10 Ways to Say Goodbye in Italian (Without Sounding Like a Tourist)

You're about to leave an Italian café after ordering your fifth espresso of the day. The barista smiles. Do you say "ciao"? Or is that too casual? Wait—what about "arrivederci"? That sounds formal. Actually, maybe you should just awkwardly wave and leave.

Here's the thing: saying goodbye in Italian is way more complex than your language app made it seem. There are different ways to say goodbye depending on who you're talking to, what time of the day it is, and whether you're actually friends yet. The wrong farewell can make you sound either disrespectful or overly formal.

So let's fix this. I'm going to show you 10 ways to say goodbye in Italian—when to use what, why "ciao" isn't as universal as you think, and how to say goodbye like a true Italian without the awkward moments.

The Most Common Way to Say Goodbye in Italian (And Why It's Risky)

Everyone learns "ciao" first. It's the most famous Italian greeting after "pizza." And yeah, ciao is also used as both "hello" and "goodbye," which is convenient.

But here's what the textbooks don't tell you: saying "ciao" in the wrong context makes you sound like a disrespectful tourist.

Ciao comes from the Venetian phrase "s-ciào vostro"—literally "I am your slave." It used to be a formal greeting from lower classes to their superiors. By the 19th century, it lost those servile connotations and became the casual greeting we know today.

The catch? It stayed casual. Really casual. This informal way to say goodbye is used among friends, family, and people you know well—not strangers.

Never use "ciao" with:

Your Italian colleague might say "ciao" to you, but if you respond with "ciao" instead of "buongiorno," you're basically saying "we're equals." Which is fine if you are. But if they're senior to you? You just committed a small social crime.

Native Italian speakers are tolerant with tourists who mess this up, but they notice. You'll get a polite "buongiorno" back—their way of saying "we're not friends yet."

Arrivederci: The Safe Way to Say Goodbye

When in doubt, use "arrivederci" (ah-ree-veh-DEHR-chee). The pronunciation isn't hard once you nail that rolled R.

This is the most common way to say goodbye in Italian for formal and informal situations. It literally means "until we see each other again" and works in basically any situation where you don't want to risk being too casual. Professional settings, shops, restaurants, talking to strangers—"arrivederci" covers it all.

Breaking down the word: a (until) + ri (again) + vedere (to see) + ci (each other). It's actually kind of poetic.

There's also "arrivederLa" (capital L)—the super formal way to say goodbye using the formal "Lei" pronoun. This formal goodbye is used when addressing doctors, lawyers, or anyone you want to show extra respect. It's like the difference between "goodbye" and "farewell" in English, except Italians actually say it.

Italian Greetings and Farewells: Time-Specific Phrases

Italians have time-specific greetings and farewells that change depending on when you're leaving. The level of formality matters, but so does the time of day. Here are the basic Italian phrases you need:

"Buongiorno" (good morning/good day)
Used both as a greeting and farewell from morning until early afternoon. You can technically use it when saying goodbye, but it's more natural to say "buona giornata" (have a good day) when you're actually parting ways.

"Buonasera" (good evening)
Starts somewhere between 2pm in the south and 5pm in the north. Regional variation is real—people in Naples might switch to "buonasera" right after lunch, while northern Italians wait until evening. When visiting Italy, watch what locals do.

For saying goodbye in the evening, use "buona serata" (have a good evening). This is one of those Italian phrases where you wish someone a good rest of their day.

"Buonanotte" (good night)
This one's used exclusively for saying goodbye—never as a greeting. Use it when someone's actually going to sleep or when leaving a social situation late at night.

The key difference: you say sera when arriving, serata when leaving. Same with giornata—it's specifically for wishing someone well for the rest of their day.

See You Later and See You Soon: Casual Italian Farewalls

These are your casual, friendly ways of saying goodbye to friends and relatives. Use them with people you know well:

"A presto" – See you soon (only if you actually mean it—Italians take this literally)
"A dopo" – See you later (same day)
"A domani" – See you tomorrow
"Ci vediamo" – See you (casual, good with friends)
"Ci sentiamo" – We'll talk / speak soon (common on the phone)

Notice the pattern? They all reference future contact. Italian farewells are optimistic like that.

