Itinerary Sanity Check - End of August into September in Northern Italy

Northern Italy makes sense for September.. I haven't gone to most of the places you mentioned, but we did go to Turin and loved it. Lots of outdoor cafes and sites. The mountains and villages around Turin should be nice too. Barolo is wonderful!!

Bump. Really want to know if I'm doing it right or if I'm wasting time or what.

I think your itinerary makes sense, mostly. It won't be truffle season in the Piedmont yet, so you won't see any white truffles. The food will still be fantastic - when we went to the Piedmont several years ago, just for 4 or so days, it was the most food-indulgent trip we'd every had (and we've traveled to lots of places in France and Italy). My spouse is a real oenophile, primarily Barolo, so we stayed in that area, in the small town of Montforte d'Alba, in one of the best B&Bs that I've ever stayed at, le Case della Saracca. The plus about it not being truffle season is that you will then have more chances to eat all of the other great Piemontese foods and dishes.

We've been to Lake Como and Lake Maggiore, and the Lakes just don't appeal to us. We would rather be in the mountains or along the ocean; I think it's a matter of personal preference. If I said there wasn't much to do there, someone else who loves the area will tell you all sorts of great things to do. And I will say about the Piedmont, there's not a lot to do, in terms of museums or historic homes; it's mostly driving around the beautiful countryside, and eating and drinking.

We did also drive up the Val d'Aosta one day; it was also pretty, but very hazy the entire time we were there, so we couldn't really see much of the mountains. We just drove up from Turin, so I can't tell you a good base town.

Enjoy!

Thanks. It's good to know I'm thinking mostly right about it. I might could skip the lakes and just spend more time in Piemonte, to maybe spend a day in Bra or something. Or maybe spend another day in the Veneto.

A couple of nights in the Veneto, specifically in the Colli Euganei, would be my choice.

Now considering an alternative construction that would work like:
Venice - arrival on September 27, departure early on the 30th via train to do a High Speed Town Hop through...
Padua on the way to ...
Bologna where we'd get a car and drive to...
an Agriturismo somewhere between Modena and Reggio Emilia to use as a base to explore Emilia Romagna on the 30th through the second. On the 3rd, we'd drive up to:
an agriturismo around Alba to use as a base for exploring Piedmont through the 7th, then drive up to
Valle D'Aosta, where we might stay at Cogne, or Aosta or (open to suggestion) where we'd go up Monte Bianco, visit Fenis, walk in the Gran Paradiso, and drive down to Milan's Malpensa to fly home at 10 PM on the 9th (sleeping in Dublin on the way back to Chicago).

As I count days, this is 2.5 days in Venice, a two site stop in Padua, 3 days in E-R, 4 days in Piedmont, 2 days in Aosta.

I have to look at the travel time, especially on doing the Venice - Padua - E-R Agriturismo transfer, and the E-R - Piedmont one.

I think that plan sounds good, though I would probably spend one more night in Venice and one night less in Emilia Romagna. Or a night or two in Bologna. I LOVE Bologna - it's beautiful, not touristy, big enough to have many good restaurants and cafes and places to sit and people-watch, but small enough to easily get around in.
I will say that my spouse and I are planning a trip for October this year that will, we plan, include time in the Emilia-Romagna countryside, but that's after we've visited Venice, Bologna several times, and we're planning a trip back to the Piedmont for next year. So I'm not telling you to only go to all the most-visited places, but letting you know that Emilia-Romagna is not everyone's first choice, but it is a foodie area, we we're looking forward to spending time in the area!
And I just noticed, as an FYI, while you say you want to base excursions into Barolo country, keep in mind that Bra and Alba are not in the Barolo area, which technically is 11 villages in the Langhe part of the Piedmont: Barolo, Castiglione Falletto, Serralunga d’Alba, Diano d’Alba, Grinzane Cavour, Monforte d’Alba, Novello, Cherasco, La Morra, Roddi and Verduno. Those are all south of Alba and Bra.

Your plan sounds wonderful. Allow for as much time as you can with your stopover in Padova. Make sure you pre book a visit to the Scrovegni Chapel.

@Lexma: THANK YOU!
I'm cutting Venice short because this is our second trip there. The first time, we were tired, on days 10-11-12 of a 14 day trip, my first time in Europe, and our first time there as independant travelers.

I haven't booked anything for E-R yet, so I'm open to ideas. I'm starting to think that maybe 4 nights around Modena, with a day trip back to Bologna. I am a huge foodie and love the products of E-R, so really want to deep dive on the Ham Road, cheese making, vinegar tasting, pasta making, sausage eating, and so on. Might add a cooking class if I can find one somewhere between Parma and Modena.

We are now booked at agriturismo Ada Nada, in Treiso in Cuneo province. I think this is acceptable for exploring the Langhe and Roero. I'm learning more about what I want to explore, wine wise in Italy.

@Djp_syd: Thank you. It's about an hour including walk out, from our hotel in Dorsoduro to Scrovegni on a FR train. Grows to 1:20 on a slower train, I think. Then it's an hour down to Bologna. Not sure how long to rent the car, but it's right across the street, and then about an hour to get up the A1 to our final E-R destination. I think I'd like to do that drive round about sunset, so, if we get going really early, maybe 6-8 hours in Padua.

I've sucked it up and booked Cogne, though might unbook and find something in Aosta or Coeurmayeur. The Cogne place is quite charming looking though and priced decently.