Ticket to Ride is the ultimate game for people who love trains and board games.
However, did you know that there more than a dozen versions and expansions of the game available to play?
Below we rank 14 of them from best to worst based on scores from BoardGameGeek.com.
Just be aware that we list both stand-alone games and expansion packs below. Obviously, expansions packs require a full version of the game to play, so be sure to double check before you buy.
1. 10th Anniversary Edition
Game Description: The Ticket to Ride 10th Anniversary Edition comes in an oversize game box featuring new cover design and graphics.
It includes a giant US board map that is 50% larger than the original. It still uses the classic US routes, but with new illustrations and design.
There are 5 sets of finely sculpted custom plastic trains, each featuring a different type of train car and unique paint scheme reminiscent of toy trains of yesteryear.
These are nestled in 5 tin train storage boxes, each with their own custom logo and artwork matching the trains’ rail line. Added to the mix are 110 large format Train cards and 69 Destination Tickets (the original US map tickets, PLUS those from the 1910 expansion) and a new multi-lingual rules book in 12 languages.
This special 10th Anniversary Edition is a “must-have” for Ticket to Ride fans.
The game play remains faithful to the original classic US map version – but the new design, illustrations, oversized map and especially the new custom trains and tin storage boxes – take the Ticket to Ride experience to a whole new level.
BoardGameGeek Score: 8.33
List Price: $199.99
Buy: Click here To Buy Ticket to Ride: 10th Anniversary On Amazon
2. Map Collection Volume 5: United Kingdom & Pennsylvania
Game Description: Ticket to Ride: United Kingdom & Pennsylvania includes a double-sided game board.
One side will show a map of the United Kingdom, including Great Britain and Ireland, set in the 19th Century, at the dawn of the railroad revolution.
To play on this map, a completely new set of train cards are also included. A unique feature of this scenario is the introduction of Technology cards that allow players to improve the quality and sophistication of their trains during the game, allowing faster runs and longer routes.
Players must use Locomotive cards to purchase the Technology cards, forcing them to decide between technological development or expanding their route network on the map.
This scenario supports 2 to 4 players.
The other side of the game board shows a map of Pennsylvania.
Playing this scenario uses a deck of Stock Shares, representing actual historical railroads that operated in the region shown on the map.
When a player completes a route on the map, they have the opportunity to “invest” in a company through the use of the Stock Shares, with control of each company awarding bonus points at the end of the game.
This scenario supports 2 to 5 players.
Requires: Ticket To Ride or Ticket To Ride Europe
BoardGameGeek Score: 8.10
List Price: $45.79
Buy: Click Here To Buy Map Collection Volume 5: United Kingdom & Pennsylvania On Amazon
3. USA 1910 Expansion
Game Description: Ticket to Ride – USA 1910 is an expansion that will keep you playing well into the next decade!
Regardless of the version of Ticket to Ride you opt to play, the Ticket to Ride – USA 1910 deck will force even long time Ticket to Ride veterans to reconsider their well mapped-out strategies, and develop fresh tactics.
It is sure to bring your family and friends hundreds of hours of further enjoyment, riding the rails across a new America.
Requires: Ticket To Ride
BoardGameGeek Score: 8.02
List Price: $22.08
Buy: Click Here To Buy The USA 1910 Expansion On Amazon
4. Germany (Zug um Zug Deutschland)
Game Description: A complete stand-alone version of Ticket to Ride set-in Germany. Note all cards and rules are German, although they are similar to US version. Therefore, only recommended for those already familiar with how to play Ticket To Ride.
BoardGameGeek Score: 8.01
List Price: $52.98
Buy: Click Here To Buy Ticket To Ride Germany On Amazon
5. Map Collection Volume 2: India & Switzerland
Game Description: Embark on a tour of one of the most densely populated and colorful countries of the world with Ticket to Ride India & Switzerland in Volume 2 of the Ticket to Ride Map Collection.
The year is 1911, and the world is changing fast in the British Raj. Will you complete your Grand Tour in time, or lose to more cunning – or simply better connected – opponents?
This new map features unique Grand Tour of India bonuses, points awarded for routes with 2 different paths between Destination cities. This volume also includes Alan R. Moon’s terrific map of Switzerland, specifically designed for 2 and 3 players.
Discover Switzerland’s challenging geography with its verdant valleys and mountain passes, as well as the charm of its neighbouring countries.
Ticket to Ride India – Map Collection Volume 2 includes a double-sided board map of India, backed with Switzerland, plus Destination Tickets and Rules booklet for each map.
