Reset search
Japan, UK & Europe 2026
  • The Shifting Spanners
Current
  • The Shifting Spanners

Japan, UK & Europe 2026

A 90-day adventure by The Shifting Spanners Read more
FollowInsightsInsightsCalendarCalendarPhotosPhotosShareShareBucket list
InsightsCalendarPhotos
  • Last seen in
    🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 City of Edinburgh, Scotland
    The Shifting SpannersJapan, UK & Europe 2026The Shifting Spanners

    Edinburgh

    August 19 in Scotland ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C

    We travelled along the huge Loch Lomond as we negotiated the Scottish Highlands, before stopping at a bus rest stop where our tour guide had organised a fellow to play bagpipes exclusively for us. Absolutely beautiful spot and to be greeted with the bagpipes was fantastic!

    We then called in to Loch Ness. Marg & I opted out of the boat ride on the lake and just wandered around the town, had coffee and some fish and chips. No reported sighting of Nessie haha.

    Another couple of stops at the Commandos Memorial and to see some Highland Cows before finally reaching our destination...Edinburgh. A quick tour through town passing some Harry Potter significant landmarks and of course Edinbugh Castle. Included dinner at a pub and checked in to a very nice Novatel for a couple of days.

    We visited Stirling township on our free day in Edinbugh. On the way we called in to The Kelpies statues and climbed the 249 stairs of the William Wallace Monument...a great day.

    On the last night in Edinbugh, we were taken to a quaint little pub in Torphichen where the owners put on a great dinner and show. The best haggis in Scotland!    Read more

  • The Shifting SpannersJapan, UK & Europe 2026The Shifting Spanners

    Highlands

    August 18 in Scotland ⋅ 🌧 13 °C

    Today started with a ferry ride over to Scotland...only about 3 hours.
    First stop in Scotland was a beaut little whisky distillery...Jackton Distillery. After a talk and demonstration and few included tipples we set off for our hotel at Arrochar set on the banks of Loch Long and just up the road from Loch Lomond. We had a beaut room overlooking the lake (loch).
    Tried my first haggis and they were beautiful...although I suspect them being crumbed and covered in a peppercorn sauce might have influenced the taste haha.    Read more

  • The Shifting SpannersJapan, UK & Europe 2026The Shifting Spanners

    Belfast

    August 17 in Northern Ireland ⋅ 🌧 17 °C

    Today started with a visit to Derry Londonderry. Derry has a great city wall complete with cannons, bastions etc that we walked around.

    Next stop was Giants Causeway. A famous rock formation of much legend.

    Arrived at Belfast and were treated to a bus tour of the city...amazed by the huge walls and gates which are closed at night so that the Catholics and Protestants don't riot.

    Had a great dinner and a few of us visited the beautiful Crown bar (where the royals go for a drink when in Belfast).

    Really enjoyed the Titanic Museum at Belfast the next morning before boarding the ferry bound for Scotland....Haggis for dinner tonight!    Read more

  • The Shifting SpannersJapan, UK & Europe 2026The Shifting Spanners

    County Sligo

    August 16 in Ireland ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C

    A very big travelling day today...13 hours in total. We didn't arrive in to Sligo until 9.45 pm, so straight to bed it was. A huge hotel here that used to be an asylum, so we were all a little concerned about ghosts haha.

    The weather was a bit drizzly as we arrived at the Cliffs of Moher, so we didn't really see them in all their glory.

    Next stop was Galway. Very nice town. Treated to a "Tales of Galway" show in an very old pub complete with Irish music.    Read more

  • The Shifting SpannersJapan, UK & Europe 2026The Shifting Spanners

    Killarney

    August 14 in Ireland ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C

    Started our day visiting the town of Waterford, (famous for Waterford Crystal) before heading to Blarney Castle. Lined up for 45 minutes, climbing the very narrow stone spiral staircase of the castle and "Kissed the Blarney". The actual Blarney stone is set in the castle wall and is quite low so it means laying on your back, grabbing the hand rails and bending backwards down the opening to kiss the stone. Very cool...

    Stayed two nights at Tralee, which allowed us to complete the Ring of Kerry. This turned out to be a great day and was totally unexpected.
    We started with jaunting (a carriage ride), tried some Irish Coffees at a Bog Village and stopped at a working sheep farm and observed the sheep dogs rounding the sheep.

    Finished the day in the bar watching the All Blacks flog a South African club team with a few folk from the tour.    Read more

  • The Shifting SpannersJapan, UK & Europe 2026The Shifting Spanners

    Dublin

    August 12 in Ireland ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    Guinness, Guinness, Guinness.
    Consumed my share (and then some) of Guinness in the two days in Dublin. I reckon it tastes better in Ireland!

