When to say "ciao"

Yep, it's true that you shouldn't use it with strangers. And that little fact is also completely unknown by most tourists. "Ciao" is the equivalent of the American "Hey" as a greeting, and "See ya" as a farewell.

Italian is a language that divides a lot of communication into formal and informal. "Ciao" is definitely informal. Italians as a general rule are more formal about communication than are Americans.

The safe all purpose greeting is "Salve" (pronounced sahl-vay). (You could try to master the intricacies of "Buongiorno" and "Buona sera" but good luck figuring out when to switch from the former to the latter. Hint: it varies according to where you are.)

Goodbye formally is "arrivederci."

That is correct.

The use of the word "Ciao" is still a bit confusing for me. I was taught in Italian class that it was to be used only with close friends, as Michael mentioned. However I've seen Italians using it quite indiscriminately with strangers also, both other Italians and tourists.

Salve is a good "safe" word to use. I believe Arrivederla is a bit more formal than Arrivederci.

Cheers!

That seems funny to me because I remember many Italians saying ciao to us. For sure our hosts at our B & B's, but also at restaurants we were greeted with ciao and also lots of "ciao bella" good-byes to our daughter. I've never heard that before, but we were in high tourist areas so maybe it is used more freely there.

interesting, the italians alway's seemed to greet us by saying ciao . good luck :):)

I experienced the same as the two posters before me, Ciao in shops and greeting me at restaurants etc. The way I approached it was, if they said Ciao to me first, I said it back. Otherwise I used the more formal greeting. Maybe that was wrong. But no one looked at me funny :D

When we were in Florence we had a wonderful tour guide named Flavia Beppi. We told her we noticed Ciao being used to greet people and to say good-bye and we asked her to clarify the proper usage (yes, proper usage for such an informal word). She said, "oh, you can use Ciao for anything".

As we toured around the city center with Flavia we came upon people she knew and they would greet each other with the two-cheek air kiss and when they parted it was with a "ciao ciao"...apparently the better you know someone the more Ciaos you use.

When entering a store or a restaurant you should always say Buon Giorno or Buona Sera depending on the time of day. Salve is always safe if you need to speak directly to someone, ask a questions etc, it is neither formal nor informal way of greeting people.
Ciao is informal, so friends, and yes children (even if they are strangers) are greeted with ciao. Otherwise you do it with people you know and that's about it. (Just like the kisses on both cheeks, though in the North they kiss three times, while further South it is twice.) Italians might feel that tourist recognize Ciao and therefore used it with you.
Arrivederla is extremely formal while Arrivederci is still formal but just as polite. I wouldn't worry about it too much, unless you speak Italian really well no one will be put off by a tourist trying to speak Italian and saying Ciao. Italians love it when anyone tries to speak their language, no matter how badly, and tend to be generous with the compliments as well.

I think the use of Ciao by waiters, Hotel staff, shop keepers, is similar to the casual friendliness to strangers we use in the US in those same jobs "Hi, My name is Bob, how y'all doing tonight...what can I get for you guys?" Basically an attempt to establish a simulation of friendship, to make you feel at ease. It would not be the way you would introduce yourself to strangers, business associates, or others not in a service role. My suggestion would be to stick to the standard greetings and partings, but as often, Hi/Hello and Bye are pretty universal.

Thanks to all of you for your notes of clarification. Very helpful!

Any other language tips you feel like offering?

We too were ciao-ciao'd just about everywhere we went; we heard it constantly. My Italian only slowly resurrected after 40 years of disuse, and it was slow going. If "ciao" didn't fit, I tried "prego" which seems to mean just about whatever you want it to mean. I am pretty sure I didn't offend anyone and most of the Italians we met were delighted to hear us jabber away in toddler Italian before they responded in perfect English.

Yes..Prego was used all the time too. When we asked about its meaning we were told it can mean anything...hello, good-bye, how are you, have a great day, etc.

I often wait for the Italian person to speak first, then I follow. If they say "ciao," that's what I say. "Prego" is used to say "you're welcome," when someone else says "grazi."

Just as important as what word you choose is the importance of greeting the shop keeper as you enter the store. It is considered rude not to do so. It may sound easy, but it is not always done here in the states and I had to keep reminding myself to enter, catch the eye of the person working, and greet. I think using ciao has become much more frequent between strangers. It was explained to me that this is because the young people like to be more informal and therefore, Italy is losing some of its more formal standards. What you were told is true....but not really followed as much anymore. I personally refrained from using ciao when I greeted older people, as I felt they would be the ones that could be offended. I speak some Italian, but I took my husband to the class ETTBD offers so he could get some intro into the language. One of the things the lady (sorry-don't remember the name, but she was from Italy) said was that locals know you are a visitor from out of the country and they will give you lots of "grace" when dealing with you. In other words, if you make a mistake they will overlook it. (usually-always exceptions)

I may have missed it... but what does SALVE translate to?

"Salve" is a generic greeting. It doesn't really have an active English equivalent other than "Hello". It's actually closest to "Hail", but who uses that greeting anymore in English?

And, by the way, "thank you" is "grazie", not "grazi". And you pronounce it like "GRAHT-syeh", not "GRAHT-see". Might as well learn it correctly, since you'll be saying it so much. My Italian instructor made us each pronounce it so she could check that we were getting the ending right.

Prego does mean "your welcome" but is also used like "yes? can I help you" when you come into a store or bar. I second the grazie comment, grahtz--ee-ay is the correct pronounciation. If you find yourself toungue tied drinking wine always helps the Italian come more easily!

It's true Italians really appreciate any effort to learn their language. I crammed before our trip and did my best to speak Italian whenever I approached someone. I think my accent was passable but it took a while to form a sentence in my mind before saying it.

The response always started with "Bella l'Italiano!" and a big smile.

Rather than informal it might be better to say intimate. Salve is the equivalent of "Hi" but not intimate like Ciao can be.

Prego can also be "Please, try this" or "Please, take some".

I heard Prego a lot going in to small stores or markets.

I always would say Ciao...and grazie every place and look happy...some molto buono when the food was good

ciao ciao I believe is used with close friends and family members.

I don't think I said arrivederci too much.