14 days Rome, French Rivera, Barcelona

I prefer to stay in fewer places and see more of each one and I dislike the hassle of moving to another hotel, so if I were planning this trip I might pick three locations.

When you look at your itinerary put in the travel times and see if you get enough sight-seeing. That will help you decide.
For example:
Rome 2 nights
travel 1 hour 10 minutes to Naples
Naples 2 nights
travel 5.25 hours to Portofino
1 night in Portofino
travel to Monaco 4 hours

(all times very approximate)

If you've done two-week trips before with similar ratios of travel to sightseeing then you'll be fine.

It looks like this might be your first trip and that you want to see as much as possible in these two weeks? I think its a great path from Rome to Barcelona, but if it were me, I would spend more time in fewer places, or 'just' move a night from Monaco and move it to Rome, and/or move/add the extra days (the ??) to other places You can see a lot along the French Riviera from one base, and then move all the way to Barcelona. Or, if you want a less talked-about place to add on between Monaco and Barcelona, we really liked Cassis, where you can hike to the Calanques, which was a magical day (google Calanque near Marseille and look at the images). Have you plotted out how you will spend each day in each place. This can help you decide how much time you might want. And don't forget the time it takes to wait in lines for sites, and possibly the heat and that things almost always take more time than you think they will...

I'm sorry, but I think you are planning way too many stops, and not enough time at most of them. Every time you pick up your suitcase and head to a new city, you lose about half a day because of the time it takes to check in and out of hotels, get to the train station, etc.; many of your trips are longer, so you'll lose more time than that.

If you're flying in from the US or Canada, you're likely to be severely sleep-deprived after the overnight flight and rather jetlagged on your arrival day. Most of us struggle with staying awake that day (a short nap is often recommended) and basically just wander around outdoors. Two nights in Rome is really, really inadequate, because it means--at best--one fully-awake day.

With two nights in Naples, I think it's going to be difficult to visit both Capri and the Amalfi Coast, especially considering that I am doubtful that you're going to get an early start on Day 3 after running yourself ragged, trying to cram as much as you can into your one real day in Rome.

The trip from Florence to Portofino may not look long on a map, but you'll be on a train for at least 3-1/4 hours, then you must take a bus from Santa Marherita Ligure to Portofino. All told, another half a day wasted on transportation. With one night in Portofino, you'll have just a few hours.

When you're ready to head to Nice, you'll first have to take the bus back to Santa Margherita--allowing plenty of extra time so you don't miss your train--then there's a 4-hour train ride. So by the time you're settled in, you have not much more than two days to explore the Riviera.

From Nice to Barcelona is at least 8 hours on a train, or of course you could fly, but that takes a good bit of time as well, by the time you deal with airports. Barcelona has a large number of sights and deserves at least three full days of your time (4 nights) at an absolute minimum. There's plenty to do in the city (not to mention side-trips) to keep you busy far longer than that.

What it comes down to is that two weeks is simply not enough time to see four areas of Italy, the Riviera and Barcelona. You're stuck with Rome and Barcelona. I'd drop Nice/Monaco for sure and give serious thought to what my second priority is in Italy. Is it Naples/Capri/Amalfi, or is it Florence/Liguria? Then I'd look at flights on skyscanner.com to see what's available to get me to Barcelona from Italy. Naples? Florence? Pisa?

How many nights do you have on the ground in Europe?

I'd spend five nights in Rome if possible (since I don't count Day 1 as useful) and a minimum of four nights in Barcelona (more would be better). Then I'd think about what makes sense for the other three or four nights. It wouldn't be a bad plan at all to spend all your time in Rome and Barcelona and include a few side-trips. Orvieto is a great possibility from Rome, just as one example.

You’ve already heard that you have way too many destinations, so I’ll just say I agree. I’ll add that Porto fino is a pretty, but not very interesting town, where the super-rich dock their yachts and hang out. Definitely not worth the hassle of getting there when you have so little time. I also recommend you skip Naples. Add those days to Rome. Skip Portofino. Add that day to Florence. 3 days for the French Riviera and 4 for Barcelona. (I’d actually skip the Riviera and add those days to the other places, but that’s my personal travel style.).
There are many day trip possibilities from Rome, Florence, and Barcelona, so whatever your interests, you’ll find plenty to do.

Have to agree with all the above comments. I don't like to pack/unpack that much. Rome, Florence, Nice, Barcelona. It would still be a lot of travel time in between those places but the time in each area will give you day trip options. I might cut Florence from this trip and just to Rome, the Riviera and Barcelona. Not sure how you are planning to travel - car? Train? June will be hot in the those areas and high season. You will be back so you can visit Florence or the Amalfi coast the next visit.

I thought the 3 stops in your title sounded reasonable. Adding the Amalfi Coast is probably feasible, if you and yours are deft and nimble travelers. Look into flying from Naples to Nice or Barcelona, in that case.

But all that other stuff is too much. You greatly underestimate the toll of inter-city travel.

By the way Nice is in France, not Monaco, though it is possible to visit one as a day trip from the other.

Too few nights in Rome and Florence. Monaco is very expensive, Nice would be cheaper and there are tours to Monaco from Nice. It is a bit to travel down to Barcelona. Suggest skipping it and staying more days in Rome, Florence or Provence.

Has anyone made a similar trip..

The contestants on The Amazing Race

The more places you try to include, the higher the proportion of your trip given over to getting between those places. Yes, less is more.

For me ...
• Start in Rome (4 nights)
• Fly to Nice-Cote d’Azur (3 nights)
• Train to Arles-Provence (3 nights)
• Train to Barcelona (4 nights)