As with most major tourist destinations in Europe, the best time to find cheap airline tickets to Italy is during the winter months. Your best bet is from November to March - excluding the large numbers of people who want to enjoy the holiday season in the bustling streets of Rome or the romantic squares of Florence or Venice - if you want to avoid congested streets and gawking tourists. Most visitors traditionally flock to Italy during the summer months, from the beginning of July to the end of September. But major cities like Rome really don't have much of a down season - even their off-seasons would crush most locations throughout Europe. So when booking airline flights to Italy (and Rome in particular) it might be a waste of time to try to avoid the tourist rush - you're going to be caught in it anyway, even in January. The only thing to take into consideration, then, is how to get cheap flights to Italy.

Like tourist season, the price of airline flights to Italy adjusts accordingly to the rush. You can expect to pay significantly higher prices for flights to Italy during the summer. The shoulder months of April, May, September and October offer better chances to get cheap airline tickets to Italy, offering a small but notable drop in price from most American cities.

Though there are numerous airports throughout the country, most airline flights to Italy touch down in Rome. There are international airports in other major cities, such as Florence, Naples and Venice, but cheap flights to Italy are about equally hard to come by at these airports. Informed travelers can sometimes find the best price for cheap airline tickets to Italy by flying into (though direct flights are not often available from the united states) the airport in Genoa. As always, you should just plan your flight around what cities you are planning to visit - if your vacation is centered mainly in the southern regions, cheap flights to Italy aren't going to do you much good if you are flying into Genoa or Milan, no matter what the savings. And no one wants to fly into Milan. The airport is graceless and dingy, stretched thin by inefficient management, interminable lines and weary crowds. It should be avoided if at all possible.

Entry into the country involves little more than a passport if you are planning on staying in the country for less than 90 days. A special permit will be necessary to stay for longer and can be extended up to 180 days with very little hassle.