35th wedding anniversary trip .... some place in Europe that's not HOT

Copenhagen is wonderful, and north.

Scandinavia - Norway, Sweden, Denmark
Baltics - Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania

Faroe Islands. Unique and amazing place. Schedule longer than you think you’ll need and plan on some down time when the weather is bad. Since this is an anniversary trip, splurge on a nice hotel to enjoy during that down time.

The UK, Ireland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark.

Other random thoughts and comments. I have never been to Norway but would love to go there. I liked Stockholm more than Copenhagen and think Stockholm is grossly underrated. And for a July trip, I would consider the British Open.

Iceland? Expensive, but easier to justify for an anniversary trip maybe?

This isn't Europe but what about something south of the equator like New Zealand or South Africa?

I frequently use to travel north from southwest Germany to escape a heatwave, and generally speaking from a certain latitude on, spots are fairly safe. So it comes down to what you like about their culture or nature.
1. The Baltic states are a really good spot for a road trip. Very affordable still. Liepaja has the softest sand I have ever seen.
2. Iceland is safely the coolest spot, under 75F should be all but guaranteed. Northern Scotland and Norway should be similar, but I was there only for a few days each. Iceland is best as a road trip as well, Scotland or Norway might work with a base. Norway and Iceland are comparably expensive.
3. Sweden, Denmark, Finland are nice places in Summer. A bit more pricey.
4. The North Sea coast in Germany and the Netherlands should be fairly safe as well, at or close to the coast in particular. The Wadden Sea is a spot well worth visiting, for example on the Frisian islands (East,West,North). Culturally very different from the Germany cliche, on the German side.

Denmark (of course since I live here) :-)

But don't stay exclusively in Copenhagen. Be sure to stay some days in Odense and Aarhus. And maybe even on Aero/Ærø.

Land in Copenhagen, stay some days, visit Tivoli, Bakken, Nyhavn, do a canal trip, The Zoo, visit all (well maybe not all) the cocktail places. Visit Maritime Museum and Kronborg in Helsingør/Elsinore. Visit Viking ship museum in Roskilde.

Take the train to Svendborg and the ferry to Ærø/Aero. Take the (free) bus to Marstal. Be sure to book accommodation early.

Go back to Svendborg. Take the train to Odense. Visit Hans Christian Andersen house, The Danish National Railway Museum, take a boat to the Funen Village, Visit Zoo on the way.

Take the train to Aarhus, VIsit Aros, The old town, Aarhus Eye , The area around the stream.

Fly home from Billund, Hamburg or go back to Copenhagen.

Here's another vote for Scandinavia, and Iceland. My daughter and I are actually traveling there for 3 weeks in July of this year. We're spending 7 nights in Iceland, 3 nights in Stockholm, and then 11 nights in Norway. From everything I've read, the weather sounds like it will be wonderful. Of course you can never predict anything with extreme accuracy, but there is a very good chance that you will not have hot weather 😂

You could easily spend up to a week in Iceland and then a week or more in Denmark, Norway, and/or Sweden. And even better, Icelandair has a program where you can get up to a seven-night layover for free in Iceland and then go on to your destination. That's what we are doing. We're flying into Stockholm from Minneapolis, but we have a seven-night layover in Iceland, which will work perfectly for us. After Stockholm, we're taking the train to Oslo, and we will do the Norway in a Nutshell (via car but easily done by public transport) that goes across some of the incredible scenery of Norway, with the beautiful fjords and so on. We end up in Ålesund, which is a beautiful coastal town, and then down to Bergen, where we will fly home.

If you can splurge, I agree that Scandinavia would be ideal. Sweden and Norway.
You could fly to Stockholm and explore this unique city. Reserve a day for an archipelago tour. Easy train ride to explore smaller towns. Then fly to Bergen in Norway, another quaint town where you can just walk and explore, eat at their Fish Market. Reserve a day for a fjord tour. I didn't go to Oslo but that would be a bigger city, but you could take a train from Bergen to Oslo and fly back home from there.
Those are 2 very pricey countries, just keep that in mind. But worth for a special occasion.

Just a random suggestion, but if Northern Europe is stressing your budget, you might consider somewhere in South America. That’s just what I would do if I were traveling in summer. For similar reasons, I am largely stuck with shoulder season, when I am less inclined to travel to places like Buenos Aires, etc.

I've spent the last 3 years spending some portion of the summer in Sweden, and I can say it's a great time to visit. Weather is excellent (never felt like I needed the AC), with some summer rains for time to time. There are always many sites to see here and there that one just discovers while traveling around, good hiking, museums, lakes for swimming, castles, charming villages/towns. The best part I've pretty much been the only non Swedish person around, it's all been locals, even at the height of summer. Sweden is honestly not that expensive too, and is on par with typical prices in the USA.

Of course Stockholm and Gothenburg have the big cosmopolitan draw with lots of things to see and do, but you can also have a great time in Sweden outside of the big cities. I'd also take a look at places like Lund, Karlstad, Kalmar, Visby, or Uppsala, see if they peak your interest :-)

Scandanavia for sure, but Ireland and Scotland aren't bad either.

