Great post. Bad directions are a big pet peeve of mine, and I've lived in several rural areas where Google maps will send you eight miles down a one-lane dirt road to save a half-mile over a nice highway route.

It's also important not to give directions that rely solely on well-known local landmarks if your guests are new to the area. When I lived in St. Louis I was constantly given directions that started with "the Old Cathedral" or "the New Cathedral" and in the year I lived there I never did figure out which was which.

Good directions with info about your house (no one ever really remembers the number it seems!) is great. I tell people things like "at the first stoplight" when I give street names.

And that's funny, matchbookhymnal. I'm in St. Louis and no one has ever referenced either cathedral in directions! Random....but for the sake of things, Old is Downtown, New is in the Central West End (with the big green dome) :)

I am lucky that i live right by our local zoo - one block continuing up the road so that help a LOT with directions. I really wish more people would describe their homes. Even in daylight it is SO hard to see house numbers. A good many businesses don't have then either.

I use landmarks (turn right at the Chinese Buffet painted in neon orange with the giant fish out front is my favorite), but I also tell friends who aren't familiar with the area where I live where the cops like to hide out. Don't want them getting a ticket on their way to my place!

Emailed directions are definitely the way to go. This post raised one of my personal pet peeves, which is that I loathe it when hosts and hostesses who fuss endlessly over giving me directions over the phone--especially over my own protestations of self sufficiency. I end up pretending to write down what they're saying. I have a GPS that's eerily accurate, and even if I didn't, I'd much prefer to google. I suppose if there's a really solid reason the google directions will be wrong (a recently closed street, for example), I'd be glad to know it, but otherwise, I'd prefer to be given the address and left to my own devices--especially if I've already politely but firmly said as much.

The larger point to me there is that there is a huge difference between graciousness and fussiness--too many people think entertaining is about harassing guests with a show of being very, very busy and anxious on their behalf. Which actually just makes us guests feel like we're a lot of trouble. The best hosts make you feel like you're at home, and no trouble at all. Emailing directions to a tricky destination strikes me as the un-fussy, gracious approach.

I like a mix of landmarks and street names (and in the case of "Getting to My Place from the North" suggested lane to be in). I tend to give directions with street names first and include "It's the third light and there's an orange Japanese restaurant on the right hand corner beyond the street you want," just in case. I'm learning that with some guests, I should have Google Maps up and waiting for the inevitable "I'm LOST!" phone call.

Do be sure and tell people if you KNOW Google Maps and such will be wrong. Nothing sucks worse than thinking you can just google directions and finding out when you are good and lost that it wasn't such a good idea.

I am loving that red door.

My pet-peeve is when people give me complicated routes, advising that it is the "insider's" route or "saves time," but really, for someone who is just visiting, the fewer twists and turns the better.

When I first moved to NYC I always found it funny that people would give subway directions (get off at the front of the train, take the stairs to the left, etc.) until I realized how useful they are. In the middle of Manhattan where the streets are numbered, getting lost isn't such a big deal, but navigating neighborhoods like Greenwich Village (where W 11th St is actually 3 blocks north of W 10th St) or much of Brooklyn (where streets have names not numbers) makes subway/walking directions a really nice touch.

in high school we moved to the new apt. building that did not yet have a number. The invitations always had a mini-map drawn on the back of the card to show how to get to the house from nearby bus stops. It was well appreciated.

Include your phone number and keep your phone at the ready.

I actually put a little photo of my house at the end of the directions I email.

Remember that good directions do the host a favor, too; it's one more task that can be done in advance instead of over the phone in the middle of pouring someone's drink or while you're frantically trying to stuff dirty clothes into a closet as the doorbell rings.

I always make very helpful directions and find that they're by and large noted and then forgotten.

As I'm preparing food and doing last minute cleaning, I'm also fielding calls about which train stop is closest or if street parking is easy to find. Do your host a favor and read your email again before you head out the door, or while you're in transit, even! I'm looking at you, friends with smart phones....

I home body's comment reminded me - I am throwing a party in the evening in December when it will be dark. Now one coming has been to my home before. I will be taking a picture of the house in the dark with the holiday decorations up so that people will have some idea which house is mine without all of the guessing.

GPS and Google maps utilize the same satellites. Unless you don't update your GPS software annually, the results from both should be the same (if not identical -- although GPS systems allow you to add navigation preferences).

When you invite someone after dark, *please* make the house numbers visible!!! I recently went to someone's place and NO ONE on the street had numbers that were visible! I ended up having to knock at five houses before I got the right one.

Back in my house-bound days, I'd give people directions that included pointing out a street two streets ahead of mine that they'd have to turn at. So, they'd whiz by that other street and have time to put on their turn signal and slow down without missing my street.

Including a picture of your house is a great idea! I never thought of that, but at least then your guests will know what to look for.

I live in a small town so pretty much everyone knows what house I mean when I tell them where we live. When my out of town friends visit, I like to give them insanely detailed directions and possibly even a hand-drawn map because I like to draw, haha. They're never to scale though, so I have to warn them ahead of time.

As someone who routinely has to go searching for places in the dark... visible house numbers are key! Also, if I had any control over street signs, I would make all municipalities buy stock in bright orange ones or something. The county to the north of us has dark blue signs and trying to find a sideroad or concession is ridiculous when it gets dark out.

I grew up in "out in the country", and we traveled by landmarks. Once Fincutter's barn burnt down, we all had to figure out another way to give directions!