We've got the travel bug.....

A1) Don't know why a river cruise wouldnt be safe.

A2) Look at Viking (or any of the others) that goes up the Danube from Budapest to Vienna to Bergen, or Amsterdam, or Regensburg, or Passau, or .... then add extra time at each end for a different sort of adventure.

You are wise to recognize that as we all age, our methods of travel often need to be revised. We too are of retirement age, and my wife is having mobility issues. But we don't look or act our age, and we've figured out that splitting our trips on the ground and on a cruise works well for my wife on a folding travel mobility scooter.

The river cruises are fantastic trips, but we've been to most cities they visit. And for the average $5,000 per person price, we can easily take a second trip to Europe yearly. We've loved both Baltic and Eastern Mediterraean cruises, however.
You would love Budapest under normal times, but 2022 is not a good time as they're taking care of refugees presently.
We went twice to inland Spain and absolutely loved Madrid, Granada and Barcelona. It's very inexpensive traveling there. And as such a large country with distinctly different regions--we'll be back.
We're leaving in 2 weeks for a few days in London before taking a cruise out of Athens ending in Venice area. We'll spend a couple of days in Italy before returning home thru Heathrow.
Safe travels to you all.

Switzerland. I'am all in favor of Murren, it is s walkable town itself and an easy down hill stroll to Gimmelwald. Trains & Gondolas. Visit Lauterbrunnen Valley, head up to Wengen & Jungfrau. There are different levels of walks or hikes, I enjoyed renting an E-Bike and road throughout the Lauterbrunnen Valley for a day. Train back to Lucerne & enjoy the lake district.

Patsy, you know your capabilities better than anyone here. You also know where you have or haven't visited.

Cruises go along all the rivers. What is "safe"? Sitting at home and not living?

Take a cruise where you haven't been. Portugal? Danube? Look at Cruise Critic . com . Its a travel agency but like this site, has lots of information.

Happy Trails!

We did a river cruise from Budapest to Amsterdam a couple of years ago. Really enjoyed it. We are a bit younger than you, and also like active holidays. It was great to have all of the logistics taken care, and nice to visit a variety of small towns and bigger cities. Wonderful to just get off the boat and walk in most places, participating in tours or not, as we felt like. Also nice to sit on the balcony and see the countryside pass by.
For our next trip, we’ve come across some British companies who offer independent walking, train and cycling holidays to some more ‘off the beaten track’ locations in Europe, so we are thinking of incorporating one of them. They organise travel, hotels, luggage transfers etc but it is not a group tour.

For me, the problem with cruises is the limited time at each stop. While that's fine for villages along the Rhine, the Danube runs through major cities.

Andalusia is one of my very favorite destinations in late winter to early spring, when the temperatures are mild. Many places are easily accessible by train. Adding Madrid and Barcelona by train is easy too. Western Portugal is well served by train. Note that Spain and Portugal do not combine well because of the lack of good transportation. But there is enough in Portugal to fill 2 weeks easily, perhaps 3.

A few years ago, I spent a week and a half on the French riviera and then took a quick flight to Barcelona.

Belgium and the Netherlands is another area that has excellent rail service and lots of bikes.

Also look at Vikings Ocean cruises.they are small compared to the larger ships, maybe a few hundred people, and can go into better ports.

Thank you, all, for your suggestions and ideas.

Our safety concern on a river cruise is Covid.

Will be back for more advise.... Happy Traveling!!!