South Sicily - I need help. Please

Agrigento to Ragusa is about a 2.5 hours drive. From there to Ortigia is about 1.5 hours, and Taormina is slightly over 1.5 hours. From Taormina to Catania airport is a hour. The daily drives are reasonable, but if needed, find places between the destinations to sightsee and break up the drive.

Noto was an easy drive from Ortigia and less than an hour.

While not clear, I assumed you were spending nights in both Ragusa and Ortigia.

Plan A sounds good. Nearer Ragusa for your day trip. You could day trip to Ragusa yourselves. I like driving but don't like navigating towns and villages so I usually study Google Maps in advance for parking on the outskirts. There usually is such parking because there are coach trips and the coaches need somewhere to turn and park.
Be careful about stops during the drive if you have your luggage etc in the car. Not ideal.

The only things I've done between those points:

MANDRANOVA...producer of fine olive oils with an upscale B&B about an hour or so drive east of Agrigento.

https://mandranova.com/en/

LICATA..we overnighted here en route from near Agrigento to Ragusa; used private drivers for this entire trip, except for our stay on Salina. Nice, workaday town, famous for its restaurants (we had lunch at LA MADIA, best meal of our entire trip; while pricey, it's excellent value for a restaurant of that quality) and for nearby WW2 sites. Highest recommendation for the food and the welcome offered by chef.

Very nice hotel, on small hill just outside town; they have a good restaurant on site.

https://www.villagiulianarelais.it

Outside Marina di Ragusa, on a trip a year later, when we had a car, stayed here; recommend; our room was plain but very large and very comfortable. Beautiful pool; five minutes drive to beach, and they give you tix for one foo the lidi in Marina di Ragusa. Beach there is good for swimming; very shallow until you walk a but, but calm and clean on the days we were there..in September. Lots of action on the beach, so great people watching.. Few non-Italian speakers.

https://silvasuri.eu

Hello, thank you for helping me try to make these drives manageable.

I decided to visit Ragusa as a day trip from Ortigia where we will stay for 3 nights. Maybe hire a car to give us a break from driving.

Rome2Rio claims 2.5 hours from Agregento to Fontane Bianche and the route is in the interior. That's not too terrible and we could stop in Palazzo Armerina. However, the drive from PA to Fontane Bianche is 2 hours. I wouldn't want to do all that driving in one day. I could spend one night in Palazzo Armerina. From there I still would need a stop somewhere midway to the coast. Caltagirone is an option. Seems like a lovely town if not difficult to park.

I'm thinking of turning in the car in Catania/ Syracuse and use transportation and private care hires to Taormina. We really don't love driving and I imagine it will be stressful and we'll be ready to hand over the keys.
Tinac, thanks for the tip on parking.
ekscrunchy, those links are amazing. I am going to dig deeper into those.

Licata is a nice stop if I change my mind and find a place to stay in Marina di Ragusa. It's possible, this trip itinerary has morphed each time I attack it.

Again, thank you. It really helps to get feedback.
Kind regards.
TM

Unfortunately Silva Suri is sold out. This accommodation never turned up in any of my research. It looks amazing and would have been a very good option for Ragusa and visiting the marina also.
TM

I’m a little confused about your trepidation about driving to Ragusa. I just left there…The drive is not scary. Large busses regularly navigate these roads with no worries and you’ll be in a small compact. Once there, You just park in the public lot and either walk or take a cab to your hotel. The driving in and around Agrigento was much more stressful for me because of the traffic. Parking in the actual city there can be a nightmare

Plus, Ragusa is charming and magical; especially at night. Marina di Ragusa… beyond being on the water, I just thought it was a soulless “holiday” destination

Noto works fine but Ragusa isn’t really a practical daytrip from Ortigia, and again you’d miss out on the vibe at night. I can recommend lodging and restaurants for Ragusa if you want.

I don’t know your whole itinerary but I guess I’d spend 3 nights in Ragusa vs Ortigia.

Ortigia is nice. You’ll end up parking in the big public lot near the Ortea Palace Hotel. Use the EasyPark app. From there, plan how far you want to lug your stuff. It’s a balance… maybe don’t get too far south the of Fontana di Diana. I liked Ortigia fine. It was a nice counterpoint to my other Sicily destinations but I was very happy to leave after 3 days.

Silva Suri is sold out NOW for next September? Good for them but boy, that's so far in advance.
If you only looked at their site and found nothing, maybe give them a call and ask for Vincenzo..who knows..(??)

I just looked at their site and punched in a random 5 nights in September and they showed rooms available.
Did you contact them, or use Booking.com??
...

.it looks like our room was a double room and I remember it was pretty large @130 euro per night.