The 2026 Winter Olympics hosted in Milan and Cortina, Italy should offer a travel experience unlike any other. From the slopes of the Dolomites to the Italian staples of Milan and Venice, it'll showcase the best of an Italian winter alongside some athletes from all across the world at the pinnacle of their sports.
Come next February, sports fans and travelers from around the globe over will descend on Italy, the host of the most geographically widespread Games in history. And that will create some challenges for all you Americans (and Canadians, too!) looking to head over to Italy catch the action in 2026.
Luckily, the Summer Games in Paris last year gave us all a playbook for how to find cheaper fares, comfortable flights, and cheaper lodging and even tickets to the games themselves. At the risk of jinxing it, we suspect it might be even easier to pull it off in Italy next winter.
If you want to travel to Italy for the 2026 Games – and honestly, why wouldn't you? – here's what you need to know to get started on booking the trip of a lifetime.
Where & When are the 2026 Winter Olympics?
The 2026 Milano Cortina Olympic Games will be held from Feb. 6 through Feb. 22, 2026. The events will be scattered throughout that two-plus-week span, concentrated mostly in the cities of Milan, Cortina, and Bormio.
It's a spectacular setting for a winter games in one of the most picturesque places on earth, but these games will be a challenge for travelers who want to see it all. According to event organizers, the event covers more than 13,000 square miles – making it the most geographically widespread Olympic Games in history.
By train, park-and-ride lots, and shuttle bus, spectators can make their way from event to event – with shuttles being timed with the starts and ends of every event. You can see the full details of every event and destination at the Milano Cortina 2026 website.
While the Games promise a robust shuttle system, train tickets in and around these host sites might go fast, too. We'd highly recommend getting a base itinerary together and securing some transportation as soon as possible!
In general, however, these games will be a little bit of the best of both worlds in northern Italy. You can hit the slopes of the Dolomites, see the canals of Venice, and explore Milan all while experiencing the Olympic games. And don't forget about the Paralympic Games March 6 through March 15 in the many of the same locations!
But before you get too excited, you need to make your way to Italy first.
Best Ways to Fly to Italy for the Games
To fly to the Milan Olympics, you have plenty of options.
The easiest and best way to get there from North America will be flying into one of the two major international airports – Venice (VCE) and Milan-Malpensa (MXP). Many of the major events will take place in the city of Milan while mountain events in Cortina are easily reached from Venice, too.
But if you're planning to head elsewhere in Europe before heading to Italy for the Winter Games, consider instead flying into Milan-Linate (LIN). Not only is it located much closer to Milan's city center – saving you a 40-plus minute excursion – but our own Product Manager, Tracey Burtch, said flights were incredibly cheap, saving her plenty of money when she takes her family next February.
The law of supply and demand always drives ticket prices higher, and the Olympics are no exception. But even when economy flight prices skyrocketed ahead of the Paris Olympics last summer, redeeming points and miles remained an effective way to get to the games without breaking the bank.
Getting to Italy next winter should be a similar story. In fact, since these Olympics fall in the middle of winter – the offseason for traveling to Europe – it could be even easier to find a solid deal on flights.
Still, fares might look high to those Milan or Venice airports. If you see an eye-watering, price, here's what you should do instead:
- Find the cheapest flight you can to anywhere nearby in Europe during the dates you want (Google Flights Explore makes that a cinch)
- Find a connecting flight or train from there to the Olympic venues
For instance, the Olympic Committee lists the following nearby airports connected to the Olympic sites:
- Milan-Linate (LIN)
- Bergamo (BGY)
- Verona (VRN)
- Treviso (TSF)
- Innsbruck, Austria (INN)
- Zurich, Switzerland (ZRH)
But don't forget about flying into Italian hubs like Rome (FCO) or Florence (FLR) and turning this trip into a bigger Italian adventure!
In many cases, you're not going to have to settle with a less-than-ideal route to get to Italy in time for the opening ceremony.
Recent Flight Deals to Italy for the Winter Olympics
Over the last month alone, we've found several unbelievable flight deals that would land you right in Milan (MXP) or Venice (VCE) for some of the lowest rates we can imagine.
Take, for instance, this roundup of fares in the $500s flying to Milan, Venice, and other Italian airports. We found these fares and sent them to our Thrifty Traveler Premium members a few weeks ago – many of whom replied saying they snagged their seats to the 2026 Games!
Whether you live in Boston (BOS) or Butte (BTM), these fares were a perfect way to secure a roundtrip ticket to the Olympics this coming winter.
And if you use your points and miles, you can pay even less!
We sent this fare – along with more than 100 other U.S. departure cities – flying to Milan (MXP) during the Olympics for just 38,000 American Airlines miles roundtrip! And best of all, these fares book you into Main Cabin, meaning you get free seat selection, a checked bag, and the ability to easily cancel your ticket and get your miles (and taxes and fees) refunded.
If you were to ask me, however, for the single-best way to fly to Italy for the Olympics, I'd point you to this flight deal that I can't stop thinking about…
If you get on it quickly, you can book Emirates business class on its famous double-decker A380 (with an onboard bar!) for just 108,000 Emirates Skywards Miles roundtrip. And since Emirates partners with all the major banks, you can turn points from Chase, American Express, Capital One, and other credit card companies into all the miles you need.
