As a couple of others said, don't try to hit a crazy amount of places. It's super tempting and before you go it seems like it would be okay: "I can spend 3 days here, 2 days here and see 13 cities on my trip, it'll be awesome!" It'll be awesome tiring for a long trip. Traveling, finding where you're going to stay, unpacking, figuring out the basics of getting around the city, figuring out the sights, prepping for the next leg, repacking, and repeating a dozen times really cuts into the quality of what you can see.
If you do want to see a number of places picking ones in an area where you can have a home base for a week or so is nice. For example finding a centrally located villa in Tuscany or gite in Normandy/Brittany and then doing day trips is a great way to get to see a few places but in a more relaxed way. You can truly unpack, do laundry, and even do nothing for an afternoon. You could even plan to spend a week mid trip like this and use it to help you recharge.
Another way to recharge is spend some time away from the big cities. They are the obvious draw but they are also the more tiring. Small towns and cities are fantastic to experience and much more relaxing to get around. I like all the big cities I've been to but the smaller places are the most memorable and the ones I think of first and most fondly.
You can't go everywhere and see everything so hit the places you really want to go to. You'll always have people before the trip saying "you have to go to ____" or "you should have gone to ____." There will be other opportunities.
You have come to the right place though. There are lots of people here who have lived or are living in some of these places. 4x4 is your Rome connection should you go there, there are some Uk contacts above, Aeneas has visited a number of places, and there are members like Calgaryboy, Thor, or Itse who live in some of the places you want to see.
I'm going to Paris in May for my 8th or 9th trip and have a few ideas beyond the usual or some ideas on how best to experience some of the usual places. As I said in a previous thread, if you're interested in Monaco and can make May 11th work I recommend getting tickets for the Historical Grand Prix. 60€ for tickets that are 600+ two weeks later for the regular Grand Prix.
Enjoy your trip.
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