At Best of Yucatan we usually have a few weeks if not months between a guests reservation and their arrival in Merida. I normally have time to customize an itinerary but if not I have 3 basic routes and then they can throw in a beach trip to Sisal or Celestun if they aren´t headed to the Mayan Rivera after Merida. Day one has to include a hacienda or or ten. My favorites are Uayalceh and Yaxcopoil. It is easy to go on to Uxmal and the Ruta Puuc from Yaxcopoil or hop around to other haciendas in the area. Day two could be the Maya ruins of Chichen Itza and if you get an early start and then you can add Izamal one of Mexico´s Pueblos Magico. Day three should either be cenotes or beaches and include some villages with interesting colonial churches. I recommend everyone read John L. Stephens Incidents of Travel in the Yucatan over any contemporary guide to the area and it was written in 1858. There´s a fantastic two volume set The Colonial Churches of the Yucatan and it would be easy to make your vacation around driving or biking from one church to the other or just stick to the well traveled convent route.
The Best of Yucatan Guide 