Travelling alone.. anyone know Venice?

[janx]

DD 18 is planning to hook up with some friends in Venice. She is flying from London they have been inter railing. The plan is to get bus from airport to station and will have code to apartment. They will arrive a few hrs later. She's pretty scatty and has no sense of direction and has never travelled abroad alone. I don't think it's a great idea.. but apparently I am trying to spoil her fun. Anyone know Venice? Is it easy to navigate bus etc

Yeah, it's in Italy. I 'd say go by boat... Worth the trip. ;)

Super easy, and once you arrive in Venice it's all by foot or boat. No traffic.

She’s 18! This seems a very basic thing for an 18yo to achieve.

Just let her organise and sort herself. I appreciate it's really difficult to step back . My 18 year old left to go to SE Asia for 5 months - I had to sit on my hands and close my mouth! He's back next week- few dramas but nothing too bad! All part of growing up

It will be easy. Venice is tiny. You can pretty much walk everywhere. Otherwise, the water buses are quite straightforward. She can take a water bus from airport directly into town and walk to the apartment. Presumably she has a map function on her phone?

Took my DC’s last year 16 & 14, they navigated pretty much everything. Airport is set up for tourists, Venice is small and fabulous. She will have a great time.

I can understand your apprehension. It didn't take long for mumsnetters of super confident 18 year olds to post and say that you are being over protective, especially parents of boys who probably won't face the same difficulties as a girl might.

She can take a water bus from airport

It depends whoch airport she arrives at. If it is Treviso she would need to take a bus.

She'll need to get a boat from the airport, it's not complicated and a great experience.
Venice is filled with narrow alleyways which can be a little confusing. A map function on phone should be fine if she gets stuck. As it's not a big city, you could make a print-out map in case of emergency and be aware of land marks like Rialto bridge. Get her to have the important phone numbers written down somewhere in the hopefully unlikely event she loses her phone or it breaks.

A map function on phone should be fine if she gets stuck. As it's not a big city, you could make a print-out map in case of emergency and be aware of land marks like Rialto bridge.

A physical map can be handy as phone gps doesn't always work too well in some of the narrow streets

Which airport is she flying into - Marco Polo or Treviso?

Thanks everyone -sounds like Venice navigation is easy. What could go wrong!

Around Venice there are signs to certain places - San Marco, the Rialto bridge, ferrovia and piazalle Roma (last 2 are railway and bus stations). Depending on where she is looking for, these may be useful for the general direction and just use phone nav for the last part of her walk?
I stayed next to the Rialto last time I was there and these were v handy!

My daughter has just been to Venice with her friend (DD is 19, her friend 18) They found it very compact and easy to navigate. They flew into Marco Polo but both airports have excellent links to the centre and wherever she is staying it will be easy to get to.
Hope she has a great time!

@RampantIvy Don't forget this is also the MN where 17 year olds have to be accompanied to school, never left alone in the house and their mams have to have words with their managers once they start work! You'd almost think it was one rule for our kids and one for everybody else's

Thanks to all the helpful non judgmental comments.

So much easier than when I did something similar 30 odd years ago.

Some practical suggestions would be make sure she has roaming on her phone.

Download a map of Venice and mark the accommodation and transport links.

Make sure she has a bank card that doesn't charge for spending in Europe

And insurance.

She'll be fine.

My DS is going Interrailing. I've made these suggestions but pretty much left them to it