3-1/2 days in Sicily?

I should have mentioned that we're spending 5 days in Rome, 5 days in the Sorrento/Amalfi Coast area, and 7 days in Corsica and have 3.5-4 days extra to possibly spend in Sicily. Trying to decide whether it's worth the trek to Sicily for such a short time, or if there is another spot worth seeing near Rome or South of Sorrento for 4 days.

Kristin, Sicily is worth going to, but your schedule is vague; where are you arriving from, and how are you getting to Sicily? 3.5 days is not much time. If there's one city you're particularly interested in, you might fly into and out of Sicily (either Palermo or Catania); otherwise, I'd suggest you save Sicily for a future trip.

That's not enough time to see a lot. Syracuse, Palermo and Taormina are the most visited towns. Valley of the temples, Segesta and Selinunte are the most visited ruins. You obviously can't have time for the small islands. I would choose to visit some spots either in the West (Palermo and Monreale, Segesta, Erice, maybe Selinunte, Zingaro Natural Reserve, maybe Cefalu') in which case you would fly in and out of Palermo. Or I would choose some spots in the East (Syracuse, Taormina, Mount Etna, Noto) in which case I would fly in and out of Catania. You don't have time to do both sides, IMO. Also I would skip the south and the interior totally (valley of temples, Sciacca, Ragusa, Piazza Armerina, Caltagirone) because it's farther and not easily reachable from either airport. You don't have time to do every location I mentioned in each parenthesis. But you can choose 2 or 3 of each group. For example you could squeeze Palermo, Monreale and Segesta in the time you have. Or, on the East, you can squeeze both Syracuse and Taormina. Busy but doable.

How about decreasing some other locations and adding to Sicily? If you can cut 3 days from the rest of the trip and add them to Sicily, then one week is more suitable for Sicily. It's a long way to go just for 3 days. If you decide to go, you must fly from either NAP or Rome. It's too long to go by train or car. For just 3 days I would consider Umbria, which is not far from Rome, if you've never been.

I agree that 3.5 days in Sicily would require you to focus on a small area, and you'd need to fly to make it worthwhile. If (and only if) you'll have a car available, then the area around Matera might be an interesting option. You could stay at Hotel Sassi in Matera, where all of the rooms are in historic but quite comfortable caves. The kids would love it. The sassi area of Matera is very interesting to tour, as is nearby Alberobello with its trulli houses. There are also some underground caves near Alberobello that the kids might enjoy, but I don't recall their exact location.

With only 3 full days, I'd base myself in Catania and take day trips from there (Taormina, the Etna volcano and its hillside villages, Siracusa, Val di Noto are all possible destinations, but you will have to pick some). If as you suggested you can have 6 full days in the island, then you can consider an inverted L-shaped itinerary with a rental car that starts in Catania, goes to Siracusa, Noto, Modica or Ragusa, Piazza Armerina and Agrigento. To reduce changes of hotels, you can time your trip such that you visit Modica or Ragusa on your way between Siracusa and Piazza Armerina. You would end with something like this: - arrive in Catania, spend one night - 2 nights in Siracusa - 2 nights in Piazza Armerina
- 2 nights in Agrigento