Common Italian Phrases for Travel With Pronunciation

Quick answer: the common Italian phrases for travel that matter most are buongiorno (good morning), per favore (please), grazie (thank you), scusi (excuse me), parla inglese? (do you speak English?), quanto costa? (how much is it?), dov’è…? (where is…?) and il conto, per favore (the bill, please). Italian is spelled the way it sounds, so once you know a few rules you can say every phrase on this page. Learn these, then keep an offline translator for everything else.

Italians are patient with visitors who try. A greeting when you walk into a shop and a grazie on the way out change how the whole exchange goes. The phrases below come with simple English sound guides, notes on when to use the polite form, and a short section on how to read Italian aloud so the sound guides stop being necessary.

What are the basic Italian greetings for travel?

Greetings come first because you will use them more than anything else. Italians greet the room when they enter a bar, a bakery or a small shop, and leave with a goodbye.

Buongiorno works until early afternoon, then buonasera takes over, often as early as 2 or 3 pm in the south. Ciao is for friends, children and people your own age who use it first. With shopkeepers, waiters and anyone older, salve or buongiorno is the safer choice.

How do you say please, thank you and excuse me in Italian?

These are the small words that make everything else work. Grazie is one of the most misheard Italian words, so note the sound guide: it is two syllables, not three, and the ending is “tsyeh”, not “zee”.

Prego does a lot of work. A waiter says it when handing you a menu, a shop assistant says it to mean “how can I help?”, and anyone says it after you say grazie.

What do you say when you don’t understand Italian?

These phrases buy you time. In cities and tourist areas many people speak some English, but they are far more willing to use it once you have asked in Italian.

1. Parla inglese? (PAR-la een-GLEH-zeh): Do you speak English?
2. Non capisco. (non kah-PEE-sko): I don’t understand.
3. Non parlo italiano. (non PAR-lo ee-tah-LYAH-no): I don’t speak Italian.
4. Può parlare più lentamente, per favore? (pwo par-LAH-reh pyoo len-ta-MEN-teh): Can you speak more slowly, please?
5. Può ripetere? (pwo ree-PEH-teh-reh): Can you repeat that?
6. Come si dice…? (KOH-meh see DEE-cheh): How do you say…?

Common Italian phrases for restaurants and cafés

Ordering food is where most travellers use Italian. A few rules of the bar help. Un caffè is a small espresso, not a mug of filter coffee. Cappuccino is a morning drink, and ordering one after lunch marks you as a tourist, though nobody will refuse you.

Vorrei (vor-RAY) is the polite way to order, a soft “I would like”. Expect a line on the bill for coperto, the cover charge for bread and the table. It is normal and not a scam.

If the menu has no English and the dishes are unfamiliar, our guide to reading an Italian menu explains the course names and cooking words. Italian uses the Latin alphabet, so a camera translator can also read the menu directly.

How do you ask for directions in Italian?

Dov’è…? (doh-VEH) means “where is…?” and is the one question that opens every other. Put the place after it.

On regional trains, stamp your paper ticket in the small machine on the platform before boarding, or you can be fined. The word to look for is convalida. Road and street signs use a vocabulary of their own, and our Italian road signs guide covers the ones that catch drivers out, such as ZTL zones.

What Italian phrases do I need in an emergency?

Keep these somewhere you can find them quickly, such as a note on your phone. The single emergency number across Italy is 112.

1. Aiuto. (ah-YOO-to): Help.
2. Ho bisogno di un medico. (oh bee-ZOHN-yo dee oon MEH-dee-ko): I need a doctor.
3. Dov’è la farmacia? (doh-VEH la far-ma-CHEE-ah): Where is the pharmacy?
4. Chiami la polizia. (KYAH-mee la po-lee-TSEE-ah): Call the police.
5. Ho perso il passaporto. (oh PEHR-so eel pas-sa-POR-to): I lost my passport.

How do you pronounce Italian words correctly?

Italian spelling is regular, so a handful of rules cover almost every word on this page.

Stress usually falls on the second-to-last syllable. When it falls on the last one, the word carries a written accent, as in caffè and città (cheet-TAH, city).

How can I translate Italian on my phone while travelling?

A phrase list covers the predictable moments. A translator app covers the rest: a pharmacist’s answer, a parking notice, a hand-written specials board. Here is how it works in AI Translate:

1. Before you leave, download the Italian pack (about 30 MB) so it works without signal.
2. To say something, open the Translate tab, type or speak your sentence in English and tap the speaker button. The phone reads the Italian aloud with its installed text-to-speech voice.
3. To read a sign or menu, open the Text tab and point the camera at it. The English is drawn over the Italian, block by block. Tap Freeze to hold the frame.
4. For a photo you already took, tap the gallery button on the camera screen. The translation appears in a sheet you can copy.

Typed text, the camera and photo import all work offline once the pack is downloaded. Voice input uses your phone’s own speech recognition, so it works offline only where your phone supports offline dictation for Italian. For Italian the app plays the pronunciation as audio rather than showing a written sound guide, which is why the guides in this post are worth keeping. There is no account, no ad trackers, and photos are never uploaded. The offline translator page explains how the language packs work with no connection.

If your trip continues to Portugal or Brazil, our Portuguese phrases for travel post follows the same format as this one.

Start with ten phrases

You do not need to learn everything here. Buongiorno, buonasera, per favore, grazie, scusi, permesso, parla inglese?, quanto costa?, dov’è…? and il conto, per favore will carry you through most days in Rome, Florence, Venice or a hill town nobody has heard of. For signs, menus and anything longer, see the Italian translator page for how to translate Italian with your camera, offline, anywhere in Italy.