18 Travel Phrasal Verbs You’ll Hear All the Time
With Clear Meanings and Natural Examples
Whether you're planning a weekend away or heading off on a big adventure, you'll notice how often we use phrasal verbs when we talk about travel in English. And they’re not always the easiest to guess from the words themselves.
So in this post, I’ve rounded up 18 super common travel-related phrasal verbs that will help you sound more natural, more fluent – and just a bit more confident when talking about your trips.
Let’s take off, shall we?
1. Look forward to
Meaning: to feel excited about something in the future
Example: I’m really looking forward to our beach holiday next month.
2. Get away
Meaning: to take a short break or holiday, especially to escape daily life
Example: I just need to get away for a few days and recharge.
3. Set off
Meaning: to begin a journey
Example: We set off at the crack of dawn to avoid the traffic.
4. Head off
Meaning: to leave for a place or start moving
Example: Let’s head off now or we’ll miss the ferry.
5. Pick up
Meaning: to collect someone or something
Example: A taxi picked us up from the airport.
6. Check in
Meaning: to register at an airport or hotel
Example: We checked in online the night before.
7. Check something in
Meaning: to register luggage before flying
Example: We checked in our bags at the counter and kept our backpacks as hand luggage.
8. Go through something
Meaning: to pass through a process or experience
Example: You’ll need to go through security before heading to your gate.
9. Take off
Meaning: when a plane leaves the ground
Example: The plane took off smoothly, thank goodness.
10. Stop over
Meaning: to stay somewhere temporarily before continuing a journey
Example: We stopped over in Istanbul for a night on our way to Thailand.
11. Get on something
Meaning: to board a form of transport
Example: We got on the wrong train — again.
12. Get off something
Meaning: to leave a form of transport
Example: We got off the bus one stop too early.
13. Get around
Meaning: to travel within a place
Example: It’s really easy to get around Berlin by tram.
14. Look around
Meaning: to explore casually, without a plan
Example: We spent hours just looking around the old town.
15. Check out (a place)
Meaning: to explore or try something
Example: We checked out this amazing little café by the beach.
16. Break down
Meaning: when a vehicle stops working
Example: Our car broke down halfway to the lake.
17. Check out (of a hotel)
Meaning: to pay and leave a hotel
Example: Don’t forget to check out before midday.
18. Get back
Meaning: to return
Example: We got back from Portugal late last night.