Five nights 6 days northern italy

Have you visited Italy before, or is this your first trip?
Which month (year) are you talking about, and where are you arriving from?
If you are coming from N. America, you will more than likely be jetlagged the first day, which cuts your time down a bit.
You only have five nights in total, so it may be better to spend them in only two places, in order to appreciate those places without rushing about to get to the next one.
If this is your first trip to Italy, I would give Milan a miss unless you have a specific reason to go there.
Perhaps two nights in Turin, and three in Venice.

Arriving from Ireland and it's first trip

Three places in 5 nights has you mostly 'moving' and only minimal 'visiting/seeing'.

I think you would be much happier if you limit yourself to sleeping in no more than 2 locations

Agree, two locations only. If it were me, I would stay in one place the whole time.
Moving around costs money and is tiring.

Don't mean to be Debbie Downer, but It almost always takes longer to change locations than anticipated even when everything goes well (and often times it doesn't). It's not just the actual travel time, its the packing up, checking out, getting to the train station, finding the track and waiting for the train. Then, upon arrival, you have to clear the terminal, get a taxi, get to your hotel, check in (if your room is ready), and unpack to some degree.

You want good memories of unique sights, good food, good wine, and people you'll meet. I'm afraid with your plans you'll only have blurred memories of taxi rides, train stations, and riding the rails. It might be wise to consider scaling back on the itinerary to include just those things that most interest you.

I don't have any specific things I want to see. Just picked those locations based on current travel restrictions.

I would stay entirely in Venice and see the Veneto as well, or the opposite. Stay in the Veneto seeing places like Verona, Vicenza and Padua etc...in addition to Venice.

Same. If I were going to Italy now when there are significantly fewer travelers, I would take advantage of seeing Venice as no one has seen it for years.

If you have a real desire to see The Last Supper, you could stay in Milan your first night, but otherwise I would stay in Venice.

You could spend the first 3 nights in Milan with a day trip up to Lake Como (the train to Varenna takes an hour) on the third day. Then on to Venice for 2 nights. Venice is great but you can get a feel for the place pretty quick. We spent 3 nights there are few years ago and my wife felt 2 was enough.

If you’re trying to keep expenses down, it’s generally cheaper lodging and food in smaller towns. But you need to weigh that against why you’re there - to see some major sites.

For Venice, don’t stay in industrial Mestre to save money. You want to be on the islands of Venice.

Other places to consider:
Verona - has a preserved Roman arena, a very nice city for first-time tourists to Italy. We have stayed there multiple times. If you’re staying there during the opera festival, it will be more expensive.
Padova - another good city on the main train line to Venice. The Scrovegni Chapel is a must see if in that town; you will need reservations.
Vicenza - a nice day trip town from either Verona or Padova.

We really liked Torino, but I wouldn’t recommend it for your short amount of time unless you’re wanting to see the Egyptian museum or attend something specific. If you do go, be sure to also see the royal palace - loved their horse & men armor displays, especially! Also see the Mole Antonelliana.

A read a previous comment on number of days for Venice. We have been there several times and never tire of staying several days in such a unique city!

It seems that a good number of the folks who make rushed trips to Venice end up not liking the city much. I suspect it's because, having little time, they don't wander beyond the tourist hot zone between the Rialto Bridge and San Marco. You really need to wander off that path to see the magic of Venice.

Edited to add: I see that I wasn't very clear here. What I meant was that the touristy section of the city is usually utterly (and unpleasantly) mobbed.

hey hey stlegera44
does the date 18th mean this month? how early do you arrive and do you have hotel reserved?
an option is spend 2 nights in milan, drop of bags and walk around the center and piazzas, have lunch somewhere and check in to hotel (hotel cavour includes breakfast)
milan-museum.com is for the last supper. you have to book online at 25E each. if you plan to, go after you check in at hotel, take the tour (last 2 tours 6pm or 6:30pm), dinner somewhere.
next day explore the piazzas, neighborhoods, shops, cafes, people watch known for high fashion and finance. maybe a intro tour (withlocals.com/milan), enjoy what there is, some people hate it and some people love it. you get to chose. tripsavvy.com/milan
next day train to venice to venezia santa lucia. walk out to see the grand canal.
hotel NH venezia santa lucia, near train station and bridge across grand canal,
ca' san travaso, with breakfast unless you have room reserved.
withlocals.com/venice tripsavvy.com/venice alessandro@schezzini.it email him and see if he's still doing cicchetti pub crawls, stop for small bites with wine and history.
destination360.com/cicchetti tour. or ask you host who does this. streaty.com food, market and wine tour.
venicelink.com under shuttle has shared water taxi to airport for 22E. private and fast way to airport.
walk around, get lost, enjoy the island. maybe take a vaporetto to the island of burano, (isoladiburano.it) leave early, spend a few hours then back to venice.
just some options for you to look at. enjoy and have fun
aloha

Take advantage of the uncrowded Venice, a rare opportunity. Venture into the Veneto if you want a day trip. Padua,Vicenza and our favorite, alpine feeling Bassano de Grappa are easy to reach.