In addition to the places already mentioned, you can consider Belgium, the Netherlands, Normandy and Brittany in France and the northern coast of Spain from the Basque Country to Galicia. All those areas tend to be cool and overcast (with some rain) even in mid-summer. Occasionally a heat wave might hit one of those locations (I see there were 2- and 3-day heat waves last summer in Brussels and Amsterdam), but those are anomalies; you would not run into an extended period of hot weather in any of those places.

I recommend taking advantage of the actual, historical, day-by-day weather data available on the website timeanddate.com. Look at July in the most recent five years for places you are considering to see the range of conditions you might run into.

Amsterdam weather -- July 2025

Use the pull-down box just above the graph to change the month/year displayed. Use the Search box near the upper right to chang the location.

I don't rely on monthly averages much, because they hide the really unpleasant extremes (and all too often do not include some recent years), but I do look at the precipitation data in the climate-summary charts you'll find in Wikipedia entries for cities. Many of the places that will be most reliably cool are also likely to be wet--but I imagine you discovered that yourself in Ireland.

Besides looking to the north for cooler weather in July (Scandinavia was my first thought, then the northern UK), you could also consider going higher in elevation. The Alps, in France, Switzerland, Austria, or northern Italy, could offer cooler mountain air, amazing views, and special food opportunities. Maybe some hiking, or taking a tram/cable car/train/chairlift that could get you to summits without as much effort, might be of interest?

July 2024, we stayed in Cauterets, France, in the Pyrenees mountains, just north of the Spanish border. It was pleasantly cooler than other parts of France that trip, which included Nice, where it was expectedly hot. The Tour de France bike race passed through both areas that trip. Later, we had a few days and nights in the Black Forest of Germany, which had pretty hills/mountains, but was noticeably warmer.

Thank you all for the wonderful suggestions. I shared them with my husband. I think we'll be heading north! (not sure where just yet) I have some thinking/planning to do. Once we set up the skeleton of the vacation (flights/lodging/transportation), I'll head back to the forum to add what I call "frosting" ... the fun adventures :)

I will assume Rome in July represents "extreme heat". If that's your measure then Austrria to the north. I would do the Baltics. The world is so unpredictable right now that there may never be a better time.

But use this and do your own comparisons. https://weatherspark.com/compare/m/7/84771~71779~91604~33845/Comparison-of-the-Average-Weather-in-Budapest-Rome-Tallinn-and-Dublin-in-July

I would add northern Poland + Baltic states to the mix.

”I’ll head back to the forum to add what I call "frosting" ... the fun adventures :)”

I love that description! It’s the category cost that I look at when planning a trip to make sure I’m not scrimping in that area since it is “the frosting”! ; )

And happy 35th! I hope you have a wonderful time celebrating!

Another thought!

If you are in Copenhagen and want a break, look at a minicruise to Oslo: https://www.gonordiccruiseline.com/minicruise/oslo-cruise/

Another vote for Iceland. We are here again now and absolutely love it.

Yes it can be expensive but it doesn’t have to be. Places do book out far in advance though so if you choose this you would want to get lodging secured asap. July is good, and for this summer with the eclipse in August, I would avoid August.

Road trips here are ideal. You can save money by staying in places outside of towns, which is usually our preference anyway, and getting cottages etc where you can self cater. Buy breakfast things like skyr (soooo good!) and fruit, then pack things for picnics, then dinners either out or again cook yourself. Bonus and other grocery stores have wonderful local foods to cook, and some are already marinated etc so you don’t need to buy spices etc.

In all of our trips here, we have only had two days that were t-shirt weather. They were great, but I do like that it isn’t hot here as I don’t do well in the heat. I wilt;)

I'm also someone who despises the heat.

I spend summers in the north. You've been given a great list. For me, this summer is looking like the Maritime Provinces of Canada, Greenland, the Faroes, Iceland and Scotland.

For that special anniversary, spend it in Iceland. Unique and fun, all rolled into one. Spas, horseback riding, whale watching, and so much more.

Northern Germany and up--Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, perhaps the Baltics, Scotland, Iceland

Alternatively, go Alpine--but you do have to get up into the Alps, not just the valley cities.

In 2018 during our heat wave we went swimming in the Copenhagen harbour with the locals, found relief on the island of Öland (Sweden), and found Stockholm to be generally pleasant. It was warmer than we like, but not unbearable.

What an opportunity to rent a camper and drive through Sweden or the lakes of Finland, to explore the Fjords of Norway or the Shetland Islands, or maybe to hit Helsinki and Tallinn for the culture. Or do a trip around Iceland--whale watching, geothermal springs, even a tomato plantation with its own beer! You could visit the Lake and Peak districts of England or camp out for a great spot on an Alpine stage of the Tour de France.

There are so many options. Your places visited is a lovely list, but it's a rather standard list; for something "special," go somewhere you don't know as much about. Based on what you have listed, I honestly think a Scandinavian or Baltic capitals tour would fit your vibe. But that's just a guess.