Untold Italy · Friday, August 7, 2026
Nizim, a Roman tour guide, explains that while 'Ciao' is a versatile Italian word, it can be too direct for a first greeting. He recommends starting with 'Salve,' a more polite and respectful way to greet people, especially those older than you, to make a better first impression.
“And so, yeah, Ciao is great, but I always start with Salve. Salve is, yeah, like a polite way of saying hello. It's fairly informal, so it comes off like very easy, but it shows respect and by addressing especially older people like someone older than you, but not only shows that you're being respectful, and it makes them more receptive to you.”
“So, Ciao is a very versatile word and you can use it for more than just greetings. But it is a greeting that you would use, so it can mean both hello and goodbye. As a goodbye, you can use it in most situations. But it is quite direct.”
“And so, yeah, Salve is one of the best words that you can have in your repertoire because it's a word that Italians don't necessarily expect foreigners to know, and it's a very nice, polite way of like opening the interaction.”