Essential Portuguese Phrases for Travelers

Whether you're headed to Portugal, Brazil, or elsewhere in the Portuguese-speaking world, a focused set of travel phrases goes further than trying to memorise a large generic vocabulary list.

Greetings and politeness

Olá (hello), bom dia (good morning), por favor (please), obrigado/obrigada (thank you, gendered by the speaker), desculpe (excuse me/sorry) — small courtesies genuinely appreciated when travelling.

Getting around

Onde fica...? (where is...?), quanto custa? (how much does it cost?), estou procurando... (I'm looking for..., more common in Brazilian usage) — practical navigation phrases.

Dining

Uma mesa para dois, por favor (a table for two, please), a conta, por favor (the bill, please), está delicioso (it's delicious) — useful, appreciated phrases in restaurants.

Emergencies and help

Você pode me ajudar? (can you help me?), não entendo (I don't understand), você fala inglês? (do you speak English?) — practical fallback phrases.

Choosing phrases for your specific destination

As covered in our Brazilian vs European Portuguese article, some pronunciation and occasionally vocabulary genuinely differs between destinations — if you know your specific destination in advance, prioritising phrases and pronunciation matched to that variety produces more natural, better-received communication.

A note on Portuguese-speaking Africa

Travellers to Angola, Mozambique, or other Portuguese-speaking African nations will generally find standard Portuguese widely understood, though with some local vocabulary and accent variation worth being aware of, similar in spirit to regional variation covered in our related French and Arabic articles.

A practical pre-trip habit

Look up and practice the phrases you know you'll actually need — check-in, dining, directions — and download your dictionary app before you travel so it works offline once you land.

Look up any Portuguese word or phrase instantly, offline, with English Portuguese Dictionary →