Three Travellers, Six Days, and a Kashmir Winter Done Right: Megha's Trip with Thrillophilia
Thrillophilia Verified Booking
PNR: BKDBPOK3DA2
Rating: ★★★★★
Travellers: Megha Shanbhag, Raghuveer Kamat, Ronit Kamat
Trip Duration: 6 Days | 5 Nights
Date of Travel: 14 Feb 2025 - 19 Feb 2025
Package Booked: Romantic Escape to Kashmir | FREE Excursion to Gulmarg
Valentine's Day in Kashmir is its own kind of trip. Most couples who book it are looking for the version of Kashmir that lives in their heads before they visit: snow on the chinar trees, the Dal Lake still in the early morning, and the mountains sitting close enough to feel borrowed from another world.
The family landed in Srinagar on the 14th of February for exactly that, and Megha's Kashmir review on Trustpilot that soon followed was simple, yet to the point.
"It was an amazing experience travelling to Kashmir. Thanks to Thrillophilia team for a well planned itinerary. The hotels provided were awesome with good food and ambiance."
Three sentences. For a six-day February Kashmir trip covering Srinagar, Sonmarg, Gulmarg and Pahalgam with all private transfers and a non-AC sedan on mountain roads in winter, that is a review that does not need padding around it.
Srinagar Set the Tone on Day One
They landed at Sheikh ul-Alam International Airport, and the Toyota Etios was waiting. The hotel in Srinagar was the base for the first three nights. After check-in, the afternoon went straight into the Mughal Gardens circuit.
Shalimar Bagh first, with its terraced lawns and the chinar rows that frame the view of the Zabarwan Hills behind the garden. In February the fountains are off and the flowerbeds are bare, but the structure of the garden is clearest at this time of year. Nishat Bagh follows, twelve terraces dropping towards Dal Lake, with the water visible from the upper levels. Chashme Shahi, Pari Mahal and the Botanical Garden rounded out the afternoon. Six stops in six hours, all on private transfer.
For a group of three arriving in Kashmir in February, a first-day sightseeing circuit is the right call. It gives everyone a sense of the city's geography before the excursion days begin.
Sonmarg Was the Glacier Day
Day two was the drive out to Sonmarg. The Thajiwas Glacier pony stand is the departure point, and the pony ride up to the glacier is at your own cost. In February, the valley sits under a proper layer of snow, and the glacier itself blends into the surrounding white until you are close enough to see where the ice starts.
Krishnasar Lake and Baltal Valley were the other stops on the day. The drive back to Srinagar in the late afternoon takes a couple of hours, and the Sindh River runs alongside the road for stretches, which catches the last of the light well.
The day is long and physically easy if you take the ponies, but the cold on the upper slopes of the Thajiwas in February is the kind that requires a proper layer rather than the standard light jacket most travellers from the plains pack.
Gulmarg Was the Day the View Changed Everything
Day three was Gulmarg. The drive from Srinagar takes about ninety minutes, and the resort sits at 2,650 metres with the ski slopes running down from the ridgeline above the town.
The Gondola cable car tickets are not included in the package and need to be booked directly through the official government website in advance, which Harsh had communicated during the planning stage. Phase one of the gondola runs from the base station to Kongdori. Phase two continues up to Apharwat Peak at 3,979 metres, where the snow in February is properly deep and the view opens across the Kashmir valley below.
Drung Waterfall and Strawberry Valley on the way back filled the afternoon before the return transfer.
Pahalgam Was the Quiet Half of the Trip
Day four was the transfer to Pahalgam and the ABC Valley circuit. Aru Valley first, with the open meadows and the wooden bridge over the stream. Betaab Valley in the afternoon, where the Lidder River runs through the pine forests and the Bollywood connection to the valley is impossible to miss once you know it. Chandanwari last, with the mountain views that justify the drive up.
The union cab for the ABC circuit is arranged separately at the stand and not part of the package vehicle, which had been made clear in the trip briefing. One night at the Pahalgam hotel, with dinner included.
The Dal Lake Shikara Closed the Trip
Day five brought them back to Srinagar. Shankaracharya Temple in the morning, then Lal Chowk for the handicraft shopping, Badam Wari Park, and the shikara ride on Dal Lake in the late afternoon.
February light on Dal Lake sits low and golden for most of the afternoon. The shikara moves slowly through the houseboats and the floating gardens at the outer edges of the lake, and the mountains ring the horizon on three sides. For a group of three who had spent the previous four days in the mountains, the slowness of the lake on the last evening was the right kind of close. Day six was the airport drop.
What the Three Sentences Say About Thrillophilia's Coordination
Harsh handled the Kashmir booking on the Thrillophilia side. The non-AC sedan on a private basis kept the group together and on their own schedule. Breakfast and dinner included at all three hotels meant nobody was hunting for meals after long sightseeing days.
The Gondola booking communication, the ABC Valley cab briefing, the pony ride cost-note for Sonmarg, all of it had been clarified before the trip, so nothing on the ground came as a surprise.
When a traveller comes back from six days across four Kashmir destinations in February and writes only three sentences, those are covering a lot of ground.
