Essential Travel English: Expressions & Terms

Essential Travel Phrases, Idioms, and Vocabulary

Travel Actions and Phrasal Verbs

• Taxied (e.g., an aircraft moving on the ground before takeoff or after landing)
• Take off (e.g., an aircraft leaving the ground; to begin a journey quickly)
• Give you a lift (offer someone a ride in a vehicle)
• Delayed (postponed or running late)
• Boarded (got on a ship, aircraft, or other vehicle)
• Rest (relax or cease activity)
• Head for: Go in the direction of a particular place.
• Come up with: Think of or produce an idea or plan.
• Turn out: Attend or take part in an event; or to happen in a particular way.
• Come across: Find something or meet someone by chance.
• Get about / Get around: Move from place to place.
• See off: Go to an airport, station, etc., to say goodbye to someone who is leaving.
• Check out: Settle your bill and leave a hotel.
• Check in: Register your arrival at a hotel or airport.
• Gone away: Left a place.
• Come back: Return to a place.
• Drop me off: Let me out of a vehicle at a particular place.
• Turn round / Turn around: Change direction and go back the way you came.
• Keep up with: Maintain the same speed or level of progress as someone or something else.
• Put off: Postpone an event or activity.
• Set off: Begin a journey.
• Put you up: Provide someone with accommodation.
• Set up: Start a business or organization.
• Put up with: Tolerate something or someone unpleasant.
• Called off: Canceled.
• Get on your bike: Go away; get moving (colloquial).
• Ship me off / Ship someone off: Send someone away, often to a place they do not want to go.
• Get back: Return from a place, especially from holidays.
• Slow down: Reduce speed.
• Speed up: Increase speed.

Common Travel Idioms and Expressions

• In the same boat: Sharing the same difficult situation as others.
• A mile a minute: Very quickly (referring to speaking or moving).
• Miss the boat: Lose an opportunity to do something by being too slow.
• Hit the road: Begin a journey.
• Better late than never: It is better for someone or something to be late than never to arrive or happen.
• Bad news travels fast: Information about unpleasant events tends to spread quickly.
• Off the beaten track: In or to a place where few people go, far from main roads and towns.
• Travel broadens the mind: Traveling helps you to understand and accept other people and cultures.
• Travel light: Travel with very few belongings.
• It's better to travel hopefully than to arrive: The enjoyment of a journey or process is more important than reaching the destination or achieving the goal.
• He travels fastest who travels alone: One can make quicker progress without the responsibilities or delays of companions.
• Pedal to the metal: Drive a vehicle as fast as possible.
• Itchy feet: A strong desire to travel or move from place to place.
• Caught on: Understood or became popular.
• Drive a hard bargain: Negotiate persistently to get a favorable deal.
• Go off the rails: Start behaving in a way that is not socially acceptable.
• One-track mind: Thinking about only one particular thing.
• Fall off the wagon: Resume a bad habit (like drinking alcohol) after having stopped.
• Cross that bridge when you come to it: Deal with a problem if and when it occurs, rather than worrying about it in advance.
• Such a rollercoaster / A rollercoaster ride: A situation or experience with many sudden and extreme changes, ups and downs.
• Driving me up the wall: Making someone extremely annoyed or irritated.
• Sail through (something): Pass or deal with something very easily.
• Lose track (of someone/something): No longer know what is happening, or where someone/something is.
• Drive someone round the bend: Make someone very annoyed, bored, or frustrated.
• On track: Making progress as planned or expected; likely to achieve a goal.
• Cover your tracks: Hide or destroy evidence of what you have done or where you have been.
• The fast track: A quick way to achieve a desired result or position.

Useful Binomial Pairs (Paired Expressions)

• Bag and baggage: With all one's possessions.
• Bits and pieces: Small, miscellaneous items.
• Body and soul: With all one's physical and mental energy.
• Bread and butter: A person's main source of income.
• Bricks and mortar: Physical buildings or property, as opposed to online or intangible assets.
• Give and take: Compromise; a willingness to concede something to reach an agreement.
• Hustle and bustle: A large amount of busy and noisy activity.
• Ifs and buts: Excuses or objections.
• Odds and ends: Various small, unimportant items; miscellaneous tasks.
• Part and parcel: An essential or integral part of something.
• Rack and ruin: A state of severe disrepair or neglect.
• Stuff and nonsense: Foolish or meaningless ideas, statements, or beliefs.
• Touch and go: Uncertain; with a risk of failure or a bad outcome.
• Ups and downs: Periods of good and bad fortune or spirits.
• Wear and tear: Damage or deterioration resulting from ordinary use over time.

