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The PF1e AP Adventures can be found in AoN's 'Source List' page (https://www.aonprd.com/Sources.aspx?ProductLine=AdventurePath): Just pay attention to the "player's guide" entries to see what the actual AP name is.
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The AP’s are all set in Golarion but as I understand a few are outside the regions normally used.
They tend to cover the same chronology as Pathfinder Society, but I’m unsure if many events from one AP carry over into another. Hell’s Rebels and Hell’s Vengeance I believe do.
They run from levels 1 into the high teens, so one character couldn’t normally progress through more than one AP, but a GM that takes their time could have crossovers or other mechanics (time travel, amnesia, etc) that allow the same characters or teams to play more than one.
It is a complex story that gets unfolded over the 6 parts of each AP, sometimes the handoff between authors of one part to another makes for dramatic turns, other times GMs need to retool the backstory or motivations of bosses to keep the flow the party has established.
As far as dungeon of the week minded parties, they are excellent as written and keep the plot moving between encounters, for Roleplay serious groups, the APs are written to keep moving without individual character development arcs, so the GM needs to communicate both with the players about what their story can be and rework chunks of the AP.
This last part requires staying well ahead of the current book in terms of plot, so a strong background session or two works well once the GM has skimmed ahead for relevant plot threads.
The biggest pro to the adventure path is that, IMO, you get a far better story in the same amount of DM prep time.
Aside from that Paizo has made supplemental products that go along with each AP, like dice, Pawns, NPC cards, Primers, Miniatures, Etc.
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Where could I find a complete list of Adventure Paths?
PathfinderWiki has a good list.
Is there any overarching chronology that ties them all together
As mentioned, they all take place in the same setting (Golarian), and they roughly take place in order. For the most part, adventure paths in the same edition don't influence each other with a few exceptions (like the Runelords ones or Shadows at Sundown being a followup to Curse of the Crimson Throne).
It's canon by second edition that the first edition adventures happened, though.
But outside of ones that are direct follow ups, you can largely run them in whatever order you want. It'd take a very long time to run ALL of them, and some of them aren't worth running (Second Darkness is terrible).
How many could you play through with the same characters?
The older ones all go from level 1 to high level (16 to 20), so you really can't with those because you need a level 1 character again. The newer ones are shorter with narrower level bands, so you can for example play a level 1-10 one and a 11-20 one with the same characters.
You can also mix in single book adventures and shorter things like scenarios (which are generally a single game night long).
Are they all set in the Golarion setting?
Pretty much, yeah.
What are some of the pros and cons to adventure Paths?
The big pro is a lot of work is done for you. There's a story, characters, traps, monsters, treasure, and such. It's all there, ready to go. This is a massive time saver if you can run the adventure, even if you change some stuff.
The big con is tied to the big pro: it's a written book, so if the book expects your players to want to do X and your players want to do the opposite of X, the book is no longer helping you. If you're used to a homebrew type of game where the players are deciding what to do and you're writing the narrative around that, APs can feel like you're being railroaded by comparison.
You can deviate from the book, of course. Deviating a little tends to be fairly straightforward. Deviating a lot means you're now writing what happens next yourself and the book is much less helpful.
If not an overall chronology, are there any recommended play orders outside of publication order?
As they tend to take at least a year to play for an active group (or several years for a long one), not really. Pick one that sounds interesting, check the reviews for any caveats, and go from there.
Literally anything else? I don't even know what I don't know.
Make sure you know what edition you're looking for. First and second edition are very different games. It is possible to convert between them, but I really don't recommend that for new players.
People's favs or highlights. I'm open to medium/lite spoilers here. If I ever get to play any of these, it will be years if not a decade from now.
My two favorites that I've actually run/played:
- Curse of the Crimson Throne for first edition. Amazing story, and you get to really care about Korvosa, where most of it takes place. I played this one and it was the best experience I've ever had in the hobby in 30 years, though I did pick a character with a backstory that tied into the plot really well (with some lucky serendipity) and my GM ran with it incredibly well.- Fists of the Ruby Phoenix for second edition. So good I GM'd it twice for two groups and they both loved it. This is an anime style martial arts tournament theme but there is a lot going on. It's pretty easy to run, has lots of room for GM customization, and mixes up the combat well with other activities. Plus there's a recurring cast of characters the players can form relationships with (love and hate). It starts at level 11, so be aware of that, but this is one for players that want to be a big deal and want to go over the top.