Ticket to Ride - Europe - First Journey
In general, players collect train cards, claim routes on the map, and try to connect the cities shown on their tickets. In more detail, the game board shows a map of Europe with certain cities being connect by colored paths. Each player starts with four colored train cards in hand and two tickets; each ticket shows two cities, and you're trying to connect those two cities with a contiguous path of your trains in order to complete the ticket. On a turn, you either draw two train cards from the deck or discard train cards to claim a route between two cities; for this latter option, you must discard cards matching the color and number of spaces on that route (e.g., two yellow cards for a yellow route that's two spaces long). If you connect the two cities shown on a ticket with a path of your trains, reveal the ticket, place it face up in front of you, then draw a new ticket. (If you can't connect cities on either ticket because the paths are blocked, you can take your entire turn to discard those tickets and draw two new ones.) If you connect one of the westernmost cities (Dublin, Brest, Madrid) to one of the easternmost cities (Moscow, Rostov, Ankara) with a path of your turns, you immediately claim a special cross-continent ticket. The first player to complete six tickets wins! Alternatively, if someone has placed all twenty of their trains on the game board, then whoever has completed the most tickets wins!
In general, players collect train cards, claim routes on the map, and try to connect the cities shown on their tickets. In more detail, the game board shows a map of Europe with certain cities being connect by colored paths. Each player starts with four colored train cards in hand and two tickets; each ticket shows two cities, and you're trying to connect those two cities with a contiguous path of your trains in order to complete the ticket. On a turn, you either draw two train cards from the deck or discard train cards to claim a route between two cities; for this latter option, you must discard cards matching the color and number of spaces on that route (e.g., two yellow cards for a yellow route that's two spaces long). If you connect the two cities shown on a ticket with a path of your trains, reveal the ticket, place it face up in front of you, then draw a new ticket. (If you can't connect cities on either ticket because the paths are blocked, you can take your entire turn to discard those tickets and draw two new ones.) If you connect one of the westernmost cities (Dublin, Brest, Madrid) to one of the easternmost cities (Moscow, Rostov, Ankara) with a path of your turns, you immediately claim a special cross-continent ticket. The first player to complete six tickets wins! Alternatively, if someone has placed all twenty of their trains on the game board, then whoever has completed the most tickets wins!
In general, players collect train cards, claim routes on the map, and try to connect the cities shown on their tickets. In more detail, the game board shows a map of Europe with certain cities being connect by colored paths. Each player starts with four colored train cards in hand and two tickets; each ticket shows two cities, and you're trying to connect those two cities with a contiguous path of your trains in order to complete the ticket. On a turn, you either draw two train cards from the deck or discard train cards to claim a route between two cities; for this latter option, you must discard cards matching the color and number of spaces on that route (e.g., two yellow cards for a yellow route that's two spaces long). If you connect the two cities shown on a ticket with a path of your trains, reveal the ticket, place it face up in front of you, then draw a new ticket. (If you can't connect cities on either ticket because the paths are blocked, you can take your entire turn to discard those tickets and draw two new ones.) If you connect one of the westernmost cities (Dublin, Brest, Madrid) to one of the easternmost cities (Moscow, Rostov, Ankara) with a path of your turns, you immediately claim a special cross-continent ticket. The first player to complete six tickets wins! Alternatively, if someone has placed all twenty of their trains on the game board, then whoever has completed the most tickets wins!
In general, players collect train cards, claim routes on the map, and try to connect the cities shown on their tickets. In more detail, the game board shows a map of Europe with certain cities being connect by colored paths. Each player starts with four colored train cards in hand and two tickets; each ticket shows two cities, and you're trying to connect those two cities with a contiguous path of your trains in order to complete the ticket. On a turn, you either draw two train cards from the deck or discard train cards to claim a route between two cities; for this latter option, you must discard cards matching the color and number of spaces on that route (e.g., two yellow cards for a yellow route that's two spaces long). If you connect the two cities shown on a ticket with a path of your trains, reveal the ticket, place it face up in front of you, then draw a new ticket. (If you can't connect cities on either ticket because the paths are blocked, you can take your entire turn to discard those tickets and draw two new ones.) If you connect one of the westernmost cities (Dublin, Brest, Madrid) to one of the easternmost cities (Moscow, Rostov, Ankara) with a path of your turns, you immediately claim a special cross-continent ticket. The first player to complete six tickets wins! Alternatively, if someone has placed all twenty of their trains on the game board, then whoever has completed the most tickets wins!
in 5 offers
The lowest price for Ticket to Ride - Europe - First Journey right now is $46.95 at Kmart, compared across 5 retailers.
The all-time low was $21.38 on 20 July 2025 — today's price is 120% above the lowest ever. It has been notably cheaper before — worth setting a price alert.
Prices last updated 5 Oct 2026.
