Italy By Plane

With 25 major airports throughout Italy, there is no excuse for not making that hop, skip, and jump up to Venice to rendezvous with your newfound Italian lover. The main Italian hubs are Rome, Milan, Bergamo, Verona, Bologna, Genoa, Pisa, Florence, Turin, Venice, Naples, Bari, and Palermo, but suitable airports exist in nearly every corner of the country. The recent emergence of no-frills airlines has made hopscotching around Europe by air more affordable and convenient. Though these flights often feature inconvenient hours or serve less-popular regional airports, with one-way flights running as low as US$30, it’s never been faster or easier to jet set across the Continent. Ryanair and easyjet are just two among many cheap airlines that fly throughout Italy and beyond. The Star Alliance European Airpass offers economy class fares as low as US$65 for travel within Europe to more than 965 airports in 42 countries. The pass is available to non-European passengers on Star Alliance carriers, including Air Canada, Austrian Airlines, BMI British Midland, Lufthansa, Scandinavian Airlines System, Thai International, and United Airlines , as well as on certain partner airlines. See www.staralliance.com for more info. In addition, a number of European airlines offer discount coupon packets. Most are available as tack-ons for transatlantic passengers, but some are stand-alone offers. Most must be purchased before departure, so research in advance.