It's a ridiculously good deal flying a ridiculously fancy airplane seat – and it lands you in the heart of Milan during the Olympics. You'll fly this seat from New York City (JFK), so you may have to book a positioning flight to get there first … but that's a small price to pay for the journey of a lifetime!
If you've got business class on the brain, we've found a few other great options, too. This deal flying Iberia business class – on its fancy new A321neo seats from some airports (pictured below), no less – is a great example. This deal included availability to connect onward to both Milan-Malpensa (MXP) and Milan-Linate (LIN) during the Games with a quick stop in Madrid (MAD).
The same goes for this TAP Air Portugal business class deal, which requires a stop in Lisbon (LIS), but offers a comfy, lie-flat ride to Europe and the games this winter.
Whether you want maximum comfort or the cheapest flight possible, there are a ton of great ways to fly to the Olympics in 2026. But here's my most important tip for booking your flights to Italy for the 2026 Olympics: Stay on top of it after you book!
Don't just book a flight and forget about it until February finally rolls around. If you book a cheap flight, for instance, set Google Flights Price Alerts so you can be alerted if the cost of your flight goes down … and you can rebook it for way less. You should also do this for alternative flights that looked too expensive at the time, but may have dipped way below the flights you booked. If you can do better in price and convenience, you'd be a fool not to!
The same goes for points and miles bookings. While it's a more manual process, I usually recommend travelers re-search for their award flights (or other, more convenient options) every month or so in the months leading up to a trip … or, if you're a true sicko like me, you do it every week. Things change every day in award travel, meaning more, better, or cheaper flights may come up.
Of course, you can also subscribe to Thrifty Traveler Premium and we'll do that searching for you. We look for Olympics availability every day and will certainly be sending alerts if and when things get cheap or awards become available!
Tips for Booking Lodging
We have a pretty firm rule here at Thrifty Traveler: It's called the Flights First Rule. Considering flights are almost always the most costly and volatile part of travel, we recommend you secure flights and book the rest of your trip around that.
That said, you might need to break that rule for an event like this…
Lodging is going to come at a premium for these Olympics. With many of the events nestled up in the mountains of Bormio and Cortina, the limited hotel rooms and vacation rentals there will get gobbled up fast. Not only are there locals and visiting fans pouring into these areas, but there will be sponsors, event volunteers, athlete's families, and more all searching hard for places to stay.
Our recommendation for Olympics lodging: Book something as soon as possible … but book a flexible if reservation you can cancel for free in case your plans change.
Some of the best ways to do this are using your hotel points. Hilton Honors, Marriott Bonvoy, World of Hyatt, and IHG One Rewards will all allow you to secure hotel rooms with points and get refunded if your plans change – all with none of your cash at risk in the process. According to Tracey's searches for her family, award availability for hotels is already dwindling, so act fast!
If you're traveling with a group and prefer a vacation rental, pore over the cancellation policies before you book so you understand them. And beware that some rental operators might change their policies for an event like this.
The easiest place to find a room or rental will be in the city of Milan – where rates might be a little higher than usual, but the major city is used to accommodating hoards of visitors. In Milan, you can catch much of the games. Just keep in mind that Cortina is almost six hours away by train and bus while Bormio is about four hours away.
No matter what you decide, I wouldn't recommend waiting much longer to secure your space – especially if you plan to stay up in the mountains!
How to Get Tickets to the Events
Of course, you'll also need to secure tickets to the Olympic Games themselves, too. The way to do that is by heading to tickets.milanocortina2026.org.
You should also track more ticket releases by joining “Fan26” – the Games's fan engagement platform. According to that site, not every event is on sale yet and more rounds of tickets may become available over time. If you want to go to the games, I'd sign up for alerts from this site.
Tickets first went on sale to the general public on April 8, so there's still plenty of fun options out there … but not all are priced equally. And the best (read as: cheapest) tickets are going fast.
For instance, right now, you can grab tickets to Curling or Women's Ice Hockey events under 50 euro apiece!
But to get into Figure Skating? You're looking at 650 euro. And the Opening Ceremony? Over 700!
One of the best features of the ticketing website are the filters you can employ to find what you want. You can search by sport (or “discipline” as they very Olympically call them), venue, date, price, and by number of tickets. You can also filter out sold-out tickets to make sure you're not wasting your time.
Let's say, for instance, that I was able to get a hotel room in Cortina for two nights – Feb. 12 through Feb. 14. I can filter for Cortina, for those two dates, and for two tickets and get results like this:
Head to the Sliding Center for some Skeleton in the morning and then over to the Curling Stadium in the evening for some Men's and Women's Curling? Sign me up!
As is the case with lodging, time is of the essence for booking tickets to the 2026 Olympics. Once the stadiums are full, the stadiums are full – don't get caught watching on TV.
Bottom Line
The combination of a trip to Milan, Venice, and the Dolomites is a tantalizing proposition for travelers. But when you throw in the 2026 Winter Olympic Games, it's downright irresistible.
Tthere will be some travel logistics challenges when it comes to Milano Cortina 2026. But if you book early and book smart, you can make a trip to the Olympic Games possible next year.
