Sicily - Traveling to Agrigento and Piazza Amerina from Catania airport by car

Someone else will need to help with the driving logistics, but I want to be sure you aren't disappointed at the Villa Romana. It is not a castle in the usual sense of the word. It is a Roman ruin known primarily for its magnificent mosaics.

Are you flying into Catania after an overnight transatlantic flight?

Option 2 is preferable. It is what we did in October. I recommend Colleverde Park Hotel in Agrigento, near the Valley of the Temples. You do not want to stay up the hill in the city itself. Sketchy.
Ask for a room with views at night of the lighted temples. Their dining room at Colleverde Park is excellent too. Great service at this hotel.
We spent about two hours at Villa Romana Casale viewing the incredible mosaics.
It would be a much better use of your time to do Option 2 as there is much much more to see in Agrigento. There is also an Archeological Museum focusing on the area and the temples
which should be visited.

Dear acraven and Suki,

Thank you for your responses! Acraven, thank you for letting me know that Villa Romana is not a castle and is known for it's magnificent tile work. Is it worth a visit? How much time should we plan to spend there? We are flying in from Naples after spending about 5 days in Rome and the Amalfi Coast. We should be acclimated to the time change by the time we reach Sicily.
Suki, thanks for your feedback. I will look at possibly booking the Colleverde Park Hotel. It sounds lovely!

Best regards,
Lee Ann

I've visited Villa Romana del Casale twice (several years apart) and imo it's well worth visiting. I suggest you allow a minimum of 2 hours for your visit. You could rush through it faster, but I doubt you'll want to.

I feel your time is a little tight but doable. I would drive from Catania to Piazza Armerina and visit the Roman Villa first. It’s about an hour and half drive from Catania to Piazza Armerina. Allow 1 1/2-3 hours for the visit. Then drive to Agrigento which is another 2 hours behind the wheel. The next morning, visit the Archaeological site and museum. If you arrive in Catania at 11am, I doubt that you’d get to Agrigento as your first stop until 3:30 or 4 in the afternoon and your time for a visit would be rushed. That’s why I recommend going to the Villa first.

On a Best of Sicily tour in 2017, we stayed at Hotel Foresteria Baglio della Luna overlooking the Valley of the Temples in the hills of Agrigento. It was spectacular! And they have a very good restaurant and excellent wine list.

EDIT: On the way to Siracusa, if you have time, visit Ragusa.

In Siracusa, stay in it’s original settlement, Ortigia Island. Beautiful place. Parking is available in a large lot at the northern end of the island. You will return!

I’ll assume you will have been in Sicily and haven’t just arrived on an international flight. Last September we drove from Catania to Villa Romana del Casale where we spent about 2 hours, then continued on to Agrigento, arriving between 3 and 4pm. We stayed at B&B Villa San Marcos that overlooks the Valley. From it, it’s a 15 minute walk to the Valley of the Temples through the B&B garden and an olive grove. No need to drive to the Valley and pay to park. The B&B is down a dirt road and might be a little hard to find unless you look it up before going over. Since it isn’t in town, it does have a set dinner that was very nice. We spent 3 hours walking from the B&B to the temples, seeing all of them, then walking back. If you left early enough in the morning you could see both in a long day, depending on when the sun sets. Of your choices, the second makes more sense.

Watch your speed if driving through Piazza Armerina. There are a couple places where the limit is 20kph (12mph).

I agree with all the others that the Villa Romana is definitely worthwhile. I also enjoyed seeing a bit of central Sicily rather than just hugging the coast the whole time. I think Piazza Armerina itself is probably worth wandering around, but I didn't have time to do that.