    Did the tour of the Guinness Storehouse which culminated in a tipple at the Gravity bar on the seventh floor which offered 360° views of Dublin Town. I must say it was one of those pinch me moments for me...fantastic!

    Really enjoyed our whisky tasting at Pearse Lyons Distillery. Their 7 year old whisky was very smooth.

    Had a great explore around Dublin...which included a traditional lamb stew at a local pub complete with live Irish music.

    The last night saw us at a dinner and show...The Merry Ploughboy Pub. Had a great night with the group...a couple in our group even had an Irish jig on stage with the dancers.    Read more

  • The Shifting SpannersJapan, UK & Europe 2026The Shifting Spanners
    1

    Liverpool

    August 11 in England ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

    Had a beaut hot breakfast at our hotel in Cardiff, before hitting the road to Shakespeare's birthplace - Stratford-upon-Avon. What a beautiful town it is. We wandered around the river watching the various boating pursuits, before settling in for a pint at a very olde pub set in the typical Tudor style...very cool.

    Finished up in Beatles territory at Liverpool and went straight through the Beatles museum which was very interesting. A beautiful area around the dockside with food vans, pubs and of course The Beatles statues and memorabilia.    Read more

  • The Shifting SpannersJapan, UK & Europe 2026The Shifting Spanners

    Cardiff

    August 10 in Wales ⋅ ☁️ 25 °C

    We moved from our AirBnB to a hotel next to our tour pickup point at Greenwich. 3 trains to get here with luggage etc, but no real problems.
    First day of our UK & Ireland tour took us to Stonehenge, Bath then Cardiff. Pretty underwhelmed with Stonehenge, but really enjoyed Bath...a beautiful city. After exploring we found a quaint little town square and enjoyed a busker and a luke warm pint haha.
    A lot of traffic enroute to Cardiff so didn't get in till 18.30...a big first day. Went for an explore before supplied dinner which was great.    Read more

  • The Shifting SpannersJapan, UK & Europe 2026The Shifting Spanners

    London

    August 4 in England ⋅ ☁️ 24 °C

    We made it! 16 hours from Osaka...thank God it was in business class. I had no feet swelling at all this time as I was able to have them elevated the whole time. We both managed a few hours sleep which makes such a difference. Really enjoyed the business lounges at Osaka and Helsinki too...we could get very used to it.

    Really enjoyed our AirBnB in London. We opted to stay in a traditional terraced home in Earlsfield in a loft room. The owner lived downstairs, but we hardly saw him. Cold breakfast included every day, and we had a washing machine in our room which was handy before we start our 2 week tour of UK and Ireland.

    Quite expensive in the UK when you're only getting 52c to the dollar, but we were able to make our own sandwiches for lunch each day and the local pubs and Thai restaurant weren't too expensive.

    The hop on hop off bus was fantastic, as was the cruise on the Thames. We really ticked off everything we wanted to see very easily.

    Other highlights include:
    Our first West End play...loved Wicked at Apollo Theatre, changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace, and Jack the Ripper tour.

    Great weather 17 - 26° most days    Read more

  • The Shifting SpannersJapan, UK & Europe 2026The Shifting Spanners
    Nara Park
    Nara ParkKuromon MarketsKuromon MarketDotonbori CruiseDotonbori cruiseGlico Running ManView from Harukas 300 ObservatoryOsaka CastleOsaka Castle MoatLoving the local brew

    Osaka

    Jul 29–Aug 6 in Japan ⋅ ☁️ 30 °C

    A great 5 days in Osaka. Very hot around 37° most days, but we managed to get out and about and see the sights. Train network was great...took a bit of getting used to, but the Japan Transport App made it quite easy. We bought ICOCA cards on arrival which were great.
    Only the first step of our trip but the technology is working well. Japan eSim worked as soon as we landed in Japan, our QR codes that I prearranged on the Visit Japan site got us through customs quickly, WiFi at our AirBnB, downloaded shows on Netflix worked on our tablets, Wise card preloaded with Yen works beautifully, aforementioned Japan Transport App a Godsend, and Google Translater an absolute legend of an App.
    Our AirBnB was fantastic! 200m to Kuromon Markets and Dotonbori a further 10min walk.
    Marg had a fall and hurt her back whilst being harassed by a dozen deer at Nara which slowed her down, but hopefully on the mend.
    Very much looking forward to our Business Class flights (redeemed Frequent Flyer points) to London via Finland and our tour of England Ireland Scotland and Wales.    Read more

  • Trip start
    July 29, 2026