Kia Ora
My trip involves a River boat cruise from Prague to Budapest and then on to the Greek Islands of Milos and Santorini. Unforeseen circumstances may change this dramatically and leave me on my own to do the trip. I have travelled solo before but going to the Greek Islands on my own seems daunting. There is a flight to Greece and then the ferry trips and a flight back from Santorini, then leaving from Greece to Zurich at 6.00am which means such an early start on my own, flying through after a 4 hr stopover at Zurich to Singapore 12 hr flight. Can anyone help with suggestions of what I may do instead of the Greek Islands and still keep my return flight home via Zurich Singapore. I am 62. Many thanks for any help or suggestions. I have travelled twice to South France based at Menton and Cinque Terre based at Levanto and Amalfi based at Atrani so all these places were ideal for getting around. Love the water and villages but want somewhere where I can get around easily on my own using public transport.

What month? And how many days? Train travel?
Maybe Munich and environs? Maybe Lake Constance and/or Basel?

Thank you I am a bit foggy at the moment as my travel partner very sadly has a diagnosis of pancreatic cancer. This is very sudden and we are due to leave on 21 August 2014. In answer to your question it will be in Sept 2014. It will be 14 days from 5-18 Sep. My boat cruise ends at Budapest. I have to fly back to Singapore on Singapore airlines on the 18 Sep to get back to NZ. I have accommodation booked in Singapore.

Oh my, I am so sorry. I can certainly understand being a bit foggy...and even shell-shocked.

So I guess it depends on how active you want to be during those 14 days and how much you want to move around. You could look at a map and plan a train trip with several stops between Budapest and Zurich. If looking at something active, bicycling around Lake Constance is an option. Start in Lindau, rent a bike, get the Bodensee Radweg map, head east, etc.
But it depends on what areas you are interested in.

Hmm, you could just visit Santorini and then fly back a day earlier to Zurich and spend a day there before flying back from Zurich. I would try to avoid the 4 hour stopover in Zurich and give yourself extra time by getting there a day earlier.

I am a little unclear how much time you have after your boat cruise and before you fly out of Zurich.

If you want to skip Greece entirely, you could fly from Budapest to another place and then on to Zurich. Have you visited Switzerland before? You could fly into Basel or another Swiss city, or someplace in Austria, and visit that area before making your way to Zurich.

Thank you all so much for your replies. It has become clear now that my travel partner today has been told if they can operate she will have 2 -5 yrs if they cannot operate 6 mths. I also now know that if i go by myself I will have to pay a single supplement on the river cruise which will add another $3600 NZ dollars. As it stands the trip we were planning was NZ via Singapore to Frankfurt then on to Prague. 11 days boat cruise from 24 Aug -3 Sep ending in Budapest. Then 5 Sep fly to Athens and from 6 - 17 Sep Milos for 5 nights and Santorini for 6 nights. Then back to Greece and then Zurich/Singapore on 18 and stay Singapore two nights and on home to NZ.

Maybe it is better to claim insurance and reschedule another time.

I am so sorry to hear about your travelling companion. No wonder you are feeling foggy and confused.
I think that if it were me I would make sure the insurance will pay out and if so cancel the trip. I can't imagine enjoying it knowing what my erstwhile companion is going through.

I hope your friend can be helped, and that you can cancel and make the trip another time in happier circumstances.

Thank you so much Hetismij2 for your thoughts. It is exactly my thoughts. I have contacted the insurance and they say under "Unforeseen circumstances" I can claim dependent on Marg's doctor filling out the Medical form making a declaration of no pre-existing condition. So I will begin the process.

Many many thanks to all. Europe will be there next year.

Good decision to cancel, hopefully the insurance policy will pay out. Apart from anything else you'd probably be happier staying at home, and then you can be on hand if your friend needs you.