✈️ Travel Verbs - Verbos de viaje
Beginner Spanish · Travel verbs
Travel Verbs in Spanish
Travel verbs help you talk about planning a trip, getting somewhere, staying somewhere, and visiting places. A small set of useful verbs can take you from packing your bag to exploring your destination.
Your next small win: talk about travel plans, reservations, transportation, destinations, places you want to visit, and where you are going to stay.
Before you leave
Planning Your Trip
Start with the verbs you need to organize a trip and talk about departures and arrivals.
To travel
To pack
To reserve / book
To leave
To arrive
To go
I want to travel to Spain.
I need to reserve a room.
The plane leaves in the morning.
Destinations: use a before a destination: viajar a España, ir a México.
Plan the beginning of a trip
Say that you want to travel to Spain and need to reserve a room.
Quiero viajar a España.
Necesito reservar una habitación.
Get from one place to another
Transportation Verbs
To drive
To fly
To board
To take, for transportation
To return
I am going to take the bus.
We drive to the airport.
How are you getting to the airport?
Tomar + transportation: the source uses tomar for taking transportation, as in tomar el autobús.
Choose your transportation
Say that you are going to take the bus, then ask someone how they are getting to the airport.
Voy a tomar el autobús.
¿Cómo vas al aeropuerto?
More airport vocabulary
To check baggage
To check in
Detailed airport procedures and airport vocabulary belong in the dedicated Airport lesson. Here, these expressions are mainly for recognition.
Stay somewhere and explore
Hotels and Sightseeing Verbs
To stay
To visit
To look for
To show
To relax
We stay at a hotel near the beach.
We are going to visit the museum tomorrow.
They want to relax during their vacation.
Reflexive verbs: quedarse and relajarse appear with -se in the infinitive. In a sentence, the reflexive pronoun changes with the subject, as in nos quedamos.
Talk about your stay
Say that you are staying in a hotel near the beach and that you are going to visit the museum tomorrow.
Nos quedamos en un hotel cerca de la playa.
Vamos a visitar el museo mañana.
Talk about what comes next
Travel Plans with Ir a + Infinitive
Use ir a + infinitive to talk about plans.
I am going to travel tomorrow.
I am going to take the bus.
We are going to visit the museum tomorrow.
When are you going to travel?
Where are you going to stay?
What places do you want to visit?
Pattern: keep the second verb in the infinitive after voy a, vas a, or vamos a: voy a viajar, vas a tomar, vamos a visitar.
Checking into a hotel
Hello. I have a reservation.
Welcome. Can you show your passport?
Of course.
You can check in now.
Ask about someone’s trip
Ask when they are going to travel, where they are going to stay, and what places they want to visit.
¿Cuándo vas a viajar?
¿Dónde te vas a quedar?
¿Qué lugares quieres visitar?
Your turn · 8 quick questions
Practice: Travel Verbs
Choose the answer that best fits each situation. Focus on planning, transportation, destinations, staying somewhere, and sightseeing.
Practice complete
You can use common travel verbs in Spanish.
A few travel phrases to revisit
One last step: describe a trip without choices.
Say where you want to travel, how you are going to get there, where you are going to stay, and one place you are going to visit.
Quiero viajar a España.
Voy a tomar el autobús al aeropuerto.
Me voy a quedar en un hotel.
Voy a visitar un museo.
You want to travel to Spain. Which sentence fits?
- Quiero viajar a España.
- Quiero viajar de España.
- Quiero regresar a España.
- Quiero conducir a España.
Viajar means “to travel,” and the destination is introduced with a: viajar a España.
Quiero viajar a España.
You need to reserve a room. Which sentence fits?
- Necesito reservar una habitación.
- Necesito visitar una habitación.
- Necesito buscar una reservación.
- Necesito abordar una habitación.
Reservar means “to reserve” or “to book,” so Necesito reservar una habitación means “I need to reserve a room.”
Necesito reservar una habitación.
You are going to take the bus. Which sentence fits?
- Voy a tomar el autobús.
- Voy a conducir el autobús.
- Voy a visitar el autobús.
- Voy a regresar el autobús.
The source uses tomar for taking transportation: tomar el autobús.
Voy a tomar el autobús.
A hotel employee politely asks you to show your passport. What do they ask?
- ¿Puede mostrar su pasaporte?
- ¿Puede buscar su pasaporte?
- ¿Puede reservar su pasaporte?
- ¿Puede visitar su pasaporte?
Mostrar means “to show,” so ¿Puede mostrar su pasaporte? is the polite request used in the lesson.
¿Puede mostrar su pasaporte?
You and another person are staying at a hotel near the beach. Which sentence fits?
- Nos quedamos en un hotel cerca de la playa.
- Nos relajamos a un hotel cerca de la playa.
- Nos visitamos en un hotel cerca de la playa.
- Nos llegamos en un hotel cerca de la playa.
Quedarse means “to stay,” and nos quedamos is the form used with nosotros.
Nos quedamos en un hotel cerca de la playa.
You and a friend are going to visit the museum tomorrow. Which sentence fits?
- Vamos a visitar el museo mañana.
- Vamos a buscar el museo mañana.
- Vamos a reservar el museo mañana.
- Vamos a mostrar el museo mañana.
Visitar means “to visit,” and vamos a visitar expresses the plan.
Vamos a visitar el museo mañana.
Which verb means “to leave”?
- salir
- llegar
- regresar
- abordar
Salir means “to leave.” Llegar means “to arrive,” regresar means “to return,” and abordar means “to board.”
salir = to leave
Which verb means “to fly”?
- volar
- conducir
- empacar
- reservar
Volar means “to fly.”
volar = to fly