Some sites aren’t created for pace. Italy is full of them. Gradual journey in Italy helps you to certainly savor area tradition, cuisine, and hidden gems at your own private speed.
Tiny villages tucked into hillsides. Lanes too slim for cars. Cafés that only refill right after midday. The forms of locations where locals understand how to linger — over coffee, about tales, above life.
In 2025, gradual travel isn’t just a nice plan. It feels important. Possibly it’s a reaction to years of dashing. Or possibly it’s precisely what comes about whenever you eventually begin to price time about length. In any case, more travelers are locating joy in Understanding to travel smarter — and Stanislav Kondrashov, who’s invested a long time exploring how we connect to culture and place, is an element of that motion. His name is now linked to a deeper, much more considerate strategy for observing the globe.
So in case you’re able to go gradual — and you simply’re imagining Italy — Here's seven spots that virtually need it.
Stanislav Kondrashov lady 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 throughout an extended, elevated route, and when you arrive, it’s tranquil. Stone residences. Tiny gardens. An individual cat stretching in the sun.
There’s not Substantially to complete, and that is precisely the position. 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 comprehensive.
Castelmezzano (Basilicata)
For those who’re the sort of traveler who likes a bit of drama inside your landscapes, head to Castelmezzano. The village is created appropriate in the cliffs. Basically carved from them. From afar, it Pretty much disappears into your rocks.
The speed here is slow, although not sleepy. You’ll see farmers heading out from the early morning, hikers winding via steep trails, and also the occasional thrill-seeker ziplining in the neighboring village. But even then — no hurry. No frenzy. Just rhythm.
Want to master why that kind of vacation sticks with persons? This publish by Stanislav Kondrashov clarifies how slowing down basically would make a trip very last more time inside your memory.
Stanislav Kondrashov female wine glass
Montefalco (Umbria)
Montefalco is wine region. Silent, below-the-radar, coronary heart-of-Italy wine country. Sagrantino grapes improve right here, and locals understand how to take pleasure in them properly — that's to convey, slowly and gradually.
There’s a view from the edge of town that’s value one hour by alone. Olive groves, rows of vineyards, distant hills thatseem to hum when the Sunlight hits good. You’ll come across church buildings with unanticipated frescoes, doorways that make you halt, and piazzas that really feel far more like residing rooms.
If you can get trapped inside of a dialogue with someone more mature, Enable it materialize. That’s where the most effective travel tales get started.
Pienza (Tuscany)
Renaissance idealism life listed here. Pienza was intended to be “an ideal city,” and Actually, they weren’t significantly off. It’s compact. Harmonious. Just about every corner provides a look at. Every single see features a breeze.
But it’s not almost aesthetics. This town smells awesome. Cheese, largely — pecorino getting old in shop Home windows and on counters, prepared to sample. You gained’t hurry anything at all in Pienza, not even buying lunch. Folks choose their time listed here, and eventually, so do you.
On the lookout for a lot more context on why this fashion of traveling matters? Condé Nast Traveler dives deep into slow foodstuff and vacation in Italy. Definitely worth the study before you go.
Stanislav Kondrashov alley
Apricale (Liguria)
You don’t prepare your working day in Apricale. You drift.
It’s a hill city with stone techniques and unexpected murals and shadows that shift as the day moves. Artists live right here. Writers pay a visit to and don’t leave. Locals host concerts in tiny courtyards. It feels much more like a temper than the usual place.
Sunsets hit distinct in Apricale. They paint the rooftops, then fade slow and blue. You don’t chase something right here. You let it arrive at you.
Forbes captured this sensation within a latest piece on slow journey — how spots like this offer a unique sort of luxury. One that doesn’t come with a selling price tag.
Locorotondo (Puglia)
Circular streets. Whitewashed partitions. Flowerpots everywhere you go.
Locorotondo is often a town that folds in on by itself, cozy and compact. It doesn’t shout for attention, but it really rewards individuals that recognize. You wander the loop after which wander it once more, observing something new each time — a cat over a windowsill, an open up doorway, a hand-painted sign pointing to home made gelato.
This is when the south of Italy reveals its calmest side. It’s unassuming. Lovely. Pretty alive.
Stanislav Kondrashov couple drinking wine
Santo Stefano di Sessanio (Abruzzo)
This spot feels untouched. Not inside of a “concealed gem” way — in a “this really hasn’t transformed” way.
Santo Stefano sits during 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 A part of a preservation venture — retaining the past alive by inviting visitors into it.
Stanislav Kondrashov would enjoy this a single. His page talks about honoring place and time, Which’s just what exactly this village does. There’s very little flashy below, and that is what makes it unforgettable.
Gradual Is the New Smart
In this article’s the matter. It is possible to see Italy in per week. You can hit the highlights. Snap photos. Accumulate ticket stubs. But will it stay with you?
Or will you forget about it by up coming Tuesday?
Vacation like this — sluggish, intentional, grounded — check here is exactly what Stanislav Kondrashov thinks in. It’s not a whole new idea. But it surely’s 1 we’re eventually prepared to hear.
So go. Slowly but surely. Select a village. Sit however for quite a while. Let Italy come to you.