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Italian for travelling

Hotel, station, bar and restaurant: Italian that helps at once on the road — and when to say Lei.

39 sentences · 3 dialogues · 17 words

Why this field

Italy is one of the most visited countries in the world, and away from the big cities in particular Italian gets you further than English. Even a few sentences change the welcome you get.

The situations repeat themselves — bar, station, hotel, restaurant — and the sentences with them. Ten you can say with confidence will carry you through a whole day.

What you will be able to do

Goals by level. Tick what you can already do — the tick stays in this browser only.

Core vocabulary

17 words from the word lists, ordered by level. A coloured edge shows what you have already practised.

  • la stazionethe stationA1
  • la fermatathe stopA1
  • il bigliettothe ticketA1
  • il binariothe platform, the trackA1
  • drittostraight onA1
  • sinistraleftA1
  • vicinonear, nearbyA1
  • lontanofarA1
  • la prenotazionethe bookingA2
  • il ritardothe delayA2
  • la coincidenzathe connectionA2
  • il passaportothe passportA2
  • la camera doppiathe double roomA2
  • lo zainothe rucksackA2
  • perdere il trenoto miss the trainA2
  • il posto finestrinothe window seatB1
  • il deposito valigiethe left-luggage roomB1

Typical situations

Short dialogues to read along and repeat. Say one part first, then the other.

At the bar counter

A1

In the morning you have breakfast standing at the bar.

  1. Barista

    Buongiorno, cosa le preparo?Good morning, what can I make you?

  2. Customer

    Un cappuccino e un cornetto, per favore.A cappuccino and a croissant, please.

  3. Barista

    Il cornetto vuoto o alla crema?Plain croissant or with custard?

  4. Customer

    Alla crema, grazie. Pago qui o alla cassa?With custard, thanks. Do I pay here or at the till?

  5. Barista

    Alla cassa, prego.At the till, please.

  6. Customer

    Va bene, grazie.Fine, thank you.

At the ticket office

A2

You are buying a train ticket to Verona at the station.

  1. Traveller

    Buongiorno, un biglietto per Verona, per favore.Good afternoon, a ticket to Verona, please.

  2. Ticket office

    Solo andata o andata e ritorno?Single or return?

  3. Traveller

    Andata e ritorno. Torno domenica sera.Return. I’m coming back on Sunday evening.

  4. Ticket office

    Ha una carta sconto?Do you have a discount card?

  5. Traveller

    No. A che ora parte il prossimo treno?No. What time does the next train leave?

  6. Ticket office

    Alle quattordici e dieci, dal binario cinque. Buon viaggio!At ten past two, from platform five. Have a good trip!

A problem with the room

B1

In the evening the air conditioning in your hotel room isn’t working.

  1. Guest

    Buonasera, scusi il disturbo. Nella mia camera il condizionatore non funziona.Good evening, sorry to bother you. The air conditioning in my room isn’t working.

  2. Reception

    Mi dispiace molto. Mando subito qualcuno a controllare.I’m very sorry. I’ll send someone up to check straight away.

  3. Guest

    Grazie. E se non si può riparare?Thank you. And if it can’t be repaired?

  4. Reception

    In quel caso le diamo un’altra camera, al terzo piano.In that case we’ll give you another room, on the third floor.

  5. Guest

    Perfetto. Domattina potrebbe anche svegliarmi alle sei?Perfect. Could you also wake me at six tomorrow morning?

  6. Reception

    Certo, nessun problema. Buonanotte.Of course, no problem. Good night.

Sentences to say aloud

The label says where a sentence belongs. The speaker next to it reads it aloud.

  1. Scusi, come si arriva alla stazione?Excuse me, how do I get to the station?

    A1polite Scusi is the Lei form. Among friends you say scusa.

  2. Un biglietto per Firenze, andata e ritorno.A return ticket to Florence.

    A1neutral

  3. C’è una farmacia qui vicino?Is there a chemist’s near here?

    A1neutral

  4. Un caffè, per favore.An espresso, please.

    A1neutral In Italy caffè always means an espresso.

  5. Possiamo sederci qui?Can we sit here?

    A1neutral

  6. Il conto, per favore.The bill, please.

    A1neutral

  7. Mi scusi, non parlo bene l’italiano.Excuse me, I don’t speak Italian well.

    A1polite

  8. Dov’è la fermata dell’autobus?Where is the bus stop?

    A1neutral

  9. È lontano da qui?Is it far from here?

