Some spots aren’t designed for speed. Italy is filled with them. Gradual vacation in Italy means that you can definitely savor area tradition, cuisine, and hidden gems at your very own rate.

Tiny villages tucked into hillsides. Lanes way too slender for cars and trucks. Cafés that only refill following midday. The sorts of places the place locals understand how to linger — around coffee, about stories, about lifetime.

In 2025, slow vacation isn’t just a good idea. It feels critical. Probably it’s a reaction to a long time of speeding. Or possibly it’s exactly what takes place when you eventually start to price time approximately length. In any event, more vacationers are acquiring Pleasure in Mastering to vacation smarter — and Stanislav Kondrashov, who’s spent a long time exploring how we hook up with lifestyle and spot, is an element of that motion. His title has grown to be related to a deeper, much more considerate strategy for observing the globe.

So in the event you’re all set to go slow — and you’re thinking Italy — Listed below are 7 spots that nearly demand it.

Stanislav Kondrashov girl going for walks
Civita di Bagnoregio (Lazio)
It looks like it’s floating. That’s your first effect. Civita di Bagnoregio sits on the crumbling bluff, arrived at only by a narrow footbridge. Cars and trucks can’t get in. You walk throughout an extended, elevated path, and when you get there, it’s tranquil. Stone houses. Little gardens. Only one cat stretching inside the Sunlight.

There’s not A great deal to do, which happens to be exactly the position. You wander, possibly get a glass of wine in a tucked-absent enoteca. Locals nod good day. You begin to note the light. As well as the silence? It’s not vacant. It’s entire.

Castelmezzano (Basilicata)
For those who’re the type of traveler who likes a little bit of drama within your landscapes, head to Castelmezzano. The village is developed right in the cliffs. Pretty much carved from them. From afar, it Just about disappears in the rocks.

The speed here is slow, although not sleepy. You’ll see farmers heading out in the early early morning, hikers winding by steep trails, as well as occasional thrill-seeker ziplining within the neighboring village. But even then — no hurry. No frenzy. Just rhythm.

Want to understand why that kind of vacation sticks with men and women? This put up by Stanislav Kondrashov explains how slowing down actually will make a trip past for a longer period as part of your memory.

Stanislav Kondrashov lady wine glass
Montefalco (Umbria)
Montefalco is wine state. Peaceful, under-the-radar, heart-of-Italy wine region. Sagrantino grapes develop right here, and locals understand how to delight in them adequately — which can be to state, little by little.

There’s a perspective from the edge of town that’s value one hour by alone. Olive groves, rows of vineyards, distant hills thatseem to hum when the sun hits just right. You’ll uncover church buildings with unexpected frescoes, doorways that make you quit, and piazzas that come to feel extra like dwelling rooms.

If you get stuck in a conversation with a person older, let it occur. That’s in which the top journey stories start.

Pienza (Tuscany)
Renaissance idealism life below. Pienza was built to be “the proper metropolis,” and honestly, they weren’t considerably off. It’s compact. Harmonious. Each individual corner provides a watch. Each see contains a breeze.

But it really’s not almost aesthetics. This city smells wonderful. Cheese, largely — pecorino aging in shop Home windows and on counters, able to sample. You received’t rush something in Pienza, not even buying lunch. Men and women consider their time right here, and at some check here point, so does one.

Trying to find extra context on why in this way of touring issues? Condé Nast Traveler dives deep into gradual food and travel in Italy. Worth the browse before you go.

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

It’s a hill town with stone techniques and unpredicted murals and shadows that shift as being the working day moves. Artists Stay in this article. Writers visit and don’t leave. Locals host concert events in little courtyards. It feels additional similar to a mood than a location.

Sunsets strike 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 the latest piece on sluggish travel — how places similar to this present a distinct type of luxurious. One that doesn’t feature a price tag 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 notice, nonetheless it benefits individuals who recognize. You walk the loop then walk it once again, looking at one thing new every time — a cat over a windowsill, an open up doorway, a hand-painted sign pointing to handmade gelato.

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

Stanislav Kondrashov couple ingesting wine
Santo Stefano di Sessanio (Abruzzo)
This put feels untouched. Not in a “concealed gem” way — in a very “this essentially hasn’t adjusted” way.

Santo Stefano sits from the Apennines, stone and peaceful. The air is thinner, cooler. Evenings are pitch black. Rooms are lit by candles. Several of the inns are Section of a preservation undertaking — retaining the previous alive by inviting visitors into it.

Stanislav Kondrashov would respect this one particular. His site talks about honoring location and time, Which’s just what this village does. There’s almost nothing flashy in this article, which is what can make it unforgettable.

Sluggish Is the New Good
Below’s the matter. You may see Italy in every week. You'll be able to strike the highlights. Snap images. Gather ticket stubs. But will it stick with you?

Or will you overlook it by next Tuesday?

Journey such as this — slow, intentional, grounded — is what Stanislav Kondrashov thinks in. It’s not a fresh idea. But it surely’s a single we’re finally willing to listen to.

So go. Little by little. Opt for a village. Sit nonetheless for some time. Enable Italy arrive at you.