Any advice is appreciated!

Quick Facts:
- 2 Adults (no kids, 30 years old) meeting friends in London for a wedding (The London Borough of Richmond upon Thames is what the invite says) August 31 - September 3, 2017. Probably renting a house.
- We are wanting to spend a week+ in Europe before (or after) London.
- Flying from Detroit, MI to Europe.

Needing help on where to go before making our way to London. We realize that we will probably only have time to visit one (maybe two) other areas. Open to flying or taking train from destination to destination.

We are into exploring the culture and area. We love beautiful scenery, great food, and activities from zip-lining, hiking, kayaking, ATV's, horse back riding, to massages and relaxing by water. We've thrown around places from all over... Spain, Italy, somewhere north like Ireland, or The Swiss Alps, etc.

65 degrees F or warmer is preferred

Thanks in advance,

Lindsay and Sean

You need to zero in a bit more on what appeals to you. The interests and activities you describe can be found in dozens of destinations in Europe. You might start with prioritizing to know what you're most looking for.

What does "culture" mean to you? Museums or being in a rural area not popular with tourists?

You might not get those 65F days if you go north of London in September.

You didn't mention a willingness to rent a car. It would make a difference if you could only consider cities with plane, train and public transportation services.

I'm guessing the thing you most assuredly do not want to do in your week before the wedding is to "Trek through Eur[ope}." I expect what you really wan to do is to choose one location and have some time to explore that place.

Tell us, where have you already been in Europe? What are the places in Europe you most want to visit? Any special interests like theatre or architecture?

Since you want temperatures of 65 F or warmer, take a look at a good weather site. It will give average daytime and night time temperatures for each month as well as historic highs and lows. I use www.weatherbase.com Take a look - you can clearly cross Iceland and probably Ireland off your list.

Tell us about your budget for this trip. London is one of the most expensive cities in the world for lodging. If your budget will allow it, consider spending your week in London. I've been to London for a week a number of times - I never run out of things to do/see/experience. And if you spent that week in London, you wouldn't be wasting time going elsewhere. London is a great place for day trips - so many to choose from.

Wherever your choose, plan to fly into one city and out of the other (an open jaw or multi-city ticket).

If you want more warmth, go south - Italy or Spain, though some areas can be unpleasantly hot at that time of the year.

Happy Planning!

"Making our way to London". I would assume you'll be flying into London, so you may way to plan on seeing things following the wedding, not before.

I would suggest you consider taking an "open jaw" flight into London, and returning from the furthest point of your trip. For example into London for the wedding, then take the Eurostar to Paris for a few days and then fast train to someplace like Amsterdam, and fly home from there. Once your plans are a bit more firm we can help with specific questions you might have.

zip lining in Snowden (in Wales) is about the longest one in Europe
Lake Maggiore in northern Italy is supposed to be good

Plenty of horses, hiking etc in both places.

"We are into exploring the culture and area"

Didn't know Europe was a single culture or a single area.

Pick a culture or area. London is easily accessible from all of Europe considering its three busiest airports have ton(ne)s of flights within Europe each day.

That would be SnowdOn in Wales (Snowdonia not Mount Snowdon)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=no_7yTn8dkA

https://www.zipworld.co.uk/

You could easily spend your time, meeting all your requirements except possibly the temperature, in the UK. But even the temperaure is probable in most parts of the UK at that time of year.

The Berner Oberland area of Switzerland (around Interlaken) certainly fits your criteria. Lots of hiking options, canoeing, paragliding, biking, and great alpine scenery. Bern, the capital, is an easy day-trip away and has cultural attractions.

With only a week, I'd stay in the UK, unless you've been there before. Get a guidebook and read up--there are lots of very interesting things to do in the UK, and you can soak up a lot more culture if you speak the language.