Explore European geography from 1901 by learning these Ticket to Ride Europe rules! Be the player to visit the most cities and create the longest routes to win the game!
Ticket to Ride Europe is just like its American counterparts, Ticket to Ride and Ticket to Ride: First Journey, with the added element of Ferries, Tunnels, and building your own Train Stations to help get you to your destination when someone is blocking your route!
Learn all of the European routes, travel in underground Tunnels, or take a ferry to a city with a view. Travel from Edinburgh to Amsterdam, Paris to Budapest, and so much more! The more places you travel, the more points you will obtain at the end of the game.
Fans of the original Ticket to Ride and inexperienced players alike will fall in love with this award-winning game that is known worldwide.
Continue reading below to learn how to play Ticket to Ride Europe!
What is Ticket to Ride Europe?
Ticket to Ride Europe is one of the many popular Ticket to Ride games that are widely known for it’s simple gameplay that involves exploring different countries and routes. It uses end-game bonuses that will keep players on their toes to see who will get the most points when the game is up!
Number of players: 2-5
Ages: 8+
Difficulty: Easy
Length of play: 30-60min
Category: Family, Trains, Network and Route Building, Connecting, End Game Bonuses
Similar to: Railways of the World, Power Grid, 7 Wonders
Main Objective: Create routes and obtain points for every route you build. The player with the most points at the end of the game wins!
Why We Love It: We love the mystery of the end game bonuses and battling each other to obtain the longest continuous route!
What You’ll Need to Play Ticket to Ride Europe
Everything you will need to play Ticket to Ride Europe can be found in the box:
These are all of the components you will find inside the game:
- 1 Board Map of Europe
- 240 Colored Train Cars (45 in each color: Blue, Red, Green, Yellow, and Black. Extra are included as replacements)
- 15 Colored Train Stations (3 in each color)
- 159 Illustrated cards including:
- 110 Train Car cards (12 of each color and 14 “Wild” Locomotives)
- 46 Destination Ticket cards (40 Regular routes and 6 Long routes)
- 1 Score Summary card
- 1 European Express Bonus card (rewarded to the player with the longest route at the end of the game)
- 5 Wooden Scoring Markers (1 of each color)
- 1 Instruction Booklet
Ticket to Ride Europe Rules
Setting Up the Game
Follow these simple instructions to set up a game of Ticket to Ride Europe:
- Place the map/game board in the middle of your play area. Each player chooses a color to play with and obtains the following components in their corresponding color:
- 45 Train Cars
- 3 Train Stations
- 1 Score Marker
- Each player places their colored Score Marker on the “1” on the score track that is outlining the game board.
- Shuffle and deal 4 face down Train Cards to each player. This becomes the player’s “hand.” The remaining Train Cards get placed in a face down pile near the game board.
Then, flip over 5 Train Cards, face up, near the deck, so each card is visible to all players.
- Place the Score Summary card and the European Express Bonus card, face up, near the game board.
- Separate the regular routes and long routes (blue background) from the Destination Tickets. Shuffle the long routes and deal 1 randomly to each player. Put the remaining long route tickets back into the box.
- Shuffle the regular route tickets and deal 3 to each player. The remaining regular route Destination Tickets get placed in a face down pile near the game board.
- Players may look through their Destination Tickets and discard down to 2 tickets if desired.
NOTE: If Destination Tickets are not completed by the end of the game, their score will be penalized by the point amount listed on the ticket/s.
Game Differences
Ticket to Ride Europe is very similar to Ticket to Ride except for the 3 following additions (besides a different map):
- Ferries: Ferries are shown on the map as gray routes that pass through a body of water. These Ferry routes will also show a certain amount of locomotive symbols that will differ them from regular gray routes found on the map.
A player who wishes to claim a Ferry route must discard a set of the same colored Train Cards in the amount of gray spaces shown PLUS wild cards depending on how many locomotive spaces are shown.
For Example: If a Ferry route has 5 gray spaces and 2 of them show a locomotive symbol, a player will have to discard 3 Train Cards of the same color and 2 wild cards to claim this route.
- Tunnels: Tunnels are special routes that are considered to be underground. Because they are underground, a player will not know exactly how many cards will be needed to complete that route.
Tunnels can be gray or a specific color but will have darkened edges which differ them from other routes.
First, the player attempting to claim one must discard Train Cards (matching the color of the route) in the amount shown on the visible Tunnel route. Then, the player will draw 3 Train Cards from the deck, face up, in front of them.
If any of these drawn cards match the color of the Tunnel route they are trying to claim, they must discard that many more cards to claim the route.