Last updated at 05/10/2026 13:27:51
Days of Wonder | Ticket to Ride Europe First Journey | 2-4 Players, Ages 6+
Free delivery
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Ticket To Ride: First Journey Europe Board Game
Free next-day delivery
Ticket To Ride - First Journey (Europe)
Delivery between 8–15 Oct $9.50
Ticket to Ride Europe First Journey | Board Game From Gameology
Delivery between 8–16 Oct $12
Days Of Wonder Ticket to Ride Europe First Journey
Delivery $14
originally posted on influenster.com
We got this game on a whim and my mother in law liked it so much that she bought expansions! We now have Europe, London, 1910, Rails and Sails, and First Journey (for kids). It's simple game play that people of all ages can pick up on quickly and enjoy together without the rules taking away from the fun of the game. In our particular situation grandparents and grandbabies play together often and each age group seems to enjoy it on the same level. While the original is pretty straight forward, I would say that First Journey is easier for kids about 6-10. Younger than that might struggle with the rules. In any case, we think it was a quality add to family nights.
originally posted on miniaturemarket.com
I'm not sure what I expected when I knew this was a much shorter version of Ticket to Ride. I really enjoy the full versions I've played, but I knew this could afford me the opportunity to have someone other than Alexa to play against more often. It is so quick that one barely has the opportunity to fulfill the first routes. I like it well enough, but it leaves me wanting to keep going. Not sure if there is a version that is somewhere in the middle, but if so, I need to find it!
originally posted on www.zavvi.com
I play board games for almost 40 years and heard about Ticket to Ride ever since it came out. I always delayed the buy of this game. Finally I saw it on Zavvi at a great price and tought the time had come to get this now we'll established classic. I have no regreats! The game play is easy but very strategic as players can interfere in other players plans indirectly. Easy to learn, to teach, to setup and get playing! Highly recommend this game from Days of Wonder as well as the Zavvi as the place to get it! It was sent very fast and very well packed and had no customs issues despite it being sent from the UK to Portugal. Cheers!
| Recommended Age | 6+ |
| Language | English |
| Count | 1 Game Board |
| Material | Plastic (Trains) |
| Maximum Players | 4 |
Days of Wonder | Ticket to Ride Europe First Journey | 2-4 Players, Ages 6+
Free delivery
Affiliate Disclosure: We may receive a small commission for purchases made through this link at no extra cost to you. This helps support our site. Thank you!
Ticket To Ride: First Journey Europe Board Game
Free next-day delivery
Ticket To Ride - First Journey (Europe)
Delivery between 8–15 Oct $9.50
Ticket to Ride Europe First Journey | Board Game From Gameology
Delivery between 8–16 Oct $12
Days Of Wonder Ticket to Ride Europe First Journey
Delivery $14
We got this game on a whim and my mother in law liked it so much that she bought expansions! We now have Europe, London, 1910, Rails and Sails, and First Journey (for kids). It's simple game play that people of all ages can pick up on quickly and enjoy together without the rules taking away from the fun of the game. In our particular situation grandparents and grandbabies play together often and each age group seems to enjoy it on the same level. While the original is pretty straight forward, I would say that First Journey is easier for kids about 6-10. Younger than that might struggle with the rules. In any case, we think it was a quality add to family nights.
I'm not sure what I expected when I knew this was a much shorter version of Ticket to Ride. I really enjoy the full versions I've played, but I knew this could afford me the opportunity to have someone other than Alexa to play against more often. It is so quick that one barely has the opportunity to fulfill the first routes. I like it well enough, but it leaves me wanting to keep going. Not sure if there is a version that is somewhere in the middle, but if so, I need to find it!
I play board games for almost 40 years and heard about Ticket to Ride ever since it came out. I always delayed the buy of this game. Finally I saw it on Zavvi at a great price and tought the time had come to get this now we'll established classic. I have no regreats! The game play is easy but very strategic as players can interfere in other players plans indirectly. Easy to learn, to teach, to setup and get playing! Highly recommend this game from Days of Wonder as well as the Zavvi as the place to get it! It was sent very fast and very well packed and had no customs issues despite it being sent from the UK to Portugal. Cheers!
There are two aspects to this game compared to other version of TtR. Firstly, the tickets are very high value; for even simple connections requiring 5 or 6 trains, 13 or 14 points were available, which is vastly over-weighted compared to in the original. Secondly, there is an additional resource of money which is required to build connections, with bonus points for those who conserve money the best.I have only played this twice so far, and on both occasions the biggest impact was from the much higher value tickets, with the winner being the person who happened to take tickets with routes that complemented each other nicely. This made it feel a little too random to me, but it may be that strategies have not yet adapted to the changes and that the end result will ... MoreThere are two aspects to this game compared to other version of TtR. Firstly, the tickets are very high value; for even simple connections requiring 5 or 6 trains, 13 or 14 points were available, which is vastly over-weighted compared to in the original. Secondly, there is an additional resource of money which is required to build connections, with bonus points for those who conserve money the best.I have only played this twice so far, and on both occasions the biggest impact was from the much higher value tickets, with the winner being the person who happened to take tickets with routes that complemented each other nicely. This made it feel a little too random to me, but it may be that strategies have not yet adapted to the changes and that the end result will actually be to encourage more ticket taking. The money for 'bridge tolls' aspect was completely ignored by those who ended up winning so didn't seem that effective.So as a game, I would say "ok" and I will definitely be looking to play again now that I have seen how games pan out on this board. However, the names of the cities are virtually unreadable on the board - choosing such a flowery font with names from a relatively rare language (Dutch) seems like a mistake. Being able to read the names on the tickets only partially makes up for this.
