Late arrival in Venice

Ask your landlord for directions?

I did email the couple who own the apartment, but have not heard back from them. I actually tried twice to connect with them...

Did you try Google maps?
Also, 9:00 is by no means late. I highly doubt you'll find yourself all alone on the streets,

We actually found google maps to be very helpful in Venice. Download the offline map if you don’t want to use data.

Enter Stazione di Venezia Santa Lucia to “address” and you’ll get a map that shows which vaporetto to take, in which direction, how many stops until your stop, then the walking map.

You can also enter the address on google earth to view the area so you know what to look for around the apartment.

There will be plenty of people around at that time!

Castello is a pretty big sestiere - all the way from S Marco all the way out to the end of the tail of the fish.

If you want help finding somewhere, it strikes me that non-responsive apartment owners isn't a particularly good sign.

Are you sure that they will be there to let you in and start you off at 10pm?

If you give some detail of the location (Castello isn't detailed enough) we may be able to help you.

There are 8 vaporetto stops which serve different areas of Castello.

Before you panic, take a deep breath. When is your trip and how long ago did you try to contact the owner. It's Christmas, so they may just be incommunicado for a few days. Or maybe you're trip is months away and they are just busy with holiday doings.

Addresses are difficult to find in Venice - many make no sense (this from a tour guide). Is there a hotel, sight, or church around the corner? Do you know what the nearest campo is?

If you give some detail of the location (Castello isn't detailed
enough) we may be able to help you.

You could also do a virtual 'walk' on google maps from the stop (once identified) to the address. I've done this umpty times in the past to make of note of visually identifiable landmarks along a route from, say, train station to a hotel, and to pinpoint useful services nearby.

Addresses are difficult in Venice, they are not based on the "street name + number" system used in most cities.
I suggest you find the location on your favourite mapping site before you leave home (google maps or https://www.openstreetmap.org/ ) and PRINT OUT the map of the route from the vaporetto stop to the location.

If you have the address then plug it into google maps. That will show you exactly where it is - put in directions from the train station and it will tell you what vaporetto stop you need. Do that before you leave.

When you are there, will you have a smart phone? If so and it has internet you can just pull up the map when you arrive.

If you have a phone but with no internet, you can download the map ahead of time when you have wi-fi. I use a different app, called city maps to go. I download the map of my destination before I leave for my trip, and mark where things are. So my hotel will be marked with a blue star. So when I arrive, I may have no internet but I can pull up the map AND GPS works offline so I can follow my progress - make sure I am going the right way on the map. It's not perfect - in Venice it sometimes misses a tiny street that is basically an alley and I have to turn around - but it's very close.

If you don't have a phone with you, print the map before you go, with the apartment's location circled.

In my experience, Google Maps is not 100% accurate for Venice. If the only address you have is the sestiere and the civic number, Google tends to choke. Here's a link to a website that allows you to find a place with just the sestiere and civic number. It shows you the location on a map. Once you have the map view, you can scroll down and it will ask if you want to see on the map the closest vaporetto stops. It will not, however, give you step by step directions.

Thank you all for trying to help me with this problem. I will continue reaching out to the owner/manager of the apartment that we have rented. Hopefully I'll hear back from her at some point before our trip in July. The address of the apartment is: Calle Dona Castello, 2871 - 30122 Venezia. The description says that it is located in the historic old town, 5 minute walk to St. Mark's Square, and there is a supermarket a few feet from the apartment. If any of you are familiar with this apartment, I would be extremely grateful if you could give me some help with directions from the vaporetta stop. I am also concerned about how we go about getting into our apartment once we finally do arrive there, and am planning on reaching out to airbnb about this if I don't get a response from the owner within the next 4-5 months.

I'm a bit confused by the address you were given. Castello 2871 is not on Calle Dona (which is a calle in Castello, but 2871 isn't there.) Here's a link to the Google Streetview that shows Castello 2871 on Corte Nuova. (It's the green door, if the number is hard to make out.) I do hope for you that you hear from the apartment owner soon for clarification.

Assuming the 2871 is correct, then I would take Vaporetto 5.2 from the train station to the Ospedale stop. The boat you want will be moving from right to left in front of you (the 5.1 will be moving in the opposite direction.) Once you exit the boat at the Ospedale stop, turn left and walk next to the water until you get to the last right turn you can make (if you walk further, you'll see the entrance to a Coop store.) Keep walking down this calle until it opens up into a campo. In front of you across the campo will be a small, stand-alone structure--walk towards it. Just before arriving at this little building, turn left. Cross a bridge, then turn right. Again, you'll enter another small campo, cut diagonally across to the left and then right across another bridge. Walk until this dead-ends, turn left, then a quick right. Once this calle dead-ends, turn right. You're now on Corte Nuova, and 2871 will be on your left.

Here's a map that shows where Castello 2871 is.

And here's a map that shows the walking path.

If the apartment is actually on Corte Dona, disregard the above! Again, I do hope the apartment owner gets back to you and offers some clarity.

Eric, this is all such great info. I did click onto the link that you gave me that shows the apartment with the green door. Only confusion for me is that the address came up as 287 Corte Nova. In looking at all the information I could find about our apartment, I think the actual address is Castello, 2871. The name of the apartment is Apt Greci. I'm wondering if the directions you gave me was for 287 rather than 2871. If you get a chance, would you please check this out again. I have transcribed the detailed instructions that you sent me, but want to be sure it's the right apartment. A million thanks!!!! Linda

Glad to help...Google Maps can be horrid with Venetian "addresses" (such as they are.)

If you look at the picture with the green door, the number 2871 is right above it. You might have to zoom in.

I think I found Apt Greci on AirB&B (is this the place?)

If so, then it's definitely the 2871 Castello address. The picture on the AirB&B listing that shows the canal view (picture #11) is the canal right next to that building, looking south (Rio di San Antonin.)

Sounds like Eric has you covered in directions!

As far as getting in - Airbnb’s work in 1 of 2 ways. Some have a lockbox or other technology where you enter a code and can just go right in. For obvious reasons you don’t get this code until shortly before you arrive (a day or two?). I assume the tech is programmed to only open after check in time.
Other Airbnb’s you have to call a designated person, who meets you there and lets you in and gives you keys. Usually a while beforehand (a few days/weeks?) you give an estimate (I’ll be there sometime around 9PM), then you call when you are nearby.

IF the apartment Eric found is yours then it’s the 2nd type - meet a person. The description says that after 21:00 you should tip the man who lets you in 20euro. That means the owner hires someone for nighttime arrivals. Which means there’s no lockbox, instead a person to give you keys.

I hope that it isn't the one found by Eric.

If it is, I would be concerned by all the negative reviews in all languages about the difficulties in getting hold of the owners/managers/employees. The last thing I would want at 10 o'clock at night is having to wait for an hour to be let in.

I always go straight to the all reviews view, and have all the reviews translated. I think it is a bit of a dance when reviewing AirBnB locations because not only do you review them but they review you too, and you don't want negative reviews in your file.

I've found that many 5 star reviews therefore tend to float to the top and I'm surprised when there are more than one or two with an issue.

Let's hope that it is the wrong one which has been identified and that all the trip is a memorable one for all the right reasons.

I am also concerned about how we go about getting into our apartment once we finally do arrive there, and am planning on reaching out to airbnb about this if I don't get a response from the owner within the next 4-5 months

I would NOT wait 4-5 months to get a response on such a critical issue. If you cannot arrange a suitable solution, at that point you will have much less inventory to choose from for an alternative place to stay.

I cannot imagine I would let this slide past mid January.