Essential Spanish Phrases for Travel

You do not need hundreds of words to travel in a Spanish-speaking country. A short list, used with a smile, covers most situations. Below are the phrases worth memorizing first, grouped by situation. Pronunciation is approximate and written for English speakers.

Greetings and politeness

English	Spanish	Say it like
Hello	Hola	OH-lah (the h is silent)
Good morning	Buenos días	BWEH-nohs DEE-ahs
Good afternoon / evening	Buenas tardes	BWEH-nahs TAR-dess
Please	Por favor	por fah-VOR
Thank you	Gracias	GRAH-see-ahs (in Spain, often GRAH-thee-ahs)
Excuse me / sorry	Perdón / Disculpe	pair-DOHN / dees-KOOL-peh
I don’t understand	No entiendo	noh en-TYEN-doh
Do you speak English?	¿Habla inglés?	AH-blah een-GLESS
Could you speak more slowly?	¿Puede hablar más despacio?	PWEH-deh ah-BLAR mahs dess-PAH-see-oh

Getting around

English	Spanish
Where is the bathroom?	¿Dónde está el baño?
Where is the train / bus station?	¿Dónde está la estación de tren / de autobuses?
How much is a ticket to …?	¿Cuánto cuesta un billete / boleto a …?
To the airport, please	Al aeropuerto, por favor
Please stop here	Pare aquí, por favor
Turn left / right / go straight	Gire a la izquierda / a la derecha / siga derecho

Note: “ticket” is billete in Spain and boleto in much of Latin America. Both are understood in tourist areas.

Hotels and basics

English	Spanish
I have a reservation	Tengo una reserva
Do you have a room for two?	¿Tiene una habitación para dos?
What time is checkout?	¿A qué hora es la salida?
Is breakfast included?	¿Está incluido el desayuno?
The Wi-Fi password, please	La contraseña del wifi, por favor

Money and shopping

English	Spanish
How much is it?	¿Cuánto cuesta?
Can I pay by card?	¿Puedo pagar con tarjeta?
Do you accept cash only?	¿Solo se acepta efectivo?
The bill, please	La cuenta, por favor

Emergencies

English	Spanish
Help!	¡Ayuda!
I need a doctor	Necesito un médico
Call the police	Llame a la policía
I lost my passport	Perdí mi pasaporte

The general emergency number is 112 in Spain and the rest of the EU. In Latin America it varies by country (for example 911 in Mexico, Colombia, Argentina, Chile and Costa Rica). Check the number for your destination before you travel.

Three habits that help more than extra vocabulary

Start every interaction with a greeting. Saying buenos días before your question changes the tone completely.
Learn the question words. Dónde (where), cuánto (how much), a qué hora (at what time) let you build almost any question.
Practice out loud. Reading phrases silently is not the same as saying them. Record yourself and compare with native speaker audio.

Next: Spain vs. Latin America: what really changes, or how to learn travel Spanish in 8 weeks.