Days of Wonder wants to celebrate the fifth anniversary of their train travel boardgame by hosting a Ticket to Ride World Championship in Paris, France on June of 2010. There will be eight National Championships (North America, France, Germany, UK, Benelux, Spain and Poland), yielding the top eight players in the world, plus two alternates per region in case the National champion cannot make it.

Each National champion will receive air/train fare to and hotel accommodations in Paris, a National Champion trophy and a set of gold-plated Ticket to Ride train game pieces with a matching score marker. The World Championship winner will receive a trip for two on the legendary and luxurious Orient-Express Train, from London, England to Venice, Italy, including a two-night stay at both ends of the journey. If that prize alone is not reason enough to play in this tournament, I don’t know what is!

Check out the Days of Wonder site for full rules and Regional Championship information and bust out those Ticket to Ride boardgames and start practicing!