Basic Italian travel phrases

Everyone who’s come to Italy once in his life, has surely noticed that many Italians don’t have a good command of English. So, knowing and understanding at least some basic Italian travel phrases might be very useful for you if you ever decide to come and visit Italy.

For this reason, today I’m going to list some very basic Italian travel phrases that you can use during your staying in Italy.

ASKING FOR EXPLANATIONS

These simple sentences are very useful when you don’t understand immediately what an Italian is saying.

You can use different types of sentences. The choice is up to you.

(Mi scusi) non capisco
(Sorry) I don’t understand

(Mi scusi) non ho capito
(Sorry) I didn’t understand

Now, if you want to stress the fact that you didn’t understand because the Italian man who’s trying to tell you something, spoke too fast, you can say:

(Scusa) puoi parlare piú lentamente?
(Sorry) can you speak more slowly?

(Scusa) puoi ripetere?
(Sorry) can you repeat?

These are informal Italian sentences, so use them only with your friends, family or with people you know well.

(Mi scusi) puó parlare piú lentamente?
(Sorry) can you speak more slowly?

(Mi scusi) puó ripetere?
(Sorry) can you repeat?

The two Italian sentences above, instead, are used in formal situations, when you don’t know the speaker at all, or when you don’t know him well.

FINDING AND TAKING A TAXI

When you’re at the airport, the fastest way to get to your hotel is usually taking a taxi. So, here are two basic Italian sentences that you may find useful.

(Scusi) dove posso trovare un taxi?
(Excuse me) where can I find a taxi?

When you find a taxi, instead, you can use the following simple sentences to get to your destination.

Devo/dobbiamo andare all’hotel/al b&b….
I/we’d like to go to the hotel/b&b…

Devo/dobbiamo andare a questo hotel/ b&b….
I/we’d like to go to this hotel/b&b…

If you want to know how to rent a car in Italy, have a look at Renting a car in Italy – Useful sentences.

AT THE HOTEL

When you arrive at the hotel, you go to the front desk and say:

Ho/abbiamo una prenotazione a nome di…
I/we’ve a reservation under…

In case you want to know how to use the wi-fi you can ask:

Come faccio ad usare il Wi-Fi?
How do I access the WiFi?

To learn how to book a hotel room have a look at How to book a room in a hotel in Italy.

AROUND THE TOWN

Here are a few sentences that can be useful while you’re visiting an Italian town.

Dov’è un buon ristorante?
Where is a good restaurant?

Quanto costa?
How muchi s it?

Quanto è lontano…il Duomo da qui?
How far is it…to the Cathedral from here?

Come si arriva…al Duomo?
How do you get…to the Cathedral?

To learn some sentences to ask for directions have a look at How to ask for directions in Italian. Instead, to learn some sentences to use at the supermarket see Let’s speak Italian at the supermarket.

COMMON PROBLEMS

Sometimes problems can heppen during a holiday. So, here are a few sentences that might prove useful in case something happens.

Mi sono perso
I’m lost

Ho perso…il passaporto
I’ve lost…my passport

Mi hanno rubato…i soldi
Someone stole…my money

Aiuto
Help!

Chiamate…la polizia
Call…the police

To learn some other simple Italian sentences have a look at Basic Italian sentences.

 

What about you? What Italian sentences do you think are the most useful for people who want to travel to Italy?

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Credits

Original image by garciacom