Hi and welcome to the forum -

Couple of questions?

Flying into milan early on the 18th and leaving venice evening time on
23rd

This month or a different one? It can matter.

Arriving from Ireland and it's first trip

On an Irish passport?

As you don't have anything specific that you want to do in Turin, I'd eliminate it. With the short amount of time you have to work with, a destination which involves backtracking will eat up hours/transport costs that may be better applied to something else. I'll say the same about backtracking to Milan from Lake Como. Why retrace your steps?

I DO think that you probably can squeeze in 3 destinations if you plan a one-way itinerary: Milan>Lake Como>Venice. Maybe something like this:

18th - Arrive early in Milan; sleep in Milan
19th - Milan
20th - early train to Varenna (Lake Como). Sleep in Varenna
21st - train to Venice; sleep in Venice
22nd - Venice
23rd - Venice and fly home late

You might also eliminate one night in Milan and add it to Varenna/Lake Como, which is what I'd personally vote for as it would give you another shot at working around weather, should your otherwise single day be a wet one. You could also apply that extra day to Venice, as fans of that city think you should during its rare, COVID-restricted days. There's no wrong answer, really, except for opting for a plan that involves backtracking.

As we don't really have any idea of your interests, it's difficult to recommend which destinations should get more time and which should get less. Milan tends to fall short with many on their must-do lists but has enough of interest for most to fill a day even if skipping the Last Supper, as we did. Lake Como? Not a place to go in the winter months, thus my question about when this trip will be. :O)

The trip is next week. So September. I am interested in museums and whatever the must see things are.

For me the #1 sight in Milan is the Duomo. It is stunning, and you used to be able to walk on the roof. I don't know what is possible now. The Last Supper seems to be the driving force behind many visits to Milan; if you want to see it, check immediately to see whether tickets are available, because it usually sells out way, way in advance). Other points of interest include the Brera neighborhood and the historic Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, a shopping arcade notable for its architecture. There's also at least one art museum I haven't been to and no doubt quite a few other museums of various types.

I sort of feel as if the #1 sight in Venice is Venice itself. Aside from San Marco, you might like to see the Guggenheim modern-art museum. The city has many historic churches, etc. A guidebook would be handy. A night-time vaporetto ride along the Grand Canal would be nice, and many folks like to go out to at least one of the lagoon islands. Burano seems to be more popular than Murano unless the visitor has a special interest in blown glass.

Thanks all for all the great tips and suggestions 😊

hey hey stlegera44
you're welcome. please come back and let us know how your adventure went
aloha

Getting decided to stay 2 nights milan and 3 venice I am now looking for good hotel recommdations that are in good locations for everything and not too expensive

hey hey stlegera
these are on booking.com
MILAN
hotel mozart $82/night breakfast included non refundable
hotel cavour $119/night breakfast $18
hotel palazzo delle stelline $99/night breakfast included
hotel rio $102/night breakfast included

VENICE
albergo marin $54/night $71/night includes breakfast
guesthouse ca' san marcuola 1 $85/night continental breakfast
locanda poste vecie $81/night continental breakfast (?)
hotel marconi $80/night (classic) breakfast included on the grand canal next to rialto bridge. sounds just up your alley to enjoy, see so much and close to sites, fill your dream
ca' san trovaso B&B $101/night
just a few places to check, it's budget style. like my way of travel and what you prefer. look at reviews, location, what's included including cancellation options.
wear comfy walking shoes, you may want to buy a vaporetto pass (europeforvisitors.com) has lots of Q & A about venice. take a small bag (carry on) pack light.
where ever you stay, think of your transport out. vaporetto or walk to train station, shared water taxi from venice link for 22E (mentioned in my previous post) nice ride back to airport gliding over the water
cocaeta creperia (one man shop making crepes to say yummy) fondementa san giobbe 549 near crea waterbus stop and ponte dei tre archi in a quiet neighborhood on cannareggio canal. walk up one side of canal and back down the other side or vaporetta back
good luck, hope this helps you with your decisions, and do come back about adventure. after this getaway you'll have to adventure further haha. italy is great enjoy
aloha