buen viaje
/ˌbwem ˈbjaxe/
The Spanish phrase for happy travels is buen viaje.
You use buen viaje to wish someone a good trip. While English speakers might say "happy travels," Spanish speakers almost always use the singular word for trip, viaje, to express this sentiment.
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase buen viaje literally translates to "good trip."
How does it change in a sentence?
In the phrase buen viaje, the adjective buen is the shortened form of bueno used before a masculine singular noun. If you wish to make the phrase plural, both the adjective and the noun must change to their plural forms: buenos viajes.
How do you pronounce it?
/ˌbwem ˈbjaxe/
Did you know?
- In many Spanish-speaking cultures, instead of saying buen viaje, people might simply say ¡que te vaya bien!, which translates to 'may it go well for you'.
- The word viaje was actually borrowed into Spanish from Catalan, specifically from the Old Catalan word viatge.
- The Latin root via inside viaje is also the basis for English words like 'deviation' and 'obvious'.
Examples in context
- Que tenga un buen viaje. ¡Disfrute su estancia!Have a good trip. Enjoy your stay!
- ¡Buen viaje! No te olvides de enviarnos postalesHave a good trip! Don't forget to send us postcards.
- ¡Buen viaje, que disfrutes mucho!Happy travels, enjoy yourself a lot!
- ¡Buen viaje a todos los pasajeros!Happy travels to all the passengers!
Example conversation
Mateo is seeing Lucía off at the airport.
- Mateo¡Buen viaje, Lucía!Happy travels, Lucía!
- LucíaMuchas gracias, Mateo.Thank you very much, Mateo.
- MateoLlámame cuando llegues.Call me when you arrive.
- LucíaLo haré, te quiero.I will, I love you.
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry buen viaje, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries buen, viaje, CC BY-SA 4.0.
