Merida: what to see, where to stay and how to get around

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Mérida was founded in 1542 by the conquistador Francisco de Montejo the Younger on the ruins of the Maya city of T’hó, and its first buildings were raised from the stones of the Maya temples. Around 1900 the henequen fibre boom made it one of the richest cities in Mexico. Today it is a safe, slow capital of the Yucatán where Maya is still spoken in the markets. Half a day on foot; go early, it is very hot.

A short history of Merida

In 1542 Francisco de Montejo founded Mérida on the ruins of the Maya city of T'ho, and the stones of its pyramids were used to build the Spanish city. Its cathedral, completed in 1598, is one of the oldest in the Americas. At the end of the 19th century the city grew rich from growing agave for rope fibre, and the plantation owners' mansions were built along the Paseo de Montejo avenue. The Maya, who worked on the plantations in harsh conditions, still make up a large part of the population of the Yucatán Peninsula.

The ten best sights in Merida

1
Plaza Grande
The main square under laurel trees
2
Cathedral of San Ildefonso
Built of the stones of a Maya city
3
Casa de Montejo
The conquistador’s house of 1549
4
Palacio de Gobierno
Murals of Maya history; free
5
MACAY
Contemporary art beside the cathedral
6
Parque Santa Lucía
Thursday serenades of trova
7
Parque de Santiago
Danzón on Tuesday nights
8
Parque de Santa Ana
Food stalls under the church
9
Paseo de Montejo
The boulevard of henequen mansions
10
Quinta Montes Molina
A mansion with its furniture intact

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Tours in Merida →

A guide in your headphones: open the walk on our site, walk from stop to stop, and at each one your phone tells its story. No guide, no group, and free. This is the first walk in Merida:

Free walking tours in Merida

The white city

Cathedral of San Ildefonso · Built between 1561 and 1598 from the stones of T’hó’s temples, one of the oldest cathedrals on the American mainland. Its bare interior was stripped in the revolution of 1915; the giant crucifix behind the altar is a twentieth-century addition.
Casa de Montejo · The house of the conquering family, finished in 1549. Its stone doorway shows two Spanish soldiers in armour standing on the heads of defeated Maya, an image of conquest the city still displays on its main square.
Palacio de Gobierno · The state government palace, whose walls carry the murals of Fernando Castro Pacheco, painted in the 1970s, telling the history of the Maya from the creation of man from maize to the suffering of the henequen workers.
Mercado Lucas de Gálvez · The crowded main market, where Maya women in white embroidered huipiles sell habanero chillies, achiote paste and hammocks, and the stalls upstairs serve cochinita pibil from early morning.
Parque Santa Lucía · A small arcaded square where every Thursday evening since 1965 the city has held a free serenade of trova yucateca, romantic songs for guitars and voices, with folk dancers.
Parque de Santiago · A neighbourhood square with a small market where, on Tuesday nights, an orchestra plays danzón and the older couples of the city dance in their best clothes.

The henequen boulevard

In the late nineteenth century Yucatán grew henequen, an agave whose fibre made the world’s rope and twine, and the planters built a boulevard of mansions modelled on Paris. Half a day by foot or calesa, the horse-drawn carriage.

Parque de Santa Ana · A square at the start of the boulevard with a row of cheap food stalls, where office workers eat panuchos and salbutes, fried tortillas topped with turkey, beans and pickled onion.
Paseo de Montejo · A boulevard laid out from 1888 on the model of the Champs-Élysées, lined with the French-style mansions of the henequen planters, whose fortunes were made on haciendas worked by indebted Maya labourers.
Quinta Montes Molina · A mansion still owned by the family that built it, with its Italian marble, Austrian chandeliers and original furniture, shown on guided tours.
Monumento a la Patria · A huge stone monument carved by the Colombian sculptor Rómulo Rozo between 1945 and 1956, showing the history of Mexico from the founding of Tenochtitlan in a style inspired by Maya art.
Gran Museo del Mundo Maya · A museum opened in 2012 in a building shaped like a ceiba, the sacred tree of the Maya, that tells the story of the Maya as a living people, not only of ruins; in the evening a sound and light show is projected on its facade.
Dzibilchaltún · A Maya city north of Mérida whose Temple of the Seven Dolls is aligned so that at the spring and autumn equinoxes the rising sun shines straight through its doorway. Beside it is Xlacah, a cenote where you can swim.

