It is the first real decision of a long trip, and people agonise over it. Do you settle in one place for a month, or move every few days to see more? After years of both, we almost always choose to stay put, and here is why.
When you stay, the place stops being a sight and becomes a life. You learn the market day and the good baker. The woman at the café starts your coffee when she sees you coming. You stop photographing everything and start noticing things instead. That shift usually takes about a week, which is exactly why a string of three-night stops never delivers it.
Moving has its place. If it is your first time in a region and you genuinely do not know where you want to land, a slow loop with a few stops can help you choose. But build in time. Three nights at a minimum, a week where you can, and never more than one move a week on a long trip. The packing and unpacking is what wears you out, not the distance.
Our usual shape for a long trip is one base for most of it, with one or two shorter side trips by train. We swap a house for a month, settle in properly, and take the occasional three-night excursion from there. You come home to a place that already feels like yours, and the trip stays restful instead of turning into a logistics exercise.