These Are the Cheapest Times to Fly to Italy

Ready to have a sultry seaside vacation along the Amalfi Coast or a shopping getaway while staying at a swanky hotel in Milan? To avoid spending all your vacation funds on the flight, you'll want to consider the best time of year to visit. “The two months with by far the highest number of cheap flights to Italy are January and February,” Scott Keyes, founder and chief flight expert of Going.com, shares with Travel + Leisure. These are "the slowest two months of tourism in the U.S. and Western Europe, and thus a time when airlines are forced to drop fares in order to fill planes.”

If you want to balance good weather with cheaper flights, Keyes suggests plotting out a shoulder-season getaway to just about anywhere in Europe. “Aside from winter travel, shoulder season [March through April and October through November] is known for cheap Italy deals,” he shares.

If you can hold out until the end of the spring shoulder season, you’ll be rewarded with pleasant temperatures in the mid to high 60s across the country, with temps creeping up to the 70s in early May. The same can be said for the early part of the fall shoulder season, with October temperatures in Italy ranging from mid-50s to low-70s. 

There are other advantages to a shoulder-season trip. In the spring months, you can expect to find the hills covered in green with wildflowers and tulips just emerging for the season. Almond trees start to bloom in February, and the Almond Blossom Festival takes place at the end of February or early March in Agrigento, Sicily — the perfect way to celebrate the beginning of spring.

People planning to visit Italy in spring should take note of the dates of Holy Week, which vary from year to year, since it can be challenging to find affordable lodging during this period. Some towns have special processions to celebrate Easter, while on La Pasquetta, or "Little Easter," Italians head to the countryside to relax with friends and family.

If wine tasting is one of your top activities, visiting Italy in the early fall brings the opportunity to explore Tuscany and the country's other wine regions in all their glory. The grape harvest typically occurs from late August through October, so you can plan your visit to coincide with this interesting season to see everything that goes into the harvest. In October and November, olives are harvested in Italy, and you can visit a farm that presses its own olive oil to experience its intense aroma and flavor firsthand.

Though often overlooked, Keyes says Thanksgiving is another contender for the cheapest time to fly to Italy.

“I'd argue that the hidden best week of the entire year for cheap flights to Italy is Thanksgiving,” he explains. “That's because while domestic fares get severely inflated that week, few Americans are traveling internationally then, and Thanksgiving is certainly not a holiday in Italy. Over Thanksgiving week, it usually costs more to fly to Minneapolis than Milan. Plus, by late November, the wonderful Christmas markets may already be in full swing in some parts of Italy.” 

And really, who wouldn’t want to carve a turkey in Milan? You can pair your bird with a local truffle; according to Eataly Magazine, white and burgundy truffles are at their peak between September and December, while winter black truffles are at their prime from December to early March. But luckily for you, there really is no bad time to visit Italy. Find the flight and the time that fits your budget, then start planning the Italian getaway of your dreams.