Smaller Ticket to Ride game to appeal to less hard core gamers. Plays just like Ticket to Ride, only much smaller and plays in about 30 minutes. Recognizable landmarks brings good theme into this smaller TTR game, though with a limited size board, it seems to take away from drawing for more tickets, where I think there may be more risk that you cannot complete the new tickets by game end. But otherwise it is enjoyable for what it is. It is a great gateway game and we bought it for our Game Inventory at our condo for vacationers that rent our unit.
Whilst we have lots going on, a little less space in the house and having less time, we have struggled to indulge in our large boxes of Ticket to Ride (of which we have a good few) so I decided to try this city-based version. Great smaller game that has the same gameplay as the originals, yet takes less space and time to complete. Slightly different in respect of high scores being harder to achieve with shorter routes, and fewer counters - double decker buses instead of train carriages. Fewer counters makes drawing extra destination tickets even more a point of jeopardy.Overall it is good fun that takes less time and space, and also costs less. I would consider other city variants in the future.
I'm not super picky however the game box was damaged but not the shipping box. Im going to assume it was the reason for the discounted price but it didn't say that (????) Not horrible however the inside black plastic game piece/card holder was cracked and a corner had shattered. I had this game in perfect condition but I gave it to my niece and nephew and figured I'd just buy a new one (they were visiting, didn't have time to order) I will deal with it but I do have gameboard adult children and they would have returned it based on the crack and box condition. The price was great and the shipping was fast but just be aware if you are very particular about your games.
For context we are a family of 5 ages 52,47,15,13 and 6 and need 5 player games that can be played and enjoyed by all and do not take too long. We had previously played the New York variant of ticket to ride and enjoyed that but it was only four player and was perhaps a bit simple.So we took the plunge and went the full Monty with the Europe version and all I can say is wow, wow, wow.Why so good you may ask - let me explain. With 5 people of varying ages and a youngest of 6 games for us need to be at heart a relatively simple concept for the youngest but have a more strategic layer for the older people and for the younger to grow into. TTR Europe combines this with the other important components of a good family game which I see as some inter-person competition ... MoreFor context we are a family of 5 ages 52,47,15,13 and 6 and need 5 player games that can be played and enjoyed by all and do not take too long. We had previously played the New York variant of ticket to ride and enjoyed that but it was only four player and was perhaps a bit simple.So we took the plunge and went the full Monty with the Europe version and all I can say is wow, wow, wow.Why so good you may ask - let me explain. With 5 people of varying ages and a youngest of 6 games for us need to be at heart a relatively simple concept for the youngest but have a more strategic layer for the older people and for the younger to grow into. TTR Europe combines this with the other important components of a good family game which I see as some inter-person competition and associated frustration, an element of luck ,the need to ponder every turn and be adaptable, take 30-60 minutes to complete and most importantly of course be enjoyable.I have read reviews by purists complaining about the concept of tunnels and stations but enjoyed these as they add an extra layer of analysis and element of your decision making, of course if you agree with the purists you simply can play without them.As yet I have not played enough to think what is best strategy - I lost horribly to my wife first time around as she focused on her long route and I focused on short routes and the longer connections but the fact that you can try and tackle the game with different strategies and learn and adapt really helps re-playability.I should also that all components are good quality and the board itself large and very nice to look at so a visual feast as well especially as the game reaches conclusions and the trains snake around the board.So all in all close to gaming perfection with the right blend of fun, duration and thinking.Is it the best 5 player family game I have played? I am still deciding but that is only because of Carcasonne which although has similar elements requires you to think differently and brings in an element of co-operation. Buy both would be my view!
This may be the best version of Ticket to Ride; the additional rules are easy to grasp but not essential if you prefer not using them, the European map is fun and thematic, and it's just a beautiful presentation of the solid TtR core. Good introduction to the franchise, but also unique enough to be a worthwhile addition to TtR collection. Lightweight mechanics combine nicely to build very strategic decision-making, highly recommend.
To start, this is a great game, we have been playing it for years. But they have changed how they are making it and it is now done super cheaply. The board is much thinner and flimsier and won’t lay flat. The counter pieces that used to be wood are now cheap plastic, and one of the colored trains came broken. The track on the board that is supposed to be red looks completely brown, so much that I thought they had changed it, but the cards still appear red. I bought this as a gift, and was so disappointed. I don’t know that the receiver would know the difference, but our older version is so much nicer, and the game has not gotten any less expensive to purchase. Such a bummer.
| Recommended Age | 6+ |
| Language | English |
| Count | 1 Game Board |
| Material | Plastic (Trains) |
| Maximum Players | 4 |