    A1neutral

  10. Quanto costa?How much is it?

    A1neutral

  11. Da quale binario parte il treno?Which platform does the train leave from?

    A1neutral

  12. Parla inglese?Do you speak English?

    A1polite

  13. Vorrei una camera per due notti.I’d like a room for two nights.

    A1polite

  14. Buongiorno, ho una prenotazione a nome Becker.Good afternoon, I have a reservation under the name Becker.

    A2neutral

  15. Devo convalidare il biglietto?Do I have to validate the ticket?

    A2neutral Required for some tickets, for example on regional trains.

  16. La colazione è compresa?Is breakfast included?

    A2neutral

  17. Vada dritto e poi giri a sinistra.Go straight on and then turn left.

    A2neutral This is what directions sound like: the imperative with Lei. With tu it would be va’ and gira.

  18. Il treno ha venti minuti di ritardo.The train is twenty minutes late.

    A2neutral

  19. Devo cambiare treno a Bologna?Do I have to change trains in Bologna?

    A2neutral

  20. Abbiamo perso il treno delle dieci.We’ve missed the ten o’clock train.

    A2neutral

  21. Mi sono perso. Mi può aiutare?I’m lost. Could you help me?

    A2polite

  22. Dove posso lasciare lo zaino?Where can I leave my rucksack?

    A2neutral

  23. Ho dimenticato il passaporto in albergo.I’ve left my passport at the hotel.

    A2neutral

  24. Domani facciamo una gita al lago.Tomorrow we’re going on a trip to the lake.

    A2neutral

  25. Avete una camera doppia per stanotte?Do you have a double room for tonight?

    A2neutral

  26. Il volo è in ritardo e perdo la coincidenza.The flight is delayed and I’ll miss my connection.

    A2neutral

  27. A che ora parte l’ultimo autobus per il centro?What time does the last bus to the centre leave?

    A2neutral

  28. Potrebbe svegliarmi domani alle sei?Could you wake me at six tomorrow?

    B1polite The conditional potrebbe turns a request into a polite one.

  29. Il condizionatore in camera non funziona.The air conditioning in the room isn’t working.

    B1neutral

  30. Sarebbe possibile cambiare camera? C’è troppo rumore.Would it be possible to change rooms? It’s too noisy.

    B1polite

  31. Preferirei un posto finestrino.I’d prefer a window seat.

    B1polite

  32. C’è un deposito valigie in stazione?Is there a left-luggage office at the station?

    B1neutral

  33. La mia valigia non è arrivata. A chi devo rivolgermi?My suitcase hasn’t arrived. Who should I speak to?

    B1neutral

  34. Oggi i treni non circolano per lo sciopero.There are no trains today because of the strike.

    B1neutral

  35. Se il treno è soppresso, mi rimborsate il biglietto?If the train is cancelled, will you refund my ticket?

    B1neutral

  36. Se il treno fosse partito in orario, non avremmo perso la coincidenza.If the train had left on time, we wouldn’t have missed the connection.

    B2neutral Unreal past: se + pluperfect subjunctive, then the conditional perfect.

  37. Vorrei denunciare lo smarrimento del passaporto.I would like to report the loss of my passport.

    B2formal

  38. Questo biglietto non è né modificabile né rimborsabile.This ticket can be neither changed nor refunded.

    B2neutral A typical line from the terms and conditions: né… né… means “neither … nor …”.

  39. Sarebbe così gentile da chiamarmi un taxi?Would you be so kind as to call me a taxi?

    B2formal

What matters here

  • Strangers are addressed with Lei, the third person:

    Scusi rather than scusa, Mi può dire… rather than Mi puoi dire…

    LeiScusiscusaMi può dire…Mi puoi dire…

  • A caffè is an espresso.

    If you want something else, say so: un caffè macchiato, un cappuccino.

    caffèun caffè macchiatoun cappuccino

  • During the day you greet people with buongiorno, from the afternoon on with buonasera.

    buongiornobuonasera

  • Three words help with announcements:

    binario (platform), ritardo (delay) and soppresso (cancelled).

    binarioritardosoppresso

Quick quiz

6 questions on the words and sentences of this field. The word questions count in your progress like any other exercise.

Try it yourself

Read the meaning, say the sentence aloud in Italian, then open it to compare.

  1. Excuse me, how do I get to the station?

    Scusi, come si arriva alla stazione?

  2. How much is it?

    Quanto costa?

  3. Do I have to change trains in Bologna?

    Devo cambiare treno a Bologna?

  4. Could you wake me at six tomorrow?

    Potrebbe svegliarmi domani alle sei?

Keep learning

More fields

Every sentence on this page was written for EveryLingua. There are no quotations from films, series, books or songs here, and no titles or names of artists — the page shows how people talk in this field, not what somebody once said.