Sicily Itinerary - Opinions

Give the least amount of time to Taormina.
We only went to Catania to fly out do can’t comment. Enjoyed Agrigento near and at temples and loved our week in Ortigia. Also enjoyed staying overnight in Noto.

I agree with driving straight to Agrigento and spending one night there. Other than the temples, there's not much to see in the town. You might add a stop in Ragusa on the way to Ortigia. Even an overnight could be a good way to break up the drive. A few hours in Noto is plenty, not a lot to see, but very beautiful. I think three nights in Taormina is too much, which is why I've suggested perhaps to spend the night in Ragusa. Probably one night in Catania is plenty.

Agree with Suki. For us an afternoon in Taormina was enough. Like Suki, we also loved our time in Ortigia. Plenty of fun day tips from there.
Too bad you couldn't fly into Palermo and out of Catania. Then on your way to Agrigento from Palermo you might be able to stop at either Segesta or Selinunte.

On our trip we had 2 nights in each Taormina and Agrigento giving us one full day in each place to see things. Taormina is nice if you’re there when the cruise ships are not in port. I had been to Catania multiple times back in the 1970s and to me it’s worth one night at most. Keep your Mt Etna portion flexible since it has been erupting a lot the past couple years, so have a plan B for that day. In Agrigento we stayed at B&B Villa San Marcos. From it we walked over to the temples via a path through the olive grove/garden. From the B&B we wandered over to one of the lesser seen temples and ended up in the Kolymbetra gardens. Never saw a ticket booth, so got to see both for free.

Rather than staying in Taormina, which is not easy with a car, I stayed partway between Taormina and Catania, in Guardini Naxos, and made day trips to Taormina, Castelmola and Mt Etna. From Giardini Naxos, it is a quick drive back to Catania, so you gain a bit if time there.

We stayed in the 18th century Villa Chiarenza, with free parking and chose the rooms whose large balconies had a lovely view of Mt Etna.

I gather you may be spending time first in Rome, so as not to be driving to Agrigento immediately after arriving in Europe, which would be too exhausting for me.

Having done a similar trip of 11 days that was only in the east of Sicily, I stayed in the lovely Baroque town of Ragusa and saved Agrigento for a later trip, giving more time to Ortigia and the ruins in Siracusa. Ragusa is car friendly in that it has a free parking lot at the base of town from which our hotel picked us up to bring us up the hill (or you can walk up the stairs) to their property in the car free zone. Ragusa could also be a pleasant stop on the way from Agrigento to Ortigia.

I so appreciate all of these perspectives.
I am going to map some things out on Rome to Rio and make some adjustments.

This trip actually comes after 2 weeks of touring Italy with my cousin and her husband. It is their anniversary trip and we will be doing a best of an acting as their tour guides lol. This little week at the end is just for my husband and I to see something we haven't seen before and spend a little time alone before heading home.

Going to be working on the itinerary