Venice off-Season

How much does a short 2-night break in Venice really cost?

With low-cost airlines flying from numerous destinations, the return flight is possibly one of the cheapest items of a trip to Venice. However, even this can be deceptive: The budget airlines fly to Venice Treviso, not to Venice Marco Polo. Treviso is a good 31 kilometers from the outskirts of the city: A return taxi fare alone can cost as much as the flight.

To keep the costs down, you’ll have to look at other modes of local transport.



Doing your homework in advance, and booking as much as possible online before leaving will save time and money.

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Mangoes in Moalboal

This is why we came to the Philippines: To relax in an off-track, secluded location with an open bath-water temperature sea, great snorkeling, eating tasty local food, fish, and exotic fruit. The place we chose to stay was the T-Breeze Resort, just outside Moalboal.

The Shell Cottage we chose is set back 50 meters from the seafront, but close enough to the bar/restaurant. It is surrounded by well-kept gardens, with a variety of herbs and spices, including lemon grass and a local version of basil.

Shell Cottage

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Next: Moalboal to Pangangan

Cebu City to Moalboal

Cebu City by Bus

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Cebu City is quite a congested, noxious conglomerate. Transport from place to place moves at a snails pace. It would be quicker walking – though less safe, due to the heavy traffic.

After breakfast, we took a taxi across town to the South Terminal Bus Station (86 pesos). From there, we took a non-airco bus heading south to Moalboal (108 pesos per person).

South Terminal Bus Station, Cebu City

Next: Mangoes in Moalboal

Cebu City

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On arrival at Cebu, we exited the airport, walked up the ramp across the road, and took a White taxi to the Ayala Shopping Mall.

The yellow taxis charge 350 pesos, but our driver ran his meter and charged us 230 pesos (50 pesos to the euro). The traffic was really heavy, so the trip took a good 50 mins. The Ayala Mall doesn’t actually open till 10am, but luckily one breakfast place (ArmyNavy) was already open so we munched burritos and quesadillas, with beer and tea (470 pesos).

Cebu – Ayala Mall Gardens

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Next: Cebu City to Moalboal

Manila Airport - Terminals 2 & 3

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In order to keep our city-stays to a minimum, we had decided to skip Manila completely on our way in. We would have to leave from there anyway at the end of the trip, so we reserved 2 days at the end for that. Our plan instead was to arrive at Manila, clear customs, then take the first flight out to Cebu.

This would mean spending 6 hours at Manila airport (Terminal 3) following a long-haul flight from Europe, but it would save us time and costs in the long run.

I have to admit not looking forward to our transit through Manila. I had read a lot of negative reports about Manila Nasay International airport: The place has a terrible reputation for chaos, noise, lack of services, and massive check-in queues. If we did a short stay in Manila before heading off for the islands, we’d have to experience the airport twice, so I concluded it may just be better to wait in the airport for a connecting flight, and head off again as soon as possible.

What you can expect to eat at Manila airport

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Next: Philippines Airlines to Cebu

Temple of the Tooth

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Before we left Kandy we took a few hours to visit the celebrated Temple of the Tooth. This is where they keep one of Buddha’s teeth as a holy relic. The relic is regarded as a symbolic representation of the living Buddha and is the focus of a daily series of offerings, rituals, and ceremonies. Every day of the year, this relic attracts white-clad pilgrims, bearing lotus blossoms and frangipani.



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Sandbank Affaire

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The Sandbank Affaire is a special experience devised by the Management of the Makunudu Island Resort. This is a private evening excursion to a distant mini-island (the Sandbank). You are accompanied by just your waiter and a chef, and are treated to a Lobster BBQ with a bottle of wine.

Since this was our last evening on the island, we decided to try what promised to be a truly unique experience.

Speedboat from Makunudu Island

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The Maldives: Under the Reef

The House Reef

Your first underwater experience of the Maldives is likely to be your local house reef. All the islands have their own unique house reefs. For many people, this is all you actually need. Just put on a mask and step into the  shallows. You don’t need to go further than a few yards.



