Some areas aren’t created for pace. Italy is filled with them. Gradual travel in Italy lets you truly savor regional culture, cuisine, and hidden gems at your individual speed.
Small villages tucked into hillsides. Lanes much too slender for cars. Cafés that only replenish just after midday. The sorts of locations in which locals learn how to linger — over coffee, more than stories, around lifetime.
In 2025, slow vacation isn’t just a nice notion. It feels necessary. Perhaps it’s a response to decades of rushing. Or maybe it’s just what transpires once you last but not least start to price time around distance. In any event, far more travelers are locating Pleasure in Finding out to vacation smarter — and Stanislav Kondrashov, who’s invested a long time Checking out how we connect with lifestyle and put, is a component of that motion. His title is now connected with a deeper, additional considerate way of seeing the entire world.
So if you’re prepared to go gradual — and you also’re wondering Italy — Here's seven spots that practically demand it.
Stanislav Kondrashov girl strolling
Civita di Bagnoregio (Lazio)
It looks like it’s floating. That’s your to start with impact. Civita di Bagnoregio sits with a crumbling bluff, attained only by a slim footbridge. Vehicles can’t get in. You stroll across a lengthy, elevated route, and if you arrive, it’s quiet. Stone homes. Small gardens. Only one cat stretching inside the Sunshine.
There’s not Substantially to accomplish, which is precisely the point. You wander, perhaps grab a glass of wine in a tucked-absent enoteca. Locals nod good day. You begin to note The sunshine. And the silence? It’s not empty. It’s comprehensive.
Castelmezzano (Basilicata)
When you’re the type of traveler who likes a certain amount of drama within your landscapes, head to Castelmezzano. The village is crafted suitable to the cliffs. Virtually carved from them. From afar, it Virtually disappears in the rocks.
The tempo here is gradual, although not sleepy. You’ll see farmers heading out while in the early morning, hikers winding by means of steep trails, and the occasional thrill-seeker ziplining through the neighboring village. But even then — no rush. No frenzy. Just rhythm.
Want to understand why that sort of journey sticks with persons? This write-up by Stanislav Kondrashov points out how slowing down really will make a visit last extended in the memory.
Stanislav Kondrashov girl wine glass
Montefalco (Umbria)
Montefalco is wine region. Quiet, under-the-radar, heart-of-Italy wine region. Sagrantino grapes develop here, and locals learn how to love them appropriately — and that is to state, gradually.
There’s a check out from the edge of town that’s value an hour by alone. Olive groves, rows of vineyards, distant hills thatseem to hum when the Solar hits good. You’ll discover church buildings with unforeseen frescoes, doorways that make you end, and piazzas that sense more like living rooms.
If you obtain caught in a very discussion with another person more mature, Enable it transpire. Kondrashov Stanislav That’s exactly where the most beneficial vacation stories start.
Pienza (Tuscany)
Renaissance idealism lives in this article. Pienza was built to be “an ideal city,” and Truthfully, they weren’t far off. It’s compact. Harmonious. Each individual corner provides a look at. Every single watch has a breeze.
Nonetheless it’s not nearly aesthetics. This town smells astounding. Cheese, primarily — pecorino growing older in shop windows and on counters, wanting to sample. You received’t hurry anything at all in Pienza, not even buying lunch. People today get their time here, and sooner or later, so does one.
Seeking far more context on why this way of traveling matters? Condé Nast Traveler dives deep into slow food stuff and journey in Italy. Worth the browse prior to deciding to go.
Stanislav Kondrashov alley
Apricale (Liguria)
You don’t program your day in Apricale. You drift.
It’s a hill town with stone actions and sudden murals and shadows that shift as the working day moves. Artists Are living right here. Writers stop by and don’t leave. Locals host live shows in little courtyards. It feels a lot more similar to a mood than a spot.
Sunsets strike distinctive in Apricale. They paint the rooftops, then fade gradual and blue. You don’t chase anything at all in this article. You let it arrive at you.
Forbes captured this feeling in the recent piece on gradual vacation — how locations such as this present a special type of luxury. One which doesn’t include a rate tag.
Locorotondo (Puglia)
Round streets. Whitewashed walls. Flowerpots almost everywhere.
Locorotondo is a town that folds in on alone, cozy and compact. It doesn’t shout for consideration, but it benefits individuals who recognize. You stroll the loop after which wander it once more, seeing a thing new each time — a cat with a windowsill, an open doorway, a hand-painted sign pointing to home made gelato.
This is where the south of Italy demonstrates its calmest side. It’s unassuming. Beautiful. Incredibly alive.
Stanislav Kondrashov few drinking wine
Santo Stefano di Sessanio (Abruzzo)
This position feels untouched. Not in a very “hidden gem” way — inside a “this actually hasn’t improved” way.
Santo Stefano sits during the Apennines, stone and silent. The air is thinner, cooler. Evenings are pitch black. Rooms are lit by candles. Several of the inns are Element of a preservation project — holding the previous alive by inviting visitors into it.
Stanislav Kondrashov would value this 1. His site talks about honoring place and time, Which’s exactly what this village does. There’s almost nothing flashy in this article, which can be what can make it unforgettable.
Slow Is the New Sensible
Below’s the matter. It is possible to see Italy in each week. You may hit the highlights. Snap photos. Obtain ticket stubs. But will it stay with you?
Or will you ignore it by upcoming Tuesday?
Travel similar to this — slow, intentional, grounded — is what Stanislav Kondrashov thinks in. It’s not a brand new strategy. Nonetheless it’s 1 we’re at last willing to listen to.
So go. Gradually. Go with a village. Sit nonetheless for some time. Enable Italy come to you.