Pyramids, haciendas and cenotes

Around Mérida the flat limestone of Yucatán holds great Maya cities, ruined haciendas and cenotes, the sinkholes that were the only fresh water of the peninsula. A ring of them traces the edge of the Chicxulub crater, left by the asteroid that killed the dinosaurs. Two days by car or tour.

Uxmal · A Maya city of the Puuc hills whose Pyramid of the Magician has rounded, oval sides, unlike any other. Legend says a dwarf born from an egg built it in a single night.
Hacienda Yaxcopoil · A henequen hacienda left almost as it was abandoned, with its Moorish double arch, the machine house and the rooms of the owners, a picture of how the boom ended when synthetic fibres replaced henequen.
Hacienda Sotuta de Peón · A restored hacienda that still processes henequen with its old machines, where you ride a mule-drawn cart through the fields and meet a worker who cut the leaves for decades.
Cenotes de Cuzamá · Three cenotes reached by truck, small carts pulled by horses along the narrow rails once used to carry henequen; you climb down ladders into caverns of turquoise water.
Izamal · A town painted almost entirely yellow, around a Franciscan convent of 1561 built on top of a Maya pyramid, with one of the largest enclosed atriums in the world; Pope John Paul II visited in 1993. Other pyramids still rise between the houses.
Chichén Itzá · The great Maya city whose pyramid, El Castillo, has ninety-one steps on each side, which with the top platform make three hundred and sixty-five. At the equinoxes the afternoon sun casts a shadow like a serpent crawling down its stairs.

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Getting to Merida and getting around

Mérida Airport · About twenty minutes south of the centre
CAME bus terminal · ADO buses to Chichén Itzá and Cancún

Cheap eats in Merida

Yucatán has its own cuisine, more Maya than Mexican: cochinita pibil, pork marinated in sour orange and achiote and slow-cooked underground in banana leaves; sopa de lima, chicken soup with a local lime; panuchos and salbutes; and marquesitas, rolled crisp crêpes filled with Edam cheese and Nutella, sold from carts at night. A cochinita taco costs about one dollar.

Mercado Lucas de Gálvez · Cochinita from early morning
Parque de Santa Ana · Panuchos and salbutes
Plaza Grande · Marquesita carts at night

Museums in Merida

Mérida’s museums tell of the Maya, the conquest and the henequen fortunes.

Gran Museo del Mundo Maya · The living Maya
Palacio de Gobierno · The murals
Quinta Montes Molina · A planter’s mansion

Nature and day trips near Merida

Flat limestone, cenotes, mangroves of flamingos and the Gulf coast.

Celestún · The flamingos
Cenotes de Cuzamá · Swimming in caverns
Progreso · The beach

Things to do in Merida with kids

With children: a horse-drawn cart to the cenotes, pink flamingos and climbing pyramids.

Cenotes de Cuzamá · The rail carts
Celestún · Boat to the flamingos
Dzibilchaltún · Ruins and a swim

Holy places in Merida

Churches built from Maya temples, and the sacred cities of the Maya.

Cathedral of San Ildefonso · The stone cathedral
Izamal · Convent on a pyramid
Chichén Itzá · The serpent pyramid

Nightlife in Merida

Mérida’s nights are free: serenades, danzón, a Sunday street fair, and cantinas that serve botanas with every beer.

Parque Santa Lucía · Thursday serenade
Parque de Santiago · Tuesday danzón
Plaza Grande · Mérida en Domingo

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Frequently asked questions about Merida

What is there to see in Merida?

The top sights in Merida are Plaza Grande, Cathedral of San Ildefonso and Casa de Montejo. The full list on this page has 10 sights, each with a photo and a short note.

How many days do you need in Merida?

Three to four days are enough to see the best of Merida without rushing, including at least one walking tour.

Is there a free walking tour in Merida?

Yes. sleepntrip has 3 free audio walks in Merida, with no guide and no group: your phone tells the story at every stop. The first one: The white city.

How do you get to Merida and get around?

The main ways are Mérida Airport and CAME bus terminal. Full details are in the transport section on this page.

Where to stay in Merida, and for how much?

sleepntrip shows only rooms in Merida that meet nine conditions: a good location, high guest scores, cleanliness, and a price of up to $80 a night for two. Pick your dates and see what is free.

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