Requires: Ticket To Ride or Ticket To Ride Europe
BoardGameGeek Score: 7.85
List Price: $63.99
Buy: Click Here to Buy Map Collection Volume 2: India & Switzerland On Amazon
6. Asia: Map Collection Volume 1
Game Description: Specifically designed for up to 6 players, you and a partner will team up against other groups on a 25,000 km wild ride from Kabul to Beijing, through the steppes of Mongolia and the Gobi desert up to the Yellow River.
Or, if you prefer the quiet pleasures of traveling alone along the Silk Road, or winding your way through the hustle and bustle of Indochina, venture into Legendary Asia.
Just be ready for a hair-raising ride through the Mountain passes of the Himalayas.
Requires: Ticket To Ride or Ticket To Ride Europe
BoardGameGeek Score: 7.74
List Price: $49.81
Buy: Click Here To Buy Asia: Map Collection Volume 1 on Amazon
7. Nordic Countries
Game Description: Ticket to Ride Nordic countries takes you on a Nordic adventure through Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden as you travel to the great northern cities of Copenhagen, Oslo, Helsinki and Stockholm.
Visit Norway’s beautiful fjords and the magnificent mountain scenery on the trauma railway. Breathe in the salt air of the busy Swedish ports on the Baltic Sea.
Ride through the Danish countryside where Vikings once walked. Hop-on the Finnish railway and travel across the Arctic Circle to the land of the midnight sun.
Players collect cards of various types of train cars that enable them to claim railway routes and pass through tunnels and onto ferries, as they connect cities throughout the Nordic countries.
As with previous versions, the game remains elegant, can be learned in 5 minutes and provides hours of fun for families and experienced gamers alike.
Ticket to ride Nordic countries is a complete board game designed specifically for 2 or 3 players.
BoardGameGeek Score: 7.67
List Price: $64.95
Buy: Click Here To Buy Ticket to Ride Nordic Countries On Amazon
8. Europa 1912 Expansion
Game Description: The Ticket to Ride Europa 1912 expansion for the Ticket to Ride series includes 101 Destination Tickets, the 46 original tickets, plus 55 new ones that enable 3 new variants to the Ticket to Ride Europe map:
- Europe Expanded, which adds 19 new routes to the original 46
- Big Cities of Europe, with tickets to 9 major European cities
- Mega Europe, which uses all the new routes as well as the 46 original Destination Tickets
This expansion also introduces Warehouses and Depots, new game rules and pieces that create an additional strategic layer and can be played with any of the Ticket to Ride maps.
Wooden Train Depots are placed on cities selected by each player. Throughout the game, each player’s Warehouse will accumulate Train cards and those who have the foresight, clever timing, or just plain good fortune to build a route to a Depot can make off with a fistful of Train cards.
Depot placement and skillful Warehouse tactics become a key part of a winning Ticket to Ride strategy. An original copy of any complete game in the Ticket to Ride series is required to play with Warehouses and Depots.
New Destination Tickets are for use only with Ticket to Ride Europe.
Requires: Ticket To Ride Europe
BoardGameGeek Score: 7.64
List Price: $19.99
Buy: Click Here To Buy The Europa 1912 Expansion On Amazon
9. Ticket To Ride Europe
Game Description: Get ready for a new train adventure as you travel across Europe with Ticket to Ride – Europe, the new edition of the worldwide hit from Days of Wonder.
From Edinburgh to Constantinople and from Lisbon to Moscow, the game will take you on a ride to the great cities of turn-of-the-century Europe.
More than just a new map, Ticket to Ride – Europe features brand new gameplay elements including Tunnels, Ferries and Train Stations.
Plus, we’ve upgraded you to First-Class accommodations with larger cards, new Train Station game pieces, and a lavishly illustrated gameboard.
Like the original, the game remains elegantly simple, can be learned in three minutes, and appeals to both families and experienced gamers.
Ticket to Ride – Europe is a complete, new game and does not require the original version. It is for 2 to 5 players, and it takes 30-60 minutes to play.
BoardGameGeek Score: 7.59
List Price: $32.15
Buy: Click Here To Buy Ticket To Ride Europe On Amazon
10. Map Collection Heart of Africa Volume 3
Game Description: Set in the vast wilderness of Africa at the height of its exploration by intrepid explorers, missionaries and adventurers, this new single-sided board map focuses on the central and southern heart of the continent displayed in a vertical format.
This new map introduces 45 new Terrain Cards, divided into 3 different Terrain Types.
Each Terrain Type is associated with different Route colors:
- Desert/Savanna cards for Yellow Orange and Red Routes
- Jungle/Forest cards for Green, Blue and Purple Routes
- Mountain/Cliff cards for Black, White and Grey Routes
Players can draw Terrain cards just like Train cards and they may use these to double the value of the routes they claim. Designed for 2-5 players.
