Game nights, whether with family or friends, are a cherished tradition in many households that bring families together for fun, laughter, bonding and a bit of friendly competition. In today’s fast-paced busy world, setting aside time for family activities is more important than ever. Family game nights offer numerous benefits, including improved communication, strengthened relationships, and the development of essential life skills. Playing games together can also reduce stress, enhance problem-solving abilities, and create lasting memories. We love to play board games in our house and a game that has become a firm favourite is Ticket to Ride. After conquering North America with our train routes we are now ready to take on another continent with Ticket to Ride Europe.
Ticket to Ride Europe is a board game that builds on the success of the original Ticket to Ride board game. Designed by Alan R. Moon and published by Days of Wonder, this game takes players on a journey across several countries in early 20th-century Europe, from Edinburgh in Scotland to Erzurum in Turkey and Petrograd (Saint Petersburg) in Russia to Cadiz in Spain. Players compete to claim train routes and complete their destination tickets. This family-friendly game is suitable for 2-5 players, age 8+, with a typical playing time from 30-60 minutes.
In the box:
- Map of Europe Game Board
- 240 Coloured Train Cars (x45 each in Black, Blue, Green, Red and Yellow plus 15 spares)
- 15 Coloured Train Stations (three each, matching train colours)
- 110 Train Cards (12 of each colour plus 14 locomotives)
- 46 Destination Tickets – 40 regular routes and 6 long routes
- Scoring Card
- European Express Bonus Card
- 5 Wooden Scoring Markers (different colours to match trains)
- Rules Booklet

Ticket to Ride Europe offers engaging gameplay that blends of strategy and luck, making it accessible to both new and experienced players and keeps players coming back. The aim of the game involves collecting train cards, claiming train routes across Europe, and completing destination tickets to earn points. The player with the most points at the end of the game wins.
Ticket to Ride Europe only takes a few minutes to set up for play and is quick and easy to do. The game has a large 6 panel game board, measuring approx. 79cm x 53cm so you will need a rather large playing area to play, a large table is good as gameplay can take up to an hour and you will need somewhere comfortable to sit around. The game board features a map of Europe with train routes linking various cities.
You will need to read thoroughly through the rules first, don’t be put off by the large 8-page booklet, it is very comprehensive, easy to read and understand. It is quite an easy game to play although it may not seem like it but once you start playing everything falls into place, you will just need the rules handy to check things on the first few plays.
Place the game board in the centre of your playing area so that everybody can easily reach it. Players (up to five) are given 45 coloured train cars, each person has a different colour (blue, black, green, red or yellow) along with the corresponding colour scoring marker. Markers are placed on the starting on the scoring track that borders the edge of the board. Shuffle the train cards (do this well, especially on the first time of playing) and deal 4 cards to each player, placing the remaining deck of cards next to the board. Take five cards from the top of the deck and place them individually face up on the table. Place the European Express Bonus and Summary card face up next to the board as a reminder to the players. Separate the Destination Tickets into the Long (there are 6 of these) and Regular routes. Shuffle the Long Routes Destination Ticket cards and deal 1 to each player and place the remaining Long Routes back in the box. Shuffle the Short Routes Destination Tickets and deal 3 to each player, placing the remaining cards face down near the game board. All aboard, you are now ready for your journey across Europe.
Choo choo! The trains are leaving the stations! Well not quite yet. To play, all players look at their Destination Tickets and decide if they want to discard any (they must keep at least two). The starting player (in this case, the player that has visited the most European cities in their lifetime) must draw train cards, claim a route, draw Destination Tickets or build a train station. On each turn, each player can only complete ONE of those actions.
The aim is to claim train routes on the map by collecting matching train cards to complete the route on the board, earning points to move around the board. The train routes are all various lengths, but the longest ones are worth a whole lot more than a collection of short routes. Locomotive cards are wild cards and can be used as any colour. When you have claimed enough matching cards to complete a route (shown by coloured spaces on the board), you can claim the route and place your trains on the board to link the cities or segments of the route together. As you start to claim routes you will make use of ferry routes, tunnel routes and even building train stations.
An easy, straightforward and sedate game to play. Not quite. It is a game of strategy and means you might need to block other players, rerouting their trains, and they could block you. The routes are broken up into segments and other players can claim segments of another player’s route to block them, forcing them to take much longer, indirect route or even abandoning a route. This makes the game much more challenging and fun and adds an element of strategic thinking, plotting and cunning planning into the game.
The game ends when a player has 2 or less trains left in their train stock, although this doesn’t necessarily make them the winner. The winner is determined by points earned, which are made up points from the current score + destination ticket bonus + points for stations kept and European Express Bonus. To make it more interesting, any uncompleted destination cards a player holds has the points for those deducted from their final score. The winner is one with most points, determined by the position of the scoring marker on the outside edge of the game board.

Overall, Ticket to Ride Europe is a fantastic addition to any family game night. With its engaging gameplay, beautiful board and components, and it’s educational value (learning places around Europe etc.) it’s fun for players of all ages. While the setup, playing time and complexity may be a slight drawback for some, it is easy to play and the overall experience is well worth it. And you don’t need to have any interest in trains or travelling, it is a game that will appeal to everybody (although it does help as it got a family member who NEVER joins in with board games playing).
I think that Ticket to Ride Europe is an excellent family-friendly strategy board game. It is lots of fun and the strategic nature of it makes it a fun and competitive game. Featuring a beautifully illustrated board depicting a map of Europe, along with detailed train pieces and colourful cards. The high-quality components add to the overall enjoyment of the game.
We loved that there is no one strategy to win. Do you go with the longer riskier routes (worth more points) or try and play safer with shorter routes (score less but often)? Do you try and block other players routes or just focus on your own destinations?
As for the educational value, well players learn about European geography, where different cities and countries are and it can help develop critical thinking and planning skills as they strategize their moves.
Ticket to Ride Europe is an excellent addition to any games cupboard. A fun family-friendly game. The large number of components and the detailed instruction booklet may be off-putting at first glance, but the rules are easy to learn, and the gameplay is engaging for both kids and adults. Time just flies by when playing.
It is a game with plenty of replayability as no game will be the same with different routes and strategies to explore. Each game is unique, ensuring that players will want to come back for more.
And it is perfect for encouraging social interaction and friendly competition, making it a great way to bond with family and friends.
We love Ticket to Ride Europe, it can be a time-consuming game with set up and playing time, so won’t be for everyone, but it is great fun and worth the time.
Rating: 5/5
RRP: £44.99
For more information, visit www.daysofwonder.com. Available to buy from Amazon here.
