Is your Italian friend about to head off on a trip? Then today’s expression will definitely come in handy!
The Italian phrase for Have a good trip! is Buon viaggio!
Literally translating as good journey or good trip, it greatly resembles the French expression with which we are all familiar: Bon voyage!
Buon viaggio, Alice! Ci vediamo tra una settimana!
Have a good trip, Alice! See you in a week!
In English, it’s common to express well-wishes for someone’s journey with phrases like “Have a good trip!” or “Have a safe trip!” However, in Italian, there’s no requirement to include a verb or specifically mention the person’s safety.
Unlike the English word trip, which can encompasses both the journey from point A to point B and the activities carried out at the destination, the word viaggio refers specifically to the journey.
In order to make an exact reference to the time spent at the location, it is better to opt for a different phrase: Buone vacanze! (Have a good vacation!) It can also be used when saying goodbye to someone (such as a classmate) at the beginning of the summer holidays and the end of the scholastic year.
Buone vacanze, Stefano. Ci vediamo a Settembre!
Have a good vacation, Stefano. See you in September!
Heather Broster is a graduate with honours in linguistics from the University of Western Ontario. She is an aspiring polyglot, proficient in English and Italian, as well as Japanese, Welsh, and French to varying degrees of fluency. Originally from Toronto, Heather has resided in various countries, notably Italy for a period of six years. Her primary focus lies in the fields of language acquisition, education, and bilingual instruction.
