Somebody has lost the rulebook. It is always the rulebook.
Good news: Days of Wonder host the official Ticket to Ride Europe rules as a free PDF on their own site, so you can have it open on a phone in about ten seconds. The link is below, and underneath it we’ve written out the full rules anyway — because half the time you don’t want an eight-page PDF, you want to settle one argument about tunnels and get back to the game.
Download the Official Rules PDF
Standard Edition
Ticket to Ride: Europe — Official Rules (English)
The 2019 printing of the standard retail edition. 5 pages. This is the one you want if your box has 45 trains per player and 46 Destination Tickets.
15th Anniversary
Ticket to Ride: Europe 15th Anniversary Edition
A different, larger box with train miniatures and 108 Destination Tickets. The rules overlap but the components don't — grab this one only if that's the edition on your table.
Both files are hosted by Days of Wonder, the game’s publisher. We link to the official source rather than rehosting it, so you’re always getting the current version.
The Object of the Game
Score the most points. You earn them four ways:
- Claiming routes between two adjacent cities — longer routes are worth disproportionately more
- Completing Destination Tickets — a continuous path between the two cities named on the card
- The longest continuous path of routes, which wins the European Express bonus
- Train Stations left unused at the end of the game
Destination Tickets you fail to complete are subtracted from your score. That tension — take more tickets for more points, or play it safe — is the whole game.
Setup
Three-Locomotive rule: if the five face-up cards ever include three Locomotives at once, discard all five and deal five new ones.
On Your Turn — Pick One Action
Action 1
Draw Train Car Cards
Take 2 cards, from the face-up display or blind from the draw pile. Taking a face-up Locomotive uses your whole turn — that's your only card.
Action 2
Claim a Route
Play a set of matching cards equal to the route's length and place your trains. Score immediately from the table below. Grey routes accept any single colour.
Action 3
Draw Destination Tickets
Draw 3 tickets and keep at least 1. Anything you keep and fail to complete costs you its value at the end.
Action 4
Build a Train Station
Your 1st station costs 1 card, the 2nd costs 2 matching cards, the 3rd costs 3. It lets you borrow one route through that city.
Tunnels, Ferries and Stations
These three are what separate Europe from the original Ticket to Ride, and they’re where nearly every rules argument starts.
| Route Type | The Rule |
|---|---|
| Tunnel | Play your cards, then flip 3 from the draw pile. For each flipped card matching your colour, you must play one more card of that colour — or take everything back and forfeit the turn. |
| Ferry | Requires a specific number of Locomotives, shown on the route. Locomotives are mandatory here, not optional. |
| Station | Lets you use one route belonging to another player through that city, but only for completing your Destination Tickets. |
On tunnels: Locomotives count as a match for any colour, so they’ll trigger the surcharge. If you claim a tunnel using only Locomotives, you only pay extra when a Locomotive is flipped. Always keep a spare card or two before attempting a long tunnel — getting bounced off one wastes an entire turn.
On stations: each station only ever borrows one route, no matter how many tickets that helps. And each one you don’t build is worth 4 points at the end, so building all three is usually a mistake.
Scoring
Points for claiming a route, scored the moment you place the trains:
| Route Length | Points |
|---|---|
| 1 | 1 |
| 2 | 2 |
| 3 | 4 |
| 4 | 7 |
| 6 | 15 |
| 8 | 21 |
At the end of the game:
- Completed Destination Tickets — add the value printed on the card
- Incomplete Destination Tickets — subtract the value printed on the card
- European Express bonus — +10 for the longest continuous path (stations don’t count toward it)
- Unused Train Stations — +4 each
End of the Game
When any player finishes their turn with 2 or fewer train cars remaining, everyone (including that player) gets one final turn. Then reveal tickets and total the scores.
Ties go to whoever completed the most Destination Tickets. Still tied? The European Express bonus card breaks it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where can I download the official Ticket to Ride Europe rules PDF?
Days of Wonder, the publisher, hosts it free on their CDN. The standard 2019 edition rulebook is linked at the top of this page; there's a separate PDF for the 15th Anniversary Edition, which has different components.
How do tunnels work in Ticket to Ride Europe?
After you play your cards for a tunnel, flip the top 3 cards of the draw pile. Every flipped card matching the colour you played means one extra card of that colour. If you can't or won't pay, take your cards back — the turn is simply lost.
Do I need Locomotives for ferry routes?
Yes. Ferries show a Locomotive symbol on one or more spaces, and those must be paid with actual Locomotive cards. No other colour substitutes.
What are train stations for?
A station lets you use one route owned by another player passing through that city, purely to complete your own Destination Tickets. Each unused station is worth 4 points at the end, so build them only when a ticket is genuinely blocked.
How many cards do you start with in Ticket to Ride Europe?
Four Train Car cards and four Destination Tickets (1 long, 3 short), of which you must keep at least two.
Once you’ve got the rules down, our Ticket to Ride: Europe review covers whether it’s the version worth owning, and the simplified how-to-play guide is the faster read if you’re teaching it to someone new.
Thumbnail image artificially generated for illustrative purposes.
