Italian Words for Tourists You'll Actually Use
A quick guide to the Italian words tourists in Italy use most: greetings, please and thank you, ordering coffee, and asking for the bill.
Table of contents
You do not need to speak Italian to enjoy a trip to Italy, but a small set of words makes almost every interaction smoother: a greeting when you enter a shop, please and thank you, and the phrases for ordering and paying. This guide sticks to the everyday spoken words a tourist actually uses rather than grammar or full sentences, and you can confirm any spelling or meaning in the Treccani Italian dictionary at treccani.it.
Greetings: which hello to use, and when
Italians greet often, and the right greeting depends on the time of day. Buongiorno means "good day" and works from morning until the afternoon; as evening comes, people switch to buonasera, or "good evening." Ciao is the casual "hi" and "bye" for friends and people your own age, and it can sound too familiar with a stranger or someone older. When you are unsure, salve is a safe, neutral hello, and arrivederci is the polite way to say goodbye as you leave.
One habit worth copying: as you step into a small shop, a bakery, or a bar, say buongiorno to the room before anything else. Skipping the greeting can read as brusque, and that one word usually warms up the whole exchange.
How do you say please, thank you, and excuse me?
The three you will reach for most are per favore (please), grazie (thank you), and prego. Prego is the polite reply to grazie, meaning "you're welcome," but it also means "go ahead" or "after you," so you will hear it when someone holds a door or waves you forward.
For getting attention or apologizing, use scusi, the polite "excuse me," with anyone you do not know; scusa is the same word in the casual form for friends. When you need to squeeze past people on a crowded bus or in a busy market, permesso ("may I pass") is the word that clears a path.
Ordering and paying: coffee, prices, and the bill
At an Italian bar, un caffè means an espresso, not a large filter coffee. So "un caffè, per favore" gets you an espresso; for something longer or with milk, you name it, like a cappuccino. To ask a price anywhere, use quanto costa? ("how much is it?"), and when you are ready to pay at a restaurant, il conto, per favore means "the bill, please."
Two more phrases smooth over the rest: parla inglese? ("do you speak English?") and non capisco ("I don't understand"). To find your way, dov'è...? means "where is...?" Pair it with a saved pin or an offline map, which our guide to using Google Maps for travel walks through, and you can point if words fail.
Do you need to speak Italian to get by?
No. In big cities, hotels, and popular restaurants, you will usually find someone who speaks some English, and menus in tourist areas often carry translations. In smaller towns and family-run places English is less common, and that is where a few Italian words earn their keep. You do not need full sentences: a greeting, please and thank you, and the ordering phrases above cover most everyday moments, from buying a coffee to asking directions in one of Italy's genuinely old medieval towns. Beyond the language, Italy's official tourism website, italia.it, run by the national tourist board ENIT, is worth a look for the rest of your planning.
