Is Merida Worth Visiting? 10 Practical Points To Consider

Merida Mexico is the largest city in the Yucatan peninsula with a population of well over a million people. Merida also has a reputation as the safest city in Mexico. But is Merida a good destination for tourists? After all, the majority of visitors to this part of Mexico choose to spend their time in Cancun, Tulum, or other coastal towns in the Yucatan’s east. We recently spent a full month exploring Merida. So when it comes to answering the question “Is Merida Worth Visiting?”, I have a good amount of personal experience to draw from. Here’s some of the most important points I think you should consider if you are thinking about visiting Merida Mexico.

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Is Merida Safe?

Invariably, when it comes to making Mexico travel decisions, the first question is usually about safety. In fact, I know many people who avoid Mexico altogether because of safety concerns. And that’s a shame! While there are indeed many areas of Mexico that should be avoided or that require extra doses of vigilance, much of Mexico remains reasonably safe for travelers.

So what about Merida? Not only is Merida Mexico safe, it is currently ranked as the second safest city in all of the Americas (and #30 in the World). And this fact did help me cement our decision to spend an entire month there. (Interestingly, while my own home Salt Lake City is ranked as the safest city in the United States, it’s only #98 in the world….well below Merida.)

But what about reality? Did we actually feel safe in Merida Mexico?

One Hundred Percent!!

We regularly walked the streets of Merida’s historic center without any cause for concern, whether it was day or night. We never witnessed any issues. And there was a very visible police presence throughout the city. I wandered alone at times through both crowded markets and empty streets. We regularly rode Uber.

Is Merida safe? Yep! And in fact, if you believe the rankings, I was safer in Merida Mexico than I am at home.

What Are Merida’s Best Sites?

OK so Merida is safe, but is Merida worth visiting for its sites? Are there cool things to do and see in Merida Mexico?

And the answer is “yes, but….”

Merida isn’t bursting with sites. I never felt any stress about not seeing everything during our time there, like I have in other places we’ve visited. Our slow travel approach prevents this most of the time anyway. But even if you are in Merida for only a few days, you should be able to see it all.

Merida Mexico’s most-visited sites include its historic 16th-century Cathedral called Catedral de San Ildefonso. This is the second oldest Cathedral in the Americas, and interestingly, stones from a nearby Mayan pyramid were used in its construction.

The Cathedral stands next to the city’s central Plaza Grande, which we always found bustling with people and activities….

One of the most Instagrammable spots in Merida is an iconic monument called the Monumento a la Patria which celebrates both Mexican and Yucatan history…

And Merida has a busy central municipal market called Mercado Lucas de Galvez…

This huge and chaotic market was my favorite “site” in Merida. I went to the market many times. And I loved exploring its maze-like alleys, which featured all types of vendors…

Merida also has a few museums too. Unfortunately, its most popular Museum – the large Mayan World Museum – was closed due to some undefined technical issues during our entire month in town. And Merida’s popular Museum of Contemporary Art (located next to the Cathedral) was also closed for renovations during our time in town.

I was disappointed that we were unable to visit the Mayan museum, but we did get a chance to see a few Mayan artifacts at the Merida Anthropology & History Museum – located inside of one of Merida’s most historic 19th-century mansions.

Is Merida A Scenic Place?

Again, the answer here is “yes, but…”

It might depend on your definition of scenic. I honestly did expect that the entirety of Merida’s Centro Historico would generally be more scenic than what we found – based on some of my reading before arrival. And indeed, the couple of blocks surrounding the city’s Central Plaza are quite pretty, with lots of well-maintained original colonial architecture.

And Merida also features a grand avenue called Paseo de Montejo on the northern edge of the Centro Historico. Many cities around the world have a “fancy street” (like the Gran Via in Madrid). And Paseo de Montejo is Merida’s. It was designed at the turn of the 20th century and is purposely reminiscent of a grand French boulevard lined with big mansions. Many of these are now financial institutions, small museums (like the aforementioned Anthropology Museum picture below), and reception centers. Many of Merida’s best hotels are also located along this avenue.

But the rest of the Centro Historico can be a little rough around the edges sometimes. And this did not bother me at all. I consider it a different kind of scenic. In fact, exploring the various streets and neighborhoods of Centro Historico was actually my favorite thing to do in Merida Mexico.