"Alla prossima" works too—literally "until the next time." Flexible and friendly. These informal contexts let you be more relaxed about your habit of saying goodbye.

"Ci vediamo" literally uses ci (each other) + vediamo (we see). It's one of the most natural ways to say bye in Italian among friends.

The Dramatic Farewell: Addio

"Addio" means farewell in the permanent sense. From a Dio (to God)—basically "I commend you to God." This farewell expression is heavy.

You use "addio" at funerals or when ending a relationship for good. Unlike Spanish "adiós" (which people say daily), the Italian "addio" is restricted to dramatic moments. This isn't a common way to say goodbye unless something serious is happening.

Sometimes native speakers use it sarcastically: "Se le cose non migliorano, puoi dire addio al bonus" (If things don't improve, you can forget about that bonus). But in normal conversation? It sounds like someone's dying.

Different Ways to Say Goodbye: The Complete List

Let's recap the 10 ways to say goodbye in Italian you actually need:

Each phrase to use depends on your relationship with the person, the setting, and the time of day. Choosing the right farewell matters in Italian culture.

The Cheek Kiss Situation (Goodbye to Someone You Know)

This is where things get physical when saying goodbye to friends or family. Italians use the double cheek kiss—two air kisses while lightly touching cheeks.

The critical technique: Lean LEFT first. Right cheek to right cheek, then left to left.

If you mess up the order, you'll accidentally kiss someone on the mouth. I'm serious. This happens to tourists all the time when they try to say goodbye to someone Italian.

Also—these are air kisses. You kiss the air next to their cheek, not their actual face. No wet lips, no sound effects. Just a light cheek touch and a kiss to the side.

When NOT to cheek kiss:

Post-COVID, a lot of Italians switched to air kisses from a distance or just hand gestures. Read the room when parting ways.

And eye contact matters. Italian speakers expect you to maintain eye contact when saying goodbye. Looking away reads as rude or disappointed. Even if it's just brief eye contact—do it.

Written Goodbyes in Italian: Email and Text Etiquette

The way of saying goodbye changes when you're writing. Here's how to bid farewell in emails and texts:

Formal way to say goodbye in emails:

Informal way to say goodbye in texts:

It's rare to get a text from Italian friends that doesn't end with some affectionate phrase. It's just how they communicate when saying goodbye.

What's the Best Way to Learn Italian Greetings?

Look, you can memorize these Italian phrases from a blog post. But actually using them correctly? That requires hearing native Italian speakers use "arrivederci" with the barista, "ciao ciao" with friends, "buona serata" as they leave a restaurant.

That's where immersion learning beats the hell out of flashcards for mastering Italian.

With Migaku's browser extension, you're learning from actual Italian content—Netflix shows, YouTube videos, whatever you're already watching. You see Italians say goodbye in real situations, with real body language, in real contexts. You pick up the subtle differences between how someone uses "ciao" with a friend versus how they use "arrivederLa" with a doctor.

The extension handles instant lookups, so when you hear a phrase you don't know, you can check it immediately without losing the flow. And the spaced repetition system turns those real-context encounters into vocabulary that actually sticks when you need to say hello in Italian or bid farewell.

Because here's the thing about Italian greetings and farewells: the level of formality isn't something you memorize from a chart. It's something you absorb from watching how real Italians navigate it. You need to see the context—who's saying what to whom, what time it is, whether they're familiar with each other.

Textbook lists don't teach you that. Real content does.

Migaku also helps with basic Italian phrases in general—the everyday stuff you actually need for conversation in Italian, not just the vocabulary your language app thinks is important. And if you're also learning Japanese, you'll notice they have a similar goodbye hierarchy—different ways of saying goodbye, same concept of formality mattering way more than English speakers are used to.

The mobile app syncs everything, so you can review those "arrivederci" moments from your Netflix binge while you're commuting. And unlike traditional study materials, you're learning from content you actually enjoy, which means you'll stick with it past the first week.

There's a 10-day free trial if you want to try learning from real Italian language content instead of sterile textbook dialogues. No credit card required, and you can cancel anytime if immersion learning isn't your thing.