Inexpensive Airports for Trip

I use www.kayak.com for searches and tracking airfares. From Atlanta, I've found Stuttgart to be reasonable - I'd also check Frankfurt and Munich. Milan also sometimes has good fares.

Be sure to check prices flying out of Charlotte, NC. We only have a few international flights, but you can often get very good prices to London, Frankfurt, Rome or Paris.

It doesn't make much difference which airport you use in Europe. London is known as an expensive airport for the airlines but it is the airlines that determine pricing. Obviously, airlines using low demand airports may have a lower fare structure to attract more travelers. In some ways your local airport may impact the price more than the European airport. Consider using an open jaw ticket to reduce to your total transportation costs.

You never know what's going to pop up. In planning for Sicily next spring, I had a dozen or so kayak alerts set up for various airports throughout Europe. Airfare was around $900-1100 for most places (from the West Coast) and then Icelandair had a flight for $650 to/from Paris, which was not on my radar as a likely option at all!

I've seen some vary good fares to Pisa this year, so check out PSA in your searching.

Try DUB (dublin) or LGW (London Gatwick)

If you don't mind driving to Orlando, Icelandair flies out of Sanford and often has cheaper fares to many destinations in Europe. I've flown with them...great airline. They connect through Reykjavik, and you can stay in Iceland for up to 7 days on either end of your trip at no additional cost. It's an opportunity to visit a cool place you might not otherwise consider.

There are also some other European budget airlines flying from Sanford Int'l to Europe...check them out on Sanford's website.

Cheapest destination from JAX in the areas you're headed is almost always Munich (MUC).