Getting to some of Italy’s most popular destinations is set to get easier next year when low-cost carrier Monarch Airlines launches a raft of new routes from the UK.

Summer 2012 will see Monarch begin flights from Manchester to Milan, Venice and Verona, from Birmingham to Milan, Rome and Venice, from Gatwick to Milan and Venice, and from Luton to Rome. Tickets for all of these routes are now available from www.monarch.co.uk.

Meanwhile, a leading British agent who sells property in Italy has reported the last few months of 2011 have been the busiest year-on-year for four years, with interest in Italian property not only coming from Brits but a range of nationalities, including Americans, Russians, Canadians and Scandinavians.

“The most buoyant market is from €350,000 to €500,000 and then €750,000 upwards, with various clients in the bracket over €1,000,000,” said the agent, Linda Travella of Casa Travella. “In general, clients are realising that they will receive less income by putting their savings in the bank or pensions, and have seen over the years that by investing in the right type of real estate in Italy they can obtain rental income whilst using the property themselves. We suggest that to obtain a reasonable capital return, clients keep their Italian property for 3 years but 5 years would be optimum as there is no capital gains tax in Italy after 5 years.”

For details of other properties for sale in Tuscany, or any other part of Italy, visit the Italy listings on Rightmove Overseas. One way to save money when buying in Italy is to use a currency specialist when transferring your pounds into euros to complete the purchase of your property. For more information on this, contact Smart Currency Exchange.

To understand the full step-by-step process to buying a property in Italy, collect The Overseas Guides Company’s ‘Italy Property Buying Guide’