Key Travel and Tourism Vocabulary

General Travel Terms

• Brochure (folleto)
• Platform (e.g., at a train station)
• Cruise (a voyage on a ship taken for pleasure)
• Arrival (the act of arriving somewhere)
• Destination (the place to which someone or something is going or being sent)
• Cabin (a private room on a ship or a small wooden shelter)
• Resort (a place frequented for holidays or recreation)
• Carriage (a separate section of a train)
• Stopover / Layover (a short stay in a place that you make while you are on a longer journey)
• Trip (a journey or excursion, especially for pleasure)
• Sightseeing (the activity of visiting places of interest in a particular location)
• Package holiday (a holiday organized by a travel agent, with arrangements for transport, accommodation, etc., made at an inclusive price)
• Lounge (e.g., airport departure lounge)
• To pack (to put clothes and other possessions into a bag or suitcase)
• Reach (to arrive at a place)
• Season (e.g., peak season, off-season for travel)
• Distance (the amount of space between two places)
• Border (the line that divides one country from another)
• Miss (e.g., to miss a flight or train)
• Sight (a view; something seen or worth seeing, often a tourist attraction)
• Book (to reserve accommodation, a seat, etc.)
• Native (a person born in a specified place or associated with a place by birth, whether subsequently resident there or not)
• Attractions (places of interest for tourists)
• Bearing / Bearings (awareness of one's position relative to one's surroundings)
• Locals (people who live in a particular area)
• Voucher (cupón; a small printed piece of paper that entitles the holder to a discount or that may be exchanged for goods or services)
• Architecture (the design and style of buildings)
• Scenery (the natural features of a landscape considered in terms of their appearance)
• Surrounding / Surroundings (the area around a particular place)
• Permit (an official document giving someone authorization to do something)
• Reconstructed (built again)
• Scenic (providing or relating to views of beautiful natural scenery)

Accommodation Terms

• Single room (single rm): A room for one person.
• Twin room (twin rm): A room with two single beds.
• Family room (family rm): A room large enough for a family.
• Dormitory: A large bedroom for a number of people in a school or institution, often with multiple bunk beds (e.g., for 10 or more people in a hostel).
• Bunk beds: A piece of furniture consisting of two beds, one above the other.
• Double room (double rm): A room for two people, usually with one double bed.
• Reception: The area in a hotel or office where visitors arrive and are greeted.
• Advance (e.g., book in advance)
• No room / No vacancy: All rooms are occupied.
• B&B (Bed and Breakfast): Accommodation offering a room for the night and breakfast the next morning.
• Facilities / Amenities: Services or equipment provided for a particular purpose (e.g., Wi-Fi, pool).
• Guest: A person staying at a hotel or visiting.
• Half board: Accommodation that includes breakfast and one other meal (usually dinner).
• Self-catering: Accommodation with facilities for guests to cook their own meals.
• Budget accommodation: Inexpensive lodging, such as a cheap hotel or hostel.
• In the heart of the city: Located in the central part of the city.
• Internet booking: Making reservations online.
• En-suite: A room with a private, attached bathroom.
• A booking / Reservation: An arrangement to have something (e.g., a room, a seat) kept for you.
• Superior room: A hotel room of a higher standard or with better facilities than a standard room.
• On the foreshore: Located on the part of a shore between high and low water marks, or between the water and cultivated land.
• Serviced (e.g., serviced apartment: an apartment with services like cleaning included)
• Arrange (e.g., to arrange transport or a tour)

Travel Styles and Deals

• Package deal: A holiday or trip that includes multiple services (e.g., transport, accommodation, meals) bundled together for a single price.
• Tour group: A group of people traveling together on an organized tour.
• Strike out on your own: To begin to do something new independently, without help from other people; to travel independently.
• Tourist sites: Places of interest that tourists visit.
• Independent travel: Traveling without an organized tour group, making one's own arrangements.