Requires: Ticket To Ride or Ticket To Ride Europe
BoardGameGeek Score: 7.51
List Price: $37.78
Buy: Click Here To Buy Map Collection Heart of Africa Volume 3 on Amazon
11. Map Collection Volume 4 Nederland
Game Description: Ticket to Ride Nederland is the fourth in the series of Ticket to Ride Map Collection expansions and is set in The Netherlands low-country with hundreds of canals and rivers and just as many bridges that cross them.
In Ticket to Ride Nederland all routes have a cost, which players must pay for with Bridge Toll Tokens. When the first route of a Double-route is claimed, the corresponding value of Bridge Toll Tokens is paid directly to the bank; but when it is the second route, the value is paid to the player who claimed the first route instead.
Players score bonus points based on the total value of Bridge Toll Tokens they still own at game’s end.
In addition to the new map, Ticket to Ride Nederland includes 44 Destination Tickets, new Bridge Toll Tokens and multi-lingual rule book. Designed for 2 to 5 players.
Requires: Ticket To Ride or Ticket To Ride Europe
BoardGameGeek Score: 7.49
List Price: $41.95
Buy: Click Here To Buy Map Collection Volume 4 Nederland on Amazon
12. Ticket To Ride
Game Description: Ticket to Ride is a cross-country train adventure game. Players collect train cards that enable them to claim railway routes connecting cities throughout North America. The longer the routes, the more points they earn.
Additional points come to those who can fulfill their Destination Tickets by connecting two distant cities, and to the player who builds the longest continuous railway.
For 2 to 5 players ages 8 and older. Playing time: 30-60 minutes.
Comes with: 1 Board map of North American train routes, 240 Colored Train Cars, 110 Train Car cards, 30 Destination Tickets, 5 Wooden Scoring Markers, 1 Days of Wonder Online access number, and a Rules booklet.
BoardGameGeek Score: 7.48
List Price: $33.99
Buy: Click here To Buy Ticket To Ride On Amazon
13. Rails & Sails Board Game
Game Description: Ticket to Ride Rails & Sails is the new instalment in this best-selling train adventure series.
Players collect cards of various types (trains and ships) that enable them to claim railway and sea routes on a nicely illustrated double-sided board, featuring the world map on one side and the great lakes of North America on the other.
Elegantly simple and fast to learn, it takes the ticket to ride series to the next level! Veteran railroaders as well as family and friends will be delighted to set sail to the new horizons of ticket to ride rails and sails.
BoardGameGeek Score: 7.43
List Price: $89.99
Buy: Click Here To Buy Ticket To Ride Rails & Sails On Amazon
14. Ticket To Ride Marklin
Game Description: The Märklin Edition of Ticket to Ride is the third instalment in the bestselling board game series. Like its predecessors, the Märklin Edition is simple, fun and addictive.
Players collect sets of train cards that enable them to claim railway routes and fulfil their all-important Destination Tickets by connecting distant cities across a map of Germany.
The Märklin Edition also introduces a new Ticket to Ride game play element – passengers that are used to pick up valuable merchandise along the routes.
Created in partnership with Märklin, the world leader in model railroading, this edition features – 118 historical train photographs, each carefully selected from the incomparable Märklin archives.
Ticket to Ride – Marklin is a complete, stand-alone game and does not require the original version.
It is for 2-5 players, and it takes 30-60 minutes to play.
BoardGameGeek Score: 7.42
List Price: $129.99
Buy: Click Here To Buy Ticket To Ride Marklin On Amazon
Enjoy this article? Please help us by sharing it with other Ticket to Ride fans:
Doctor Mist says
Would have been nice to provide a little more insight into how the rules and play vary from one set to another.
DRDoran says
I’d like to know the exact order of all of the Ticket to Ride games. You mention a few by their volume number (e.g. volume 4 is Nederland) but how many volumes are there and in what order?
Sdu754 says
Odd that the 10th Anniversary is first on your list, but the original, which is the EXACT SAME game, sits twelfth. One could argue that the anniversary edition isn’t as good because it’s too big to fit on most tables, and the red and “yellow” trains are nearly the same color. The only advantages to the anniversary edition is the tins to hold the trains and the additional route cards if that really matters to you.
The original should have also been higher because it’s a stand alone game, many of these editions require another version to play. It also doesn’t have silly addons that are put in other versions to simply be different.
Things like stock, passengers, train depots, tunnels and warehouses take away from the simplicity of the game without adding anything of value to the game.
