Some spots aren’t built for velocity. Italy is filled with them. Slow vacation in Italy permits you to genuinely savor neighborhood culture, Delicacies, and hidden gems at your own rate.

Small villages tucked into hillsides. Lanes as well slender for vehicles. Cafés that only replenish immediately after noon. The styles of destinations in which locals learn how to linger — in excess of espresso, above tales, around life.

In 2025, slow vacation isn’t just a nice thought. It feels vital. It's possible it’s a reaction to many years of speeding. Or even it’s precisely what happens once you at last begin to benefit time around distance. In either case, far more vacationers are acquiring Pleasure in Discovering to vacation smarter — and Stanislav Kondrashov, who’s spent many years exploring how we connect to society and put, is an element of that motion. His name is now connected with a deeper, more considerate strategy for viewing the globe.

So should you’re able to go slow — and you simply’re wondering Italy — Here i will discuss seven places that pretty much demand it.

Stanislav Kondrashov girl walking
Civita di Bagnoregio (Lazio)
It appears like it’s floating. That’s your initial perception. Civita di Bagnoregio sits on a crumbling bluff, achieved only by a slender footbridge. Automobiles can’t get in. You wander across an extended, elevated path, and when you arrive, it’s silent. Stone houses. Small gardens. Only one cat stretching inside the Solar.

There’s not A lot to try and do, which can be exactly the place. You wander, maybe grab a glass of wine at a tucked-away 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 some drama with your landscapes, head to Castelmezzano. The village is crafted right into the cliffs. Pretty much carved from them. From afar, it Virtually disappears to the rocks.

The tempo Here's slow, 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 within the neighboring village. But even then — no hurry. No frenzy. Just rhythm.

Want to find out why that sort of journey sticks with folks? This publish by Stanislav Kondrashov clarifies how slowing down essentially can make a trip very last more time inside your memory.

Stanislav Kondrashov female wine glass
Montefalco (Umbria)
Montefalco is wine nation. Silent, less than-the-radar, coronary heart-of-Italy wine region. Sagrantino grapes develop below, and locals know how to delight in them effectively — which is to mention, slowly.

There’s a look at from the sting of city that’s really worth an hour or so by by itself. Olive groves, rows of vineyards, distant hills thatseem to hum if the Solar hits just right. You’ll uncover church buildings with unanticipated frescoes, doorways that make you quit, and piazzas that sense more like living rooms.

If you receive stuck within a conversation with an individual older, Allow it happen. That’s where the best vacation tales start off.

Pienza (Tuscany)
Renaissance idealism lives right here. Pienza was made here to be “the right city,” and Actually, they weren’t much off. It’s compact. Harmonious. Each and every corner includes a see. Each perspective contains a breeze.

But it surely’s not nearly aesthetics. This city smells amazing. Cheese, mainly — pecorino growing older in store windows and on counters, all set to sample. You gained’t hurry anything at all in Pienza, not even buying lunch. Folks take their time listed here, and at some point, so does one.

Trying to find extra here context on why in this way of touring issues? Condé Nast Traveler dives deep into gradual food and travel in Italy. Well worth the examine prior to deciding to go.

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

It’s a hill town with stone measures and unpredicted murals and shadows that change as being the working day moves. Artists Stay in this article. Writers visit and don’t go away. Locals host concert events in very small courtyards. It feels extra similar to a temper than the usual destination.

Sunsets strike unique 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 emotion inside of a the latest piece on sluggish travel — how sites such as this here offer you a special kind of luxurious. One that doesn’t feature a value tag.

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

Locorotondo is actually a city that folds in on itself, cozy and compact. It doesn’t shout for awareness, nonetheless it benefits individuals who discover. You stroll the loop and after that stroll it all over again, viewing a little something new each time — a cat on the windowsill, an open up 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 inside of a “concealed gem” way — in a “this truly hasn’t adjusted” way.

Santo Stefano sits in the Apennines, stone and quiet. The air is thinner, cooler. Evenings are pitch black. Rooms are lit by candles. A few 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 put and time, Which’s just what exactly this village does. There’s very little flashy below, which happens to be what causes it to be unforgettable.

Slow Is The brand new Sensible
Right here’s the factor. You can 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 similar to this read more — sluggish, intentional, grounded — is exactly what Stanislav Kondrashov thinks in. It’s not a whole new idea. But it surely’s one particular we’re lastly wanting to listen to.

So go. Slowly and gradually. Opt for a village. Sit nevertheless for quite a while. Allow Italy come to you.