First of all, I want to say that "one man's meat is another man's poison", of course, and everyone has their own unique way of travelling, with no one way being necessarily better than another.
Often, especially around this time of year, you’ll see posts from first-time travellers planning their vacations in some corner of Europe. For many, the overwhelming amount of options and other travellers’ comments about this city, that town, or that region worth visiting makes it tough to plan their trip properly—too much to do and see in too little time.
Years ago, there was a comedy that perfectly captured this type of travel: "If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium", where a group of American tourists takes an 18-day trip through Europe, filled with clichés and ridiculous, funny situations. Even 50 years later, this scenario often repeats itself.
Everyone has their preferences, but as a European, I personally don't like travelling "too much" when on holiday (in Europe). Rushing from A to B to C like a headless chicken seems like a waste of time since you can't really appreciate much of what you're seeing. I prefer fewer basecamps and spending more time on short day trips. I specifically mentioned "when on holiday in Europe" because, for historical reasons, Europe is a mesh of thousands of cities, towns, villages, and hamlets in relative proximity to each other—with a few exceptions on the continent's fringe. This means many opportunities exist to enjoy different experiences without moving around much.
Whether you're an urbanite, a nature lover, or into rural experiences, you can find plenty within a short distance from any corner of the continent. So, I always recommend staying at least 3 or 4 nights at each base camp, especially for visitors from larger countries accustomed to long travels between cities. You'll slow down and enjoy the whole experience better while still having plenty of things to do and see. This especially applies to more touristic countries like France, Italy, or Spain.
Take my home city, Barcelona, for example. The city warrants at least four or five full days to scratch the surface of what it offers. Then, there are countless day (or sleepover) trips that will blow your mind, from the picturesque towns of Costa Brava to the vast plains of Lleida, the Delta del Ebre nature reserve to the south, or the imposing Pyrenees mountains to the north. All of these are within 100-150 miles of Barcelona, many even reachable by a very decent public transportation network. Similarly, whether you set up basecamp in say Madrid, Seville, or Donosti/San Sebastian, for example, you have plenty of options for enjoying a day in the countryside visiting quirky towns, beautiful natural landscapes, historical ruins, heritage festivals, tasting local products, and more, without having to drag your suitcases up and down.
And don't forget about the heritage festivals and other popular celebrations. Every corner has its own, celebrated throughout the year. A vacation isn't just about visiting museums, ruins, and natural landscapes... interacting with the local culture is often the highlight for many travellers. When planning your trip, check out the tourism websites of the towns and cities around your base camps to see the event agendas. If you can attend any of them, don't hesitate!
If you plan to visit my turf, here is a taste of what you can do and see: www.catalunya.com/en
Enjoy!