Monday, January 14, 2013

English travel phrases: before you leave and when you arrive

There are lots of amazing places to see in the UK, and travelling around the UK is a good chance to practise your English skills. Sometimes though, travelling can be scary because it forces you to speak to people you don't know! To help you feel more confident about travelling around, we have written a guide to some of the most common English travel phrases you might hear or use.

Before you leave

How much is a ticket to London?

If you are using public transport (bus, train or aeroplane) to travel to your destination you will have to buy a ticket.

You will need to find the ticket office to buy a ticket or ask how much a ticket will cost, but all public transport stations should have signs pointing the direction to the ticket office. Asking how much the ticket costs will help you choose a type of transport you can afford!

Can I have a ticket to London?

When you have decided which type of transport you want to use, this is what to say when you are ready to buy your ticket.

One way or return?

You will often be asked this when buying a ticket to travel somewhere. One way means that you are only buying to ticket to go to your destination, and return means you are buying a ticket to go and come back. Unless you are not planning to come back from your travels, you will need a return ticket!

Where do I get the bus to London from? When?

If you are at a bus or train station or airport, you will need to find out where the bus, train or aeroplane you need will be leaving from. When you are asking this question it is also helpful to mention the time your transport is leaving, as there might be several journeys to your destination each day leaving from different platforms or stops.

The train has been delayed.

This means that your train (or whatever transport you are using) will not be leaving at the time it was meant to. In this situation you will need to ask "What time will the train to ... be leaving?" to find out the new time your train is leaving.

How long will the journey take? What time will we arrive?

You can ask the person who sells you the ticket for your bus (or whatever transport you are using) these questions to find out what time you will get to your destination.

When you arrive

Can you help me find...? How do I get to...?

When you are travelling you will often find yourself in areas that you don't know very well. If you need to ask for directions to a certain place or attraction, you can add the place you are looking for to the end of the phrases above.

Do you know where the .... hotel is?

If you know the name of your hotel but not how to get there, insert the name of your hotel in the dots of the sentence above to ask someone for directions to it.

Where is the public toilet?

This is the most important question of all! Most places in Britain have toilets which anyone can use, so if you need to use the toilet while you are on your travels, now you know how to ask someone where to find one!

How much is that?

You will probably want to buy a souvenir from the place you went to, but if you don't know the name of the thing you want to buy, you can point to it and ask the question above to the owner of the shop.

Have a good trip! Enjoy your journey!

When you have been asking someone you don't know some of the questions from this guide, they might say one of the sentences above to you. This is a friendly way for them to finish the conversation with you and also say that they hope you enjoy your time travelling. If someone says this to you remember to say "thank you"!

We have covered a few words in this guide that you might not know, so the definitions of those words are listed below.

Public transport - A method of transport which anyone can pay to use.
Ticket office- A place in a public transport station where you can buy tickets to use the transport.
Platforms- This is the part of the transport station where your bus, train or plane will leave from. Public transport stations are often quite large so it is important you go to the right platform at the right time or you will miss you transport!
Souvenir- A luxury item to help you remember a holiday or journey somewhere you haven't been before.

Do you have any useful English travel phrases? Tell us them in the comments section!

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