32 Essential Travel Phrases to Learn Before You Travel

One of my favorite things about traveling is connecting with the locals – about their home, their food and their culture. This means going beyond the top 10 lists of things to do or shouldn’t-be-missed cafes. These essential travel phrases have helped me to connect with people all over the world.

Sure, learning a few phrases will help you find the bathroom in a pinch, but it also gives you more freedom to explore. When I learned Italian for our road trip through Italy, a few people asked why since in the cities most people would speak English. Assuming English is enough to get by is a huge travel mistake (and comes from a huge place of privilege, rubs people the wrong way, and is just plain rude). It allowed me to start discussions with anyone – including a very excited restaurant owner who spoke wayyyy too fast for me to actually understand but was so happy I learned his language and talked to him.

I try to be conversational in the language of the places I am visiting. Unfortunately, I lose them after the trip because I don’t use them. However, it’s been really fun and challenging to learn – Spanish, Italian, Swahili, Mandarin, and Japanese. I’m currently learning Hindi for our trip to India. Even if my accent is terrible or the person speaks English, I still use these phrases as a sign of friendship and respect. Often, they’ll help me with pronunciation and (at least seem) happy that I am trying!

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How to Learn Short Travel Phrases

Before we start talking about the phrases that you should know, it’s important to know how to learn them.

I used to love Duolingo – a few minutes every day learning a few phrases. It was odd at the beginning “apple” is not something I expected to use too frequently – but it gradually built on everything which was nice. However, they recently changed the lessons to using hearts to get through a lesson which I don’t like. Since they don’t have time to go over what you’re learning for the lesson, the first time is a lot of guesswork until you start to understand. So learning Hindi which is a new alphabet, and very different grammatically from English turned into quite a long lesson.

A language app is a great way to practice no matter where you are. There’s a few different styles of apps to choose from so feel free to test a few out. Some are translation apps where you translate exactly what you want, while others are more conversational. I prefer the conversational ones so I also learn the accent and how to pronounce something instead of just what to say.

Google Translate is probably the app I use the most abroad. You can download a language to use offline to save on data abroad as well. There is a phrasebook to keep phrases handy. While learning the language, be careful with context – if you type in the word “bill” it could bring up the bill at a restaurant or a legal document. Be sure to translate it back to English to make sure it’s correct.

The app also has a camera to translate menus and signs as well as a conversation tool so that people can talk into it and it translates! Awesome for making new friends abroad!

10 Basic Travel Phrases to Learn

These are the ten basic travel phrases to learn and show that you at least respect their culture a bit.

1. Hello
2. Please
3. Thank You
4. Excuse Me
5. Sorry
6. Do you speak English? [or other langues]
7. I do not understand
8. I need help
9. Yes
10. No

Travel Phrases for Getting Around

1. Where is …..?
2. Does this go to ….?
3. Which way to ….. ?
4. Train Station
5. Airport
6. Bus
7. Taxi
8. Bathroom
9. Right
10. Left
11. Straight
12. Here
13. There

Extra Travel Tip: Feel free to learn how to ask where things are – but if you can’t understand what they say back you’re not really going to help yourself – so learn basic directions.

Travel Phrases for Eating

Food is a crucial part of any culture – and therefore at the forefront of many of my travels. While there are plenty of “where to eat” posts (including my own guides) most of the best places I’ve found were discoveries. I pretty much ask any local who I come in contact with where they recommend – bonus points if they don’t have an English menu. So these are the essential travel phrases for finding somewhere to eat.

Travel Tip: Learn about the types of food you want to try instead of the restaurants. For example, I knew I wanted to try sea urchin in Japan – so I had a few places on my Google Maps in case I couldn’t find one ‘by accident’ but was able to find a place easily!

1. Water
2. Beer
3. Wine
4. I would like….
5. What do you recommend?
6. Is this spicy?
7. Does this food have ….. (for any dietary restrictions)
8. What is your favorite restaurant?
9. What is the one food you recommend to eat?

Travel Tip: Bring a small notebook or post its to write down recommendations. This way when you actually go to the place, you still have the name of the food that was recommended to you!

Keep an eye out for more language related posts!

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Do you have any travel phrases you learn that aren’t on the list? Let me know below!