Rain, no way you can plan for that but often there will be nothing.

Midges, can be a bother, especially if no wind but again it varies and there are good deterrents

I love Orkney. Follow my name back a couple of years and see what you can do.

Bus tours and car rental seems to be the way people go, but I tend to use the local planes to get around, the money adds up but.... it is fun meeting the locals on the things.

"...being crowded most of the time and especially in the Summer, I have decided not to go to Switzerland."

So don't go to Lucerne or the Bernese Oberland. Go to the Engadine instead. Outside of St. Moritz, and even there it's not too bad, it's not crowded at all. You will have plenty of places to relax with no crowds.

The idea that ALL of Switzerland turns into a giant sardine can in July and August is ludicrous and promulgated primarily by people who don't know Switzerland nearly as well as they think they do.

The Tirol region of Austria might be another option that would appeal.