Ask Lonely Planet: Market fare balances the budget

Every large town in Fiji has a produce market which offers good value for money. Photo / Alan Gibson

In a recent column you were enthusiastic about the joys of holidaying in Fiji, and rightly so. However, the cost of food plus the new taxes can make a holiday in Fiji very expensive unless you know how to get a deal that includes modest meal costs, or accommodation that has a kitchen and a nearby market/supermarket. I think travellers need to be aware of this.
Colin Martin

Although cheaper than many Pacific countries, Fiji doesn't provide travellers with the same value as, say, Southeast Asia. Regardless of your budget, accommodation and food will easily be your greatest expense. Local transport and markets are extremely good value, particularly in more remote areas; however, anything geared for tourists is far more expensive.

On average, budget travellers can expect to pay $100 to $150 per day for food, transport and accommodation. If you stay in dorms and dine on corned beef, you can do it for a little less. Island-hopping is generally pricey: if you're planning to move around, it's a good idea to stay within one island chain.

Solo mid-range travellers can expect to pay around $190 per day, and couples can expect to pay around $150 per person per day. These costs are based on transport, comfortable hotel (but not resort) accommodation and eating out three times a day. Abundant self-catering options enable travellers in this price bracket to reduce their overall costs significantly.

Every large town in Fiji has a produce market and at least one supermarket where you can buy basics. Most villages have a small shop but, as villagers grow their own fresh produce, stock is often limited.

Families benefit the most from self-contained units, because children are often charged either heavily discounted rates or nothing at all.

Resorts usually include all meals and plenty of activities in their tariffs, and hover around $300 to $600 per night for a room suitable for a couple or a family of four. Children often stay for free.

Top-end options can cost anywhere up to $3000 a night for accommodation, food, alcohol and activities.

Most budget and midrange accommodation includes Fiji's 12.5 per cent VAT (value-added tax) and the new 5 per cent hotel turnover tax in the advertised rates, but not always, so check before you book. Many will also charge an extra 3 per cent if you settle by credit card.

Five go wild in Tuscany
Myself and four girlfriends are planning a month in Tuscany next September/October to celebrate our 50th year. We would like to rent a villa with a swimming pool somewhere near Siena. We would like help finding our villa; can you recommend some good websites?
Karen Baxter

You describe the quintessential Italian experience, and there's no better place to do it than in Central Tuscany, home to the enchanting city of Siena, the walled towers of San Gimignano, the hill town of Montepulciano, and the rolling clay hills of Le Crete.

There are a number of towns and villages within 20km or so of Siena, an easy taxi ride away. Monteriggioni is a charming walled medieval stronghold just 12km north of Siena, while the region of Le Crete to the southeast would be a great place to base yourselves and to explore by Vespa or bicycle.

As for how to find your ideal Tuscan abode, we suggest you start with these well-established companies: Cottages and Castles, Tuscan Enterprises (tuscan@ozemail.com.au), Eurovillas and Northline Travel.

Expect to pay from $1800 per week for a basic farmhouse/villa with the use of a pool, and up to $4900 per week for that ideal setting with views, olive groves, fruit trees, swimming pool, outdoor eating area, and little comforts such as dishwasher, microwave, central heating and fireplaces. With five of you splitting the bill, renting a villa is quite a good-value option by European standards.

Sweet sounds of Venezia
My wife and I are planning a trip to Italy next year which will include Venice. I was last there in 2002 and happened to be in Venice when a musical festival was on. The atmosphere was fantastic and I would like to find out if it is some sort of regular musical festival as we would plan our visit to Venice to fit in with it. The dates I was there in 2002 were Friday, June 22 to Sunday, June 24.
Graeme Leary

First off: you have excellent taste in musical destinations. The festival you mention, Venezia Suona makes the most of Venice's superb acoustics, bringing the latest global sounds to Venice's medieval campi (squares) and baroque palazzi (palaces) over a glorious summer weekend (usually the second weekend in July).

But no matter when you go to Venice, the city supplies its own musical soundtrack. The centrepiece of any self-respecting Grand Canal palazzo is a music room with high-frescoed ceilings, and today you can see Venice Chamber Music Orchestra performances in period splendour at Baldassare Longhena's and Giambattista Tiepolo's baroque palace par excellence, the Ca' Rezzonico.

Venetian churches are also purpose-built to carry a tune. Church authorities in Rome considered Venetian music far too sensuous to accompany services, but that didn't stop composers like Antonio Vivaldi from writing pieces specifically for Venetian churches. Under a Vittore Carpaccio altarpiece in the decommissioned church of San Vidal, you can hear Vivaldi played on 18th century instruments by Interpreti Veneziani.

Opera performances are positively incendiary at La Fenice: Rossini, Bellini, and Verdi all premiered major operas here.

If you're a serious music fan, you're destined for jail in Venice. You can pass a perfectly pleasant evening behind bars in Venice's historic Nuove Priggione (New Prisons), listening to cell-block concerts by the six-member Collegium Ducale. When opera singers perform arias with the group, grace notes reverberate through the stone chamber and up the spine before escaping the high-barred windows.