Is it too early to buy my plane tickets?

Yes, I think you should wait because 2k is not a good airfare (you have nothing to lose by waiting)

That's way too much. I normally buy my tickets mid-January for June travel and seem to get a good deal and good routing. Just be aware that when you buy your tickets early the airline can change the routing, drop a leg of your trip, etc. and not notify you so you need to check your reservation well in advance and often to be sure that if the reservation has changed you have time to contact the airline and get it corrected.

We flew from Seattle to Bulgaria via Paris in June of this year on Delta and paid $2137 each on 22 Dec 14. We purchased so early to take advantage of a RS Early Sign Up discount. I have read numerous articles saying when is the best time to purchase international tickets but we wanted the tour discount. Also, we purchase travel insurance from Travel Guard every year since I turned 65 when I lost Medicare coverage out of the US.
If you purchase travel insurance from them AS SOON AS YOU MAKE YOUR FIRST PAYMENT FOR YOUR TRIP,
that being tour deposits, plane tickets, or hotel/B&B deposits or anything else, they will cover any pre-existing conditions of which I have several. Sounds like you have a nice trip planned. Happy travels.

that is too far out. I booked my Sept/Oct in April and got great prices. Start looking about six months out.

Thanks for the great info. I'll wait....

In Australia, for peak summer season in Europe (May to September), the best 'earlybird' deals are released by airlines and travel agents from about October through to December. I wonder if this is also the case in North America??

Recently we have been booking our flights 7 to 8 months out. As soon as we select our destination we check the prices every few days. If they don't drop in a few weeks we book our flights. We then do what everyone advises not to do - we continue to check the prices to see if they drop so we can use the info when booking our next trip. So far, if they have dropped it was only by a few dollars. This situation is probably location and airline dependent. We booked a late December flight to Paris on Aer Lingus in early April and the price started to rise in late April. We booked a late February trip to Bari on Turkish Air in July and the price has held so far. When to book is always a dilemma as no one like to pay more than necessary. Good luck with finding the best price.

Check prices to Milan. The bigger the airport, the more competition, the lower the price. Liguria is easily reached by frequent, inexpensive trains from Milan.