For Example: After a player discards 3 red Train Cards for a Tunnel route, they will draw 3 cards from the Train Card draw pile. If they do not reveal any red Train Cards, they can successfully claim the route.
If they draw 2 additional red Train Cards, they will need to discard 2 additional red Train Cards from their hand. Players may also use wilds from their hand to complete this step.
If a player does not have any red Train Cards left to finish the entire route, they cannot claim the route, and they put their original Train Cards back into their hand.
- Train Stations: If a player is blocking another player’s path in order to claim a route properly, they may add one of their Train Stations to the city they are trying to travel to. There can only be one Train Station built per city.
If it’s a player’s first Train Station being built in this game, they will need to discard 1 Train Card as payment to build it. If it’s the second Train Station they are building in this game, they will need to discard 2 of the same colored Train Cards and so on.
NOTE: If a player has any Train Stations left in their reserve after the game has ended, they will be rewarded with 4 points per Train Station when it’s time for scoring.
Starting the Game
On every player’s turn, they can perform only 1 of the following actions per turn:
- Draw 2 Train Cards from either the facedown Train Card deck or the face up Train Cards. If the player picks up a “Wild” locomotive card from either the face up selection or the face down pile, they must stop at 1 Train Card.
Once cards are picked up from the face up pile, they are immediately replaced with another face up card from the deck.
Exception: If the second card that was picked up from the face down pile of Train Cards was a Wild, they may keep the first card they drew.
- Claim a route by matching the correct color and amount of Train Cards in your hand to the correct color and amount of trains needed to complete a specific route. Remove these cards from your hand and place them in a separate face up discard pile near the game board.
Then, place your train cars on the route you have successfully claimed.
- A player can draw 3 Destination Tickets from the face down ticket deck and must keep at least 1. If the player needs to discard any, they will be discarded face down to the bottom of the deck.
- A player can build a Train Station on a city that currently does not have one built. If it’s the first time a player is building a station in this game, they must discard 1 Train Card of any color to build it. The second station requires 2 Train Cards of any color and so on.
Ending the Game
Players will take turns in clockwise order throughout the game until a player has 2 or less train cars remaining in their reserve. Then, all players (including the player with the least train cars) will take one final turn.
After the last player ends their final turn, it’s time to score and see who won!
How to Keep Score in Ticket to Ride Europe
Ticket to Ride Europe is won by the player who has obtained the most points by the time the game ends. These are the different ways in which you can collect points throughout the game:
- Claim a train route between two adjacent cities. The amount of train cars that are placed on the route determine how many points are collected and scored immediately on the score track:
- 1 Train = 1 Point
- 2 Trains = 2 Points
- 3 Trains = 4 Points
- 4 Trains = 7 Points
- 6 Trains = 15 Points
- 8 Trains = 21 Points
- Claim a continuous route of train paths between 2 cities that are listed on your Destination Tickets. Once a ticket has been completed, keep it face down in front of you for scoring when the game is complete.
- Create the longest continuous route on the map and obtain the European Express Bonus card worth 10 points at the end of the game.
- Each remaining Train Station, a player, has not used throughout the game is worth 4 points each.
End of Game Scoring
At the end of everyone’s final turn, each player’s scores will be calculated in the following order:
- Start with the current score each player has on the score track.
- Add the total points on all Destination Tickets that were successfully completed throughout the game.
- Add 4 points per Train Station that remains unused.
- Determine which player has achieved the longest continuous route and reward them the European Express Bonus Card worth 10 points.
How to Play Ticket to Ride Europe – Video
Frequently Asked Questions
Are there any Expansions available to Ticket to Ride Europe?
Yes! Ticket to Ride Europa 1912 is the only expansion currently available for Ticket to Ride Europe.
How Many Ticket to Ride games are there?
There are over 20 different versions of the game, including expansions!
What is the difference between Ticket to Ride and Ticket to Ride Europe?
Ticket to Ride uses a map of the USA, and Ticket to Ride Europe uses a map of Europe. Ticket to Ride Europe also adds new gameplay mechanics such as Ferries, Tunnels, and Train Stations.
Other Games Similar to Ticket to Ride Europe (Our Guides)
If you enjoyed reading about Ticket to Ride Europe, please check out these other game guides (if we have covered them):
- Ticket to Ride Board Game (Rules and Instructions)
- Ticket to Ride: First Journey (Rules)
- Railroad Ink (guide coming soon)
- Catan Board Game Rules
- Pandemic Board Game: Rules and Review
- Trekking The National Parks (guide coming soon)
- Trekking The World (guide coming soon)
- Camel Up Rules