Daniel says
Here are the stand-alone versions and expansions that are listed in the booklet that came with Europe as of this time:
Stand Alone Games:
-Ticket to Ride
-Ticket to Ride Europe
-Ticket to Ride Nordic Countries
-Ticket to Ride Rails & Sails/Great Lakes
-Ticket to Ride Germany
Expansions:
-USA 1910
-Europa 1912
Map Packs (require a copy of Ticket to Ride or Ticket to Ride Europe):
-Volume 1:Team Asia/Legendary Asia
-Volume 2: India/Switzerland
-Volume 3: The Heart of Africa
-Volume 4: Nederland
-Volume 5: United Kingdom/Pennsylvania
-Volume 6: France/Old West
– Volume 7: Japan/Italy
City express stand alone games:
-New York
-London
-Amsterdam
The stand-alones and the map packs aren’t just new maps, they also add new features! I do not think the city ones do, though.
By the time you’re reading this, it might be outdated.
Hope this helps!
KJ says
Super helpful! New to this game. Just purchased Japan/Italy and at the store was told all versions are stand alone. Guess I will be returning for the Europe edition.
Diane M Harrington says
When are they going to release a version on our 5th continent, Australia? There are passenger trains that run throughout the country. It would be great if they would make one. Maybe used fairies to the islands of New Zealand. ( north island , south island ) The island of Tasmania from Melbourne or Sydney. Possibly to Papua New Guinea and Indonesia from the northern territory of Darwin and back through the Great Barrier Reef. There’s Queensland, Sydney, Melbourne and other places that lead into ‘The Outback’ in the desert to Coober Pedy . There’s the western territory Perth. It used to be known as a step back in time. And of course Uluru . I’ve been waiting for a number of years to see one designed. I am very disappointed that one has not been built yet. I’d be happy to add my selection of locations throughout the ‘Land Down Under’. I’ve been there several times and it’s a wonderful place to visit! And, many train trips throughout the land. Time for someone to add this continent to the collection of table games since many of us are in home lock down due to this pandemic. Come on Alan R. Moon and company! Time for another Ticket to Ride challenge. Please feel free to contact me if you need any help in designing ‘ The Land Down Under ‘ as an addition to your Ticket to Ride collection.
Scott A Byrd says
Australia, our 5th continent? (It’s actually the 6th. Or, were you referring to the order of game versions?) Regardless, an Aussie version of “Ticket to Ride” might be feasible IF there are sufficient ways to differentiate it from the “USA” and “Europe” versions. Simply pushing out an Australian variant wouldn’t serve much purpose except to satisfy those familiar with, or the 20-some million living in, the Land Down Under — a la Monopoly and its many versions.
Aside from merely connecting cities and towns, what facts and features of Australia might serve to help differentiate such a game from the USA and Europe versions? Given that Australia is mostly desert, with major population centers around the coastline (and smaller ones like Alice Springs, Tennant Creek, and Kalgoorlie in the interior), how could this work?
Maybe, as with the France game variant, there could be a requirement to lay the tracks first. (True, all railroads need tracks to begin with, but this requirement would have special significance — a la The Ghan — with respect to an Australia version, given the continent’s particularly challenging interior environment.) Introducing some risk or uncertainty factor for cross-continent routes — Adelaide-to-Darwin or Melbourne-to-Perth, for example — along with a corresponding high bonus for successful completion, would reflect the difficulties that the interior posed and might be one way to differentiate this version.
Also, since Australia is especially rich in mineral resources, introducing a token system (similar to the Meeples feature of the Germany version) would be another way to differentiate an Australian version.
And with the small towns in the interior, perhaps use of “spur” lines (with greater points for connecting more towns farther into the interior), the use of an interior terminus, and the use of competition to reach these interior towns, would be another way to differentiate “Ticket to Ride: Australia”.
Yet another way to differentiate this version might be to award points for linking the various capitol’s of Australia’s six states and two territories (ignoring the ridiculous Jervis Bay Territory).
Tempting as it might be to include New Zealand, that seems only to add extraneous territory and unnecessarily expand the map. However, retention of Tazmania would be reasonable. Aside from accuracy, it would provide the need for a ferry line and could serve as a source of bonus points for resources and for linking a capitol.
These are just thoughts off the top of the noggin but, like you, I think it would be a blast to collaborate with Alan Moon in designing, testing, and refining such a version of TTR. Who knows? Maybe one or both of us will hear from him, if he reads these comments.
Darch says
Many of the states of Australia have different train track widths. TTR Straya could potentially incorporate a requirement for different sets of trains for different localities as a point of difference.
Barb says
I agree with you! I’m looking forward to Ticket to Ride Down Under, as well!
milena says
just read the instructions of the version you buy. it varies slightly.
Helene Narewska says
We would like an Australian version too