From Amsterdam Canals to Swiss Peaks: Sanket's and Krina’s 13-Day Europe Journey with Thrillophilia

Thrillophilia Verified Booking
PNR: BKDF7LFSGNE
Rating: ★★★★
Travellers: Sanket Bhaven Shah & Krina Pankaj Mandavia
Trip Duration: 13 Days | 12 Nights
Date of Travel: 25 Mar 2026 to 06 Apr 2026
Package Booked: Wonders of Switzerland and Paris | Glitz & Glaciers

The first real sign that the trip had finally begun came somewhere between platform announcements at Mumbai airport and Krina checking the Europe folder on her phone for the fourth time.

Train tickets, hotel confirmations, museum timings, Swiss Pass details, and local transport passes had already been neatly organised days in advance by the team. Still, both of them kept reopening the same files anyway, partly to double-check things and partly because the excitement had started feeling real now.

For Sanket and Krina, this was not the kind of Europe trip where they wanted to rush through cities just to “cover” them. They wanted slower mornings, scenic train journeys, cafés they accidentally discovered, and enough time to actually enjoy each place instead of constantly watching the clock.

Their journey began on 25th March 2026 and unfolded over thirteen days through Amsterdam, Paris, Bern, Interlaken, and Zurich. Looking back later, what stood out most was not just the destinations themselves but how smoothly the entire journey moved from one country to another.

In fact, in Sanket's Europe review on Reddit, he highlighted how seamless the trip had felt.

"The overall experience of the trip was truly amazing indeed. All the scheduled activities Thriliophilia had planned were well organised and the travel was also smooth."

Amsterdam Felt Calm Right From the Beginning

Amsterdam eased them into the trip gently.

The airport transfer was already arranged, the hotel sat comfortably close to the station, and within a few hours of landing, they were already walking beside canals lined with glowing evening lights. In the later legs of their tour, this specific detail was what added significantly to the trip's smooth flow, as Sanket mentioned in his Europe review on Reddit.

"Hotels were accessible from the station and we could easily walk to the nearest public transport point."

Check out Sanket complete review on Reddit.

That first evening included the Van Gogh Museum and a canal cruise through the city.

The next two days carried the same rhythm forward. The windmills of Zaanse Schans, cheese tastings in Edam, narrow streets in Volendam, and the peaceful canals of Giethoorn made the trip feel varied without becoming hectic. Giethoorn especially stayed with them longer than expected.

In those moments, they faced no traffic sounds or no crowded roads. There were just small bridges, quiet canals, and boats slowly passing through the village. It was the kind of place where time naturally slowed down.

Paris Brought Energy Back Into the Journey

If Amsterdam felt calm, Paris immediately brought movement and excitement back into the trip.

The Eurostar journey itself felt smooth, and the hotel’s location near public transport made exploring surprisingly convenient. That ended up becoming one of the things Sanket appreciated most throughout the journey. Almost every hotel selected by Thrillophilia stayed well connected without feeling inconvenient after long travel days. The first evening in Paris unfolded through the hop-on-hop-off bus tour and Seine river cruise.

The Eiffel Tower appearing slowly between city streets at night still became one of the strongest memories from the entire trip. The following day covered the Eiffel Tower summit and the Louvre Museum. While the Louvre was massive and overwhelming in the best way possible, Krina later joked that watching people desperately trying to photograph the Mona Lisa became an experience on its own. But Paris also stayed memorable for smaller moments.

Switzerland Changed the Pace Completely

The moment they entered Switzerland, the journey shifted again.

Train windows slowly filled with snow-covered mountains, lakes reflecting entire villages, and tiny stations that looked unreal even in passing. And thanks to the Swiss Pass already arranged beforehand, travelling through the country felt far less stressful than they had expected.

Bern became their first stop.

The city felt quieter compared to Amsterdam and Paris, which honestly worked perfectly after the faster pace of the previous destinations. From there, they travelled to Glacier 3000, where the snow, suspension bridge views, and endless mountain landscapes finally delivered the “Swiss postcard” feeling they had imagined before the trip. But Interlaken became the part of the journey they spoke about most later.

Jungfraujoch especially felt surreal.

Standing at the “Top of Europe” surrounded by snowfields and icy mountain air felt very different from simply seeing photos online. Even Matterhorn Glacier Paradise carried that same feeling, less like sightseeing and more like stepping into landscapes that almost looked unreal. Somewhere during those Switzerland train journeys, both of them realised they had completely stopped checking schedules nervously.

The trip had started flowing naturally on its own.

How Thrillophilia Quietly Held Everything Together

For Sanket and Krina, the biggest success of the trip was how organised everything felt without becoming rigid.

Every activity stayed properly coordinated, the hotels remained close to stations and public transport, and the transitions between countries never felt exhausting. The Swiss Pass especially made Switzerland feel incredibly easy to navigate, even across longer journeys.

In Sanket's Europe review on Reddit, he also appreciated their on-trip PoC, Himani Sharma.

"Special mention to Ms. Himani Sharma on her constant support during the whole trip and being in touch guiding us through Amsterdam, Paris, Switzerland." 

Whether it was activity guidance, transport clarification, or quick coordination help, her support removed a lot of the usual stress that comes with multi-country travel.

Somewhere between Amsterdam’s canals, Paris evenings, and Switzerland’s mountain trains, the journey stopped feeling like a checklist of famous destinations, and it started feeling personal instead.

By the time they boarded their final airport transfer from Zurich on 6th April 2026, both of them already knew this would not be the last long international trip they planned together.

Also Read: Three Women, Five Days, and Britain Done Properly: Rucha's Europe Trip with Thrillophilia