WHAT WOULD YOU DO?

I’m celebrating my 70th birthday and our golden wedding anniversary this year. I would love to cruise on a small ship, possibly around Italy, with stop-offs for my husband. I have limited walking but he is fit and well. Can you offer suggestions that will keep us both happy?

MO HOLLIER

Dear Mo

One suggestion would be a cruise with Star Clippers (starclippers.co.uk). It’s on the 227-passenger Royal Clipper and spends seven days cruising around the west coast of Italy with calls into Sorrento, Amalfi and Sicily. There are departures in May and September, with prices from £1,645 per person, excluding flights. Be aware that the ship does not have a lift.

A better option, if you don’t mind straying outside Italy for a few days, might be with Voyages to Antiquity (voyagestoantiquity. com) on its Italian and Adriatic Highlights cruise from Civitavecchia (Rome) to Venice on board the 350-passenger Aegean Odyssey.

It’s an excellent itinerary. There are excursions to Roman archaeological sites, palaces and cities in Italy, Albania and Croatia, and coach tours in Sicily and Amalfi (all included in the price); Lars Tharp from BBC’s

is one of three guest speakers. The cruise costs from £2,795 per person departing Sept 5 2019.

You might, alternatively, like to consider a cruise on the Po river from Venice. I don’t know how limited your walking is, but the boats moor along the Guidecca Canal, so there is easy access to the city and I would expect excursions (to Padua and either Bologna or Ferrara) to include “slow walkers” tours.

There isn’t much cruising on these itineraries and not much to do on the boats if you don’t feel you can do the tours. Uniworld River Cruises (uniworld.com) offers a Venice and the Gems of Northern Italy cruise with weekly departures from £2,699 per person including flights in June.