Immediately you are greeted with colourful corals and an abundance of small vibrant tropical fish. Typical are the ubiquitous Powder Blue Surgeon, Saddleback Butterfly fish and Oriental Reeftips, lazily feeding on the coral polyps.

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Snorkeling in Panglao, Philippines

Snorkeling in Cebu, Philippines

Makunudu Island

Travelling with Emirates from Europe to Makunudu, we had an initial stop in Cyprus. We then had another stop in Dubai for our connecting flight to Male – The Maldives capital. We had a couple of hours to kill in Dubai, so spent most of it queueing up to spend a penny in a toilet not big enough to swing a cat. We were dying for a pee after overdoing it a bit on Emirates courtesy booze. We would be returning to Dubai for a proper visit at the end of our trip.

Speedboat from Male to Makunudu

We arrived at Male around 8am local time. The small airport arrival area was calm and organized. After the small group destined for our island were gathered together (just the two of us with a Japanese couple and their child), we headed for the jetty.

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Makunudu Island

Maldives - Planning the Trip

The luxury of some of the smaller islands in the Maldives comes at a price. However, if included as a short addition to a longer trip through other countries in the region, this unforgettable experience can be enjoyed without drastically over-doing the budget.

The price you can expect to pay to stay in the type of island described here is around $650 per day per couple. This is pretty much fully inclusive, barring tips, alcohol, and some expeditions. However, it doesn’t include getting there and away, which is why the cheapest way to arrange this is as part of a trip to a neighboring country. In this way, the Maldives can be included as a stopover at the beginning or end of a trip to your main regional destination.

The Maldives: A piece of paradise

In the past, we have visited the Maldives using India as the principle destination, and similarly with Sri Lanka: Both are fascinating low-budget countries whose lower cost offsets the comparatively higher cost of the Maldives. Emirates make it easy to arrange  flight combinations with India and Sri Lanka. On another occasion, I used Singapore Airlines to arrange a stopover in the Maldives en route to Singapore and Thailand.

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Maldives - Planning the Trip

Ciao, Ciao Roma

We didn’t have much sightseeing time in Roma before picking up our flight to Manila. We just had an overnight stay, and were scheduled to pick up our flight to the Philippines the following evening. Still, this gave us the best part of the following day to wander around, so we decided to squeeze in a trip to St Peters.

The Swiss Guard

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Next: Manila Airport: Terminals 2 and 3

Beneath the Knuckle Mountains

See them mountains? Yep? One day, I’m a-gonna climb me them there mountains

During our stay at the Polwaththa Eco Lodges, we arranged several treks through the surrounding thickly-jungled mountain areas. Whenever we emerged into a clearing, we could see the Knuckle Mountain Range bathed in mist in the far distance. It’s clear to see how these mountains got their name. Local residents simply refer to them as Dumbara Kanduvetiya meaning ‘mist-laden mountain range’.

In the Jungle Mountains – There be Spiders

On one of our longer walks, we took with us a local guide. Our plan was to work our way through the jungle, and then down to a local river to cool off. We took with us a packed lunch, and set off straight after breakfast (breakfast was roti with dhal and veg – delicious!).

We came across all varieties of creepy-crawly’s, but on this occasion at least, nothing took a bite out of us. The going got a bit steep and thick in places, so we equipped ourselves with a couple of sturdy lengths of wood, and made improvised walking sticks.



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Club Machiavelli

We booked a table at Club Machiavelli a week before we arrived, and lucky we did.

This wasn’t our first visit to the restaurant: Our previous visit 6 months earlier wasn’t so successful. We had researched the restaurant on TripAdvisor, and were very keen to try it out. On that occasion, we simply dropped in early in the evening – shortly after they opened. The restaurant is tucked away in a quiet area of town, and is quite difficult to find at the back of a secluded courtyard. We hadn’t booked in advance, and assumed we would get a table.

Alleyway leading to Main Entrance

However, with only around 11 tables and rave reviews, this isn’t a place you can just drop in and expect to eat. The host – and main chef – spends much of his time respectfully turning people away. With a booking in place, our return visit was much more successful.

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Next: Ciao, Ciao Roma