How to Ask About Guided Tours in Italian: English-Language Tours and Times
Learn to ask 'C'è una visita guidata in inglese?' and understand tour times in Italian, while keeping guided tours distinct from audio guides.
By SofiaGetting around · Yapr Learn
If you are standing at a museum ticket desk or a tourist office in Italy, the key question is whether a guided tour is available in English, and at what time it starts. This lesson teaches you to ask exactly that, to understand the answer, and to keep a guided tour (visita guidata) separate from an audio guide (audioguida). You will practise polite opening questions, time expressions, and a short exchange you can reuse at museums, churches, archaeological sites and city tours.
By the end, you can…
- ask whether a guided tour in English is available.
- understand and confirm the starting time of a guided tour.
- distinguish a guided tour from an audio guide.
- ask politely for repetition or clarification if I do not understand.
Listen once. Try it slowly. Then say it without looking.
Checking available voices…
C'è una visita guidata in inglese?
Is there a guided tour in English?
cheh OO-na VEE-zee-ta gwee-DA-ta een een-GLEH-zeh
Standard polite question. C'è is the common spoken form of ci è. Use it at a ticket desk or information point.
A che ora inizia la visita guidata?
What time does the guided tour start?
ah keh O-ra ee-NEE-tsya la VEE-zee-ta gwee-DA-ta
Use inizia for a tour or event that starts at a scheduled time. Inizia is third-person singular of iniziare.
La visita guidata è in inglese o in italiano?
Is the guided tour in English or in Italian?
la VEE-zee-ta gwee-DA-ta eh een een-GLEH-zeh oh een ee-ta-LYA-no
Useful when a tour exists but the language is not stated. The preposition in is used before a language.
Vorrei prenotare due posti per la visita guidata delle tre.
I would like to book two places for the three o'clock guided tour.
vor-RAY preh-no-TA-reh DOO-eh POS-tee per la VEE-zee-ta gwee-DA-ta DEL-leh treh
Vorrei is a polite way to say 'I would like'. Posti means places or spots on a tour.
Scusi, può ripetere l'orario, per favore?
Excuse me, could you repeat the time, please?
SKOO-zee, pwoh ree-PEH-teh-reh lo-RA-ryo, per fa-VO-reh
Polite repair phrase. Scusi is the formal 'excuse me' with a stranger. Può is the formal 'you can'.
Pronunciation guides are approximate. Slow playback keeps the original pitch.
Make it make sense
Useful pattern
The core pattern is C'è una visita guidata...? followed by a detail: in inglese, in italiano, oggi, domani, alle dieci. Examples: C'è una visita guidata in inglese oggi? C'è una visita guidata alle dieci? To ask about more than one, use Ci sono visite guidate in inglese? Note that visita guidata is feminine, so una visita guidata, la visita guidata, and le visite guidate in the plural.
When to use it
Use visita guidata when a person guides the group. An audioguida is a recorded device or app, not a person, so do not use visita guidata for it. If you want the recorded option, ask: C'è un'audioguida in inglese? For times, alle is used before clock times: alle nove, alle dieci e mezza, alle quindici. For a range, use dalle... alle...: dalle dieci alle dodici. If the answer is too fast, say: Scusi, può ripetere l'orario, per favore?
Listen to each line, then take one part and reply out loud.
Buongiorno, c'è una visita guidata in inglese oggi?
Good morning, is there a guided tour in English today?bwon-JOR-no, cheh OO-na VEE-zee-ta gwee-DA-ta een een-GLEH-zeh O-jeeSì, c'è una visita guidata in inglese alle tre e mezza.
Yes, there is a guided tour in English at half past three.see, cheh OO-na VEE-zee-ta gwee-DA-ta een een-GLEH-zeh AL-leh treh eh MED-zaQuanto dura e quanto costa? Vorrei prenotare due posti.
How long does it last and how much does it cost? I would like to book two places.KWAN-to DOO-ra eh KWAN-to KOS-ta? vor-RAY preh-no-TA-reh DOO-eh POS-teeDura un'ora e costa dieci euro a persona. A che nome?
It lasts one hour and costs ten euros per person. Under what name?DOO-ra oo-NO-ra eh KOS-ta DYEH-chee EH-oo-ro ah per-SO-na. ah keh NO-mehA little context goes a long way
In Italy, guided tours are often run by the museum, a cooperative or a licensed guide, and English tours may run less frequently than Italian ones. At churches and archaeological sites, dress and access rules may apply. Scusi is the standard polite form with staff; use it rather than the informal scusa unless you are speaking to a peer or child. Regional speech varies, but these standard forms are understood throughout Italy.
One thing to watch for
Using visita guidata to mean an audio guide, as in C'è una visita guidata registrata?
Try this instead: A recorded guide is an audioguida. Ask: C'è un'audioguida in inglese? Use visita guidata only when a person leads the group, for example: La visita guidata in inglese inizia alle tre.
Your turn
Try answering out loud before checking a possible answer.
1Ask whether there is a guided tour in English today.
Show a sample answer
C'è una visita guidata in inglese oggi?
This uses the core pattern C'è una visita guidata plus in inglese and oggi. You could also ask C'è un tour guidato in inglese oggi? in some contexts, but visita guidata is the standard museum term.
2Ask what time the guided tour starts.
Show a sample answer
A che ora inizia la visita guidata?
A che ora asks 'at what time', and inizia means 'it starts'. You could also say A che ora comincia la visita guidata? Comincia is a common alternative to inizia.
3You want the recorded guide, not a person. What do you ask?
Show a sample answer
C'è un'audioguida in inglese?
Audioguida is the correct term for a recorded guide. Using visita guidata here would suggest a live guide, so the distinction matters.
Ask C'è una visita guidata in inglese? for a live tour, use audioguida for a recorded guide, and confirm the time with A che ora inizia? or alle tre.
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