We are planning to visit Venice during the early part of October and are considering renting an apartment in the Castello Sestiere. Anyone familiar with that area? Also, any other recommendations for apartments in Venice would be appreciated.
Restaurant recommendations also.

Castello is fairly big - for Venice anyway! Do you know what street you will be renting on?

Try venicerentals.com. We were very happy with them last summer.

Rialtogrl, the apartment is located on a calle named "Sotoportego del Pistor". It is located off Via Garibaldi, about 1000 metres in from the water.

Jerry, that area is great if you want to live like a local. Via Garibaldi is lined with shops and bars, and you won't see many tourists there. You can find anything you need for your apartment on that street. The only downside is, you are a long walk or a vaporetto ride from the farther reaches of the city. If this is your first trip and you want to wander everywhere, I'd choose something a little more central. If you are content sitting at cafes and checking out the locals, Via Garibaldi is a good place to stay.

We have rented an apartment for September, that came recommended on this site and tripadvisor.com. It sounds great for the price ($145Euro per night for 2 bedrooms/4 persons). I believe they also have a 1 bedroom apartment, and other rooms. They are near the Arsenale vaporetto stop. Isn't it true that Venice is small enough that anywhere is convenient? Anyway, check out their web site http://www.realvenice.it/english/index.htm

The sestiere that seems most popular/convenient for apts is Dorsoduro. It's got a little of everything & is reasonably close to San Marco. If you do a text search for venice AND apartments you should find lots of previous threads.

I agree with rialtogrl though. If you're into living like the locals, almost anywhere is fine.

If you're staying off of Via Ghirabaldi you must try Ristorante Giorgione for dinner one evening. Make a reservation as it fill sup quickly. The ower Lucio puts on an housr concert each eveing (i believe they are closed on Wed.) He used to be a gondolier singer. It was a great Venetian experience and the food was great to boot.

Last October we stayed in a great B&B/apartment called Gli Angeli in the Castello district. The web site is http://www.gliangeli.net. You can do a search and see comments about it and my trip report if you'd like.

CollK : that's where we stayed. It was great, wasn't it?

Adogear: Yes... I thought Gli Angeli was wonderful -- can't imagine a better place for the price. I was a little apprehensive about staying in an apartment over a hotel but we were so glad we did. I can never say enough good things about it.

Thanks everyone for your responses. Unfortunately Gli Angeli is booked and we are reconsidering the Castello apartment. We do want a less touristy area than San Marco, etc. and are now looking at an apartment on Fondemente Nuove. Anyone familiar with the area? Its not too far from the Vaporetto stop.

Fondamente Nuove is really the far, far side of Venice. It's where many vaporetti leave from for the other islands, but it's not very convenient for getting to the rest of "downtown" Venice. It's also an area of Venice that has a fair number of mid-20th-century buildings without much character.

I would second the suggestion of finding something in Dorsoduro, which is the perfect mix of away from the San Marco crowds and close (by traghetto across the Grand Canal) to the San Marco attractions as well as the many attractions in Dorsoduro itself.

Well, in fairness it depends where on the Fondamente Nove the apartment is located. Parts of F. Nove are closer to St. Mark's Square than parts of Dorsoduro. It is parallel to the lagoon on the north shore of Venice.

Sue, the location is 50 metres from the vaporetto stop. What do you think?

It is not my intention to get into an argument with another poster, but I have just gone to the Web site of the Venice vaporetti

www.actv.it

and, according to the information on the Web site, there is not a single vaporetto that goes from Fondamente Nuove to any one of the three vaporetto stops that serve Piazza San Marco. The walk, as I recall it, is long.

And within 50 metres of the vaporetto stop, I do not recall a single "Venetian" building, i.e., an old palazzo or something of the kind. It's a rather bleak part of Venice, without any of the charm that makes Venice the attraction it has been for the past 800 years or so.

But, as the French would say, "chacun a son gout," or "to each his own."

Well I just went to the vaporetto website and much to my amazement couldn't find a map!??!, but maybe I had to download a program.

Anyway, on the map I have which may not be the most current, it lists the following lines stopping at F. Nuove--41,51,12,42,52,13. 42,51,41,52 all stop at San Zaccaria.

I am reading a book called "Venetian Dreaming" by Paul Weideger. She moves to Venice for a time and stays at F. Nuove.
That said, I would not choose to be in that location for a first time visit to Venice if just for a week. Out of curiosity Jerry, why are you picking these out of the way places? Price??