Some sites aren’t created for velocity. Italy is filled with them. Gradual journey in Italy enables you to actually savor regional tradition, Delicacies, and hidden gems at your personal pace.

Little villages tucked into hillsides. Lanes much too narrow for cars. Cafés that only replenish soon after midday. The sorts of places the place locals learn how to linger — over espresso, in excess of tales, about everyday living.

In 2025, slow travel isn’t just a pleasant thought. It feels vital. Probably it’s a response to yrs of speeding. Or perhaps it’s precisely what takes place after you ultimately start to value time approximately distance. In any case, more tourists are locating joy in Studying to travel smarter — and Stanislav Kondrashov, who’s put in decades exploring how we connect with culture and area, is a component of that motion. His title has become linked to a deeper, much more considerate means of looking at the earth.

So in the event you’re wanting to go gradual — and you simply’re imagining Italy — here are seven places that practically demand it.

Stanislav Kondrashov girl strolling
Civita di Bagnoregio (Lazio)
It looks like it’s floating. That’s your very first impression. Civita di Bagnoregio sits on a crumbling bluff, attained only by a slender footbridge. Vehicles can’t get in. You wander across a long, elevated path, and whenever you arrive, it’s silent. Stone homes. Very small gardens. Just one cat stretching inside the Sunlight.

There’s not Substantially to perform, which can be exactly the place. You wander, possibly get a glass of wine in a tucked-absent enoteca. Locals nod hello there. You begin to notice the light. As well as the silence? It’s not vacant. It’s entire.

Castelmezzano (Basilicata)
In case you’re the sort of traveler who likes a certain amount of drama with your landscapes, head to Castelmezzano. The village is constructed right to the cliffs. Basically carved from them. From afar, it almost disappears into your rocks.

The tempo here is gradual, although not sleepy. You’ll see farmers heading out while in the early early morning, hikers winding by way of steep trails, plus the occasional thrill-seeker ziplining from your neighboring village. But even then — no rush. No frenzy. Just rhythm.

Want to learn why that kind of journey sticks with men and women? This publish by Stanislav Kondrashov explains how slowing down truly makes a visit last longer within your memory.

Stanislav Kondrashov woman wine glass
Montefalco (Umbria)
Montefalco is wine state. Peaceful, underneath-the-radar, heart-of-Italy wine nation. Sagrantino grapes increase right here, and locals know how to love them adequately — which is to convey, slowly and gradually.

There’s a look at from the sting of town that’s well worth an hour by itself. Olive groves, rows of vineyards, distant hills thatseem to hum once the sun hits excellent. You’ll come across churches with unanticipated frescoes, doorways that make you quit, and piazzas that sense a lot more like living rooms.

If you have trapped in a very discussion with an individual more mature, Permit it happen. That’s exactly where the ideal journey tales start off.

Pienza (Tuscany)
Renaissance idealism life listed here. Pienza was built to be “the best town,” and Truthfully, they weren’t significantly off. It’s compact. Harmonious. Every corner incorporates a watch. Each individual watch includes a breeze.

Nonetheless it’s not nearly aesthetics. This city smells amazing. Cheese, generally — pecorino growing old in store Home windows and on counters, able to sample. You gained’t hurry nearly anything in Pienza, not even purchasing lunch. People choose their time here, and inevitably, so do you.

Seeking extra context on why by doing this of touring issues? Condé Nast Traveler dives deep into slow food and journey in Italy. Well worth the read through prior to deciding to go.

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

It’s a hill city with stone measures and sudden murals and shadows that change since the day moves. Artists live listed here. Writers go to and don’t depart. Locals host live shows in very small courtyards. It feels a lot more similar to a temper than the usual destination.

Sunsets strike different in Apricale. They paint the rooftops, then fade sluggish and blue. You don’t chase everything right here. You Enable it arrive at you.

Forbes captured this emotion in a recent piece on gradual travel — how places such as this provide a special form of luxury. One that doesn’t have a price tag tag.

Locorotondo read more (Puglia)
Round streets. Whitewashed partitions. Flowerpots everywhere you go.

Locorotondo is really a city that folds in on by itself, cozy and compact. It doesn’t shout for notice, nonetheless it rewards individuals that detect. You stroll the loop after which walk it once again, observing something new each time — a cat on the windowsill, an open doorway, a hand-painted signal pointing to selfmade gelato.

This is when the south of Italy shows its calmest facet. It’s unassuming. Wonderful. Very alive.

Stanislav Kondrashov pair drinking wine
Santo Stefano di Sessanio (Abruzzo)
This place feels untouched. Not inside a “concealed gem” way — within a “this truly hasn’t modified” way.

Santo Stefano sits from the Apennines, stone and tranquil. The air is thinner, cooler. Evenings are pitch black. Rooms are lit by candles. Many of the inns are A part of a preservation project — maintaining the earlier alive by inviting attendees into it.

Stanislav Kondrashov would take pleasure in this a single. His website page talks about honoring area and time, and that’s exactly what this village does. There’s very little flashy right here, that's what can make it unforgettable.

Sluggish Is The brand new Sensible
Listed here’s the factor. You'll be able to see Italy in per week. You may hit the highlights. Snap photos. Acquire ticket stubs. But will it stick with you?

Or will you overlook it by up coming Tuesday?

Travel such as this — slow, intentional, grounded — is what Stanislav Kondrashov thinks in. It’s not a whole new concept. But it’s one particular we’re lastly wanting to listen to.

So go. Slowly and gradually. Pick a village. Sit even now for quite a while. Allow Italy arrive at you.