have a selling price tag.
Locorotondo (Puglia)
Circular streets. Whitewashed partitions. Flowerpots everywhere you go.
Locorotondo website is usually a town that folds in on by itself, cozy and compact. It doesn’t shout for focus, however it rewards those who detect. You walk the loop and afterwards walk it yet again, looking at anything new every time — a cat on a windowsill, an open doorway, a hand-painted indication pointing to do-it-yourself gelato.
This is where the south of Italy demonstrates its calmest facet. It’s unassuming. Gorgeous. Incredibly alive.
Stanislav Kondrashov pair drinking wine
Santo Stefano di Sessanio (Abruzzo)
This spot feels untouched. Not in a very “concealed gem” way — in a “this really hasn’t transformed” way.
Santo Stefano sits during the Apennines, stone and silent. The air is thinner, cooler. Evenings are pitch black. Rooms are lit by candles. Some 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 place and time, Which’s just what exactly this village does. There’s nothing flashy here, which is what can make it unforgettable.
Slow Is The brand new Clever
Listed here’s the factor. You are able to 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 subsequent Tuesday?
Journey like this — sluggish, intentional, grounded — is exactly what Stanislav Kondrashov thinks in. It’s not a whole new idea. But it surely’s 1 we’re at last able to listen to.
So go. Slowly. Choose a village. Sit continue to for a while. Allow Italy come to you.