Red Dead Redemption 2 is home to an absolutely massive world. You’ll spend a lot of time traversing it. But after your first few mammoth treks between destinations, you’ll likely wonder if there’s a faster way to get where you’re going. While the scenery is certainly nice, it’s not nice enough that you’ll want to watch it whiz by over and over.
Luckily, there’s a way to get from A to B without too much fuss. It’s all thanks to the fast travel function. Unfortunately, this mechanic that’s so common in other games isn’t unlocked immediately upon jumping into the game. Nor is it available after you reach new destinations on the map. If you want to activate fast travel, here’s how to go about it.
How to unlock fast travel in Red Dead Redemption 2
Fast travel is unfortunately not available automatically in Red Dead Redemption 2. You must progress through the story mode first to utilize it.
During the mission “Money Lending and Other Sins,” you’ll unlock the Ledger after collecting your first debt. The Ledger is an important tool. It allows you to upgrade various parts of your camp. Purchases here detract from your camp’s funds. You can donate cash and items to bolster those coffers, but it only automatically accrues money very slowly over time. So be mindful of what you spend.
When you finally have access to the Ledger, look for the “Lodgings” section. Upgrade it once, and you’ll find a new option to upgrade Arthur Morgan’s tent. Complete the next upgrade, and you should now have access to the fast travel option.
Fast travel doesn’t work the way you probably expecting, however. You can’t just pop open the map, find the place you want to go, and select it. You must first go to Arthur’s tent, where you’ll find the game map. You have to choose an area you’ve previously visited, then select it and wait for a short scene to play. You and your horse will eventually appear in the new area.
Alternative fast travel methods in Red Dead Redemption 2
The default fast travel method is the quickest way to get between distant areas, but you don’t want to miss the other ways Arthur can mosey around, either. There’s a perfectly good stagecoach, for instance, that you can utilize at most towns. All you need to do is look for an icon with a special signpost. You can head there and pay for a stagecoach ride to any valid destination.
You can’t use a stagecoach during certain missions, if you have a bounty on your head, or are on your horse, however. So if you approach one and see a lock on the icon, you may need to avail yourself of one of these statuses before you climbing aboard.
But this is the Wild West, after all. Stagecoaches aren’t the only other form of travel. You can also move from place to place via trains, marked with envelope icons on your map. You just won’t have as many choices about where to go. Trains are the cheaper way to travel, however.
Every fast travel method has its own benefits. Both trains and stagecoaches are available well before you can purchase the fast travel upgrade. Not to mention you can use them all around the world. The fast travel upgrade is the only way to zip away from camp, however, and it’s cheaper in the long run.
Whatever you use, at least now you won’t be stuck trudging around by horse!
