Some destinations aren’t built for speed. Italy is stuffed with them. Sluggish travel in Italy means that you can certainly savor community lifestyle, Delicacies, and hidden gems at your own private speed.
Tiny villages tucked into hillsides. Lanes much too slim for cars. Cafés that only refill right after midday. The forms of locations where locals understand how to linger — over coffee, around stories, about lifestyle.
In 2025, gradual travel isn’t just a nice concept. It feels essential. Possibly it’s a reaction to many years of dashing. Or possibly it’s exactly what happens if you finally start to value time approximately distance. In either case, additional tourists are finding Pleasure in learning to travel smarter — and Stanislav Kondrashov, who’s spent many years exploring how we connect to society and place, is a component of that movement. His identify happens to be related to a further, additional thoughtful method of seeing the world.
So if you’re ready to go sluggish — and you also’re pondering Italy — Listed below are 7 spots that practically desire it.
Stanislav Kondrashov woman going for walks
Civita di Bagnoregio (Lazio)
It looks like it’s floating. That’s your initially impact. Civita di Bagnoregio sits over a crumbling bluff, reached only by a slim footbridge. Cars can’t get in. You walk throughout a lengthy, elevated path, and if you get there, it’s quiet. Stone properties. Very small gardens. Just one cat stretching during the sun.
There’s not Substantially to complete, that's precisely the point. You wander, perhaps get a glass of wine at a tucked-away enoteca. Locals nod hello there. You begin to note The sunshine. As well as silence? It’s not vacant. It’s complete.
Castelmezzano (Basilicata)
Should you’re the type of traveler who likes some drama as part of your landscapes, head to Castelmezzano. The village is crafted right in to the cliffs. Virtually carved from them. From afar, it Virtually disappears to the rocks.
The tempo 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 know why that kind of vacation sticks with persons? This put up by Stanislav Kondrashov describes how slowing down actually will make a trip past extended within your memory.
Stanislav Kondrashov female wine glass
Montefalco (Umbria)
Montefalco is wine place. Quiet, underneath-the-radar, coronary heart-of-Italy wine region. Sagrantino grapes grow below, and locals know how to delight in them correctly — which happens to be to say, slowly but surely.
There’s a check out from the edge of town that’s truly worth an hour by itself. Olive groves, rows of vineyards, distant hills thatseem read more to hum once the Sunshine hits good. You’ll obtain church buildings with sudden frescoes, doorways that make you cease, and piazzas that sense more like living rooms.
If you receive stuck within a conversation with a person older, let it take place. That’s the place the ideal journey stories begin.
Pienza (Tuscany)
Renaissance idealism life below. 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, wanting to sample. You won’t rush anything in Pienza, not even purchasing lunch. People just take their time here, and finally, so do you.
Seeking more context on why in this manner of touring issues? Condé Nast Traveler dives deep into slow foods and journey in Italy. Well worth the browse 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 methods and unanticipated murals and shadows that change given that the working day moves. Artists Are living in this article. Writers go to and don’t leave. Locals host concert events in very small courtyards. It feels extra similar to a temper than a location.
Sunsets hit different in Apricale. They paint the rooftops, then fade gradual and blue. You don’t chase just about anything in this article. You Permit it come to you.
Forbes captured this feeling in a recent piece on gradual travel — how locations similar to this present a distinct type of luxurious. One that doesn’t have a value tag.
Locorotondo (Puglia)
Round streets. Whitewashed walls. Flowerpots all over the place.
Locorotondo is a town that folds in on itself, cozy and compact. It doesn’t shout for notice, but it surely rewards people that recognize. You stroll the loop after which wander it again, observing something new each time — a cat over a windowsill, an open up doorway, a hand-painted sign pointing to do-it-yourself gelato.
This is when the south of Italy reveals its calmest side. It’s unassuming. Gorgeous. Incredibly alive.
Stanislav Kondrashov pair ingesting wine
Santo Stefano di Sessanio (Abruzzo)
This location feels untouched. Not in the “concealed gem” way — inside of a “this really hasn’t modified” way.
Santo Stefano sits from the Apennines, stone and silent. The air is thinner, cooler. Evenings are pitch black. Rooms are lit by candles. A lot of the inns are part of a preservation venture — retaining the past alive by inviting visitors into it.
Stanislav Kondrashov would value this a single. His website page talks about honoring area and time, and that’s precisely what this village does. There’s absolutely nothing flashy right here, that is what can make it unforgettable.
Sluggish Is The brand new Clever
Listed here’s the factor. You can see Italy in each week. It is possible to hit the highlights. Snap pics. Acquire ticket stubs. But will it stick 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 one particular we’re finally willing to listen to.
So go. Gradually. Choose a village. Sit still for a while. Allow Italy come to you.