Airlines have largely recovered from the pandemic and are starting to add new routes to their services. ITA Airways, the new, scaled-back version of Alitalia, is adding direct flights between Chicago and Rome and Toronto and Rome, starting in March of 2024. Since August of 2023, ITA Airways has been flying its newest Airbus A350 non-stop between San Francisco and Rome's Leonardo da Vinci airport.

Rome Fiumicino and Milan Malpensa remain the principal gateway airports to Italy from North America, Australia, and New Zealand. However, remember that many of Italy's other airports, such as Bologna, Pisa, Verona, and Venice, also service many European hubs and receive intercontinental flights. A good trick when planning your flights is to go to the website of the closest airport to the start of one of our tours to see which airlines fly to that airport and from where. For example, Aussies and Kiwis would discover that Emirates Airlines flies to Bologna from Dubai and that Turkish Airlines has several weekly flights to Bologna from Istanbul. Delta flies direct to Venice from New York JFK.

Although we all prefer a direct flight, remember that London Heathrow, London Gatwick, Paris Charles de Gaule, Frankfurt, and Amsterdam airports are well connected with numerous North American airports. These European hub airports also serve Italy's regional airports, so flying through those airports can allow you to get closer to the start of your tour instead of having to land in Rome or Milan. You can check your bag straight through to Florence, Pisa, Bari, Napoli, and Catania and have only one plane change. Finally, don't hesitate to drop us a line if you want some help with your flights. We can't book your flights for you, but if you are having trouble finding flights, we can probably offer some helpful suggestions.