This is just me, but except for Rome, I might shorten some of the 4-5 day visits.
I think 3 days is plenty for both Cinque Terre (give you more time for northern Italy) as well as Amalfi coast, but that’s just my opinion. Others may say differently.
I liked Alicante as well as Madrid, but don’t have much memory of Valencia.
Many people seem to prefer Barcelona the most.
I became really interested in northern Portugal, but had to give up the idea. Have you looked into the central northern area at all?
I know what you mean about hanging around the French Riviera, but the Catalan region around the Spanish-French border is actually kind of interesting, and can be very scenic.

I’m quite interested in maybe spending a few days in the Catalan region and flying out to Northern Italy (Milan as a pit stop and head up to Lake Como or something).

I’m trying to give myself time in each area – but I think 3 days in Cinque should be fine (dump my bags at a place and walk and explore) and Florence/Pisa in 3 days should be plenty. Rome being the biggest city i’d want to give it a bit more time. I was just trying to gauge how much time i’d need in both cities. Thanks for the advice.

I’m just not sure of Alicante or Valencia – but a fellow traveler said he didn’t like Valencia too much. Or maybe I Alicante for a quick visit and move onto Madrid for an extra day and go out on a day trip to Toledo or somewhere similar??

I was trying to give myself a bit more time down near Naples/Pompeii etc – a day at each perhaps. But I’m not overly keen on Naples except to sample some Pizza. So I could do that quite easily. Is it difficult to get out to Capri from Sorrento? I know ferries run by but are they very often i.e. 1 an hour or there abouts and the return?

Thanks

We did not have any trouble getting a ferry to Capri. And actually, it was a pretty cool place, though we did skip the Blue Grotto.

I want to see the blue grotto, but dont really want to pay the price of hiring a boat to do it, I’d much rather swim in it. I guess it depends on how late the boats stop.

Cheers guys, appreciate it.