As you wander the streets of Centro Historico, you’ll find quite the mishmash. You’ll see brightly painted facades of houses, restaurants, boutique hotels, and businesses – many with beautiful courtyards.

However, on the very same block, you can see several rundown and forgotten properties too.

But those are the exact places that frequently offered a great canvas for some fantastic street art.

You’ll also discover that Central Historico is made up of a collection of neighborhoods – each with a central plaza and a historic church. Some of these churches are quite remarkable as you can see…

So yes, I would personally consider Merida Mexico to be perfectly scenic!

What Are Accommodations in Merida Like?

When I was initially tripping Merida Mexico and trying to decide if visiting Merida was worth it, one of the clinchers for us was the quality of the accommodations I found. We typically use Airbnb for our slow traveling stays. And when I found the place pictured below called Casa Thelma, I knew that we would indeed be visiting Merida.

A small recently-restored house in Centro Historico. Living room and kitchen in the front. Huge bedroom and bathroom in the back. With a private pool and a courtyard in between. And the cost was only slightly higher than our usual budget. We most definitely found a way to make it work.

We were very happy here and spent every afternoon poolside. If I’d specifically asked Mrs TT – Is Merida worth visiting? – during those poolside moments, I’m sure you can imagine her answer.

Over the course of our time visiting Merida Mexico, we spoke with several other travelers, and almost all had a private pool at their Airbnb. If you spend some time perusing Merida rentals on Airbnb, I think you’ll be pretty impressed with what you see.

I was also very impressed with the quality and beauty of the many boutique hotels we came across while wandering Centro Historico. This includes the Santiago Merida Hotel Boutique where we took a cooking class one afternoon (future blog post coming on that).

As you are preparing for your own visit to Merida, you may come across big hotels and apartment rentals in the very north part of the city. This is the newer part of town. However, I think it’s too far away from the best things to do in Merida – which are located mostly in the center.

Is It Easy To Get Around Merida?

Talk of intracity travel distance naturally leads to the topic of getting around Merida Mexico.

First of all, central Merida is very walkable. Most of the best things to do in Merida are not only located in the Centro Historico, but they are all mostly situated within a 1 mile radius of each other.

Merida does have a public bus system, but it’s honestly not very easy or necessary for tourists to use.

You’ll notice plenty of taxis in Merida, but you generally want to avoid using those. Merida taxis do not use a meter and drivers typically do not speak English. You must negotiate your price at the onset of your ride. And who wants to deal with that?

But the good news is that Uber is available in Merida. And it’s very inexpensive. (Though be aware that Uber is not allowed to pick up riders directly from the airport in Merida.)

I have an entire blog post about the intricacies of using Uber in Merida, so be sure to check it out.

What About Day Trips From Merida?

I love taking day trips. It’s usually a big focus for us on our travels. And I’ve written about many of our favorite day trips on this blog (like this one to Chinchon Spain or this one to Bratislava Slovakia).

But I struggled with day tripping in Merida Mexico.

We typically depend on public transportation for our day trips. We travel on a budget, and car rentals can be expensive and a hassle. And while most of the best day trip destinations are connected to Merida by either bus or train, the daily bus & train routes can be sparse and the travel times relatively long. Car rental is undoubtedly the best way to DIY day trip in Merida.

You’ll find that many travel companies offer organized tours to all the most popular day trip locations from Merida. But I found that these tours were more expensive than I would have expected. And I strongly prefer the do-it-yourself approach anyway. I personally don’t like the constraints of organized tours, and only take them as a last resort.

We did end up ultimately taking two different day trips from Merida. One was to Chichen Itza on an organized tour. Our experience wasn’t the greatest as I explain in my post entitled A Frustrating Day Trip to Chichen Itza from Merida Mexico

The other was via public bus to the town of Izamal – known as the Yucatan’s Yellow City and home to several Mayan pyramids. This day trip worked out better for us, and I have an upcoming blog post with more detail.

The closest and easiest day trip from Merida is to the beach town of Progresso. It’s only about an hour away by bus, and the buses run frequently. I originally imagined that we would go to Progresso’s beaches a few times while we were in Merida. However, I discovered that Progresso is a popular cruise ship port. And it’s not a very big town. We could never coordinate our schedule with a ship-free day, and so chose not to visit.

How’s the Food in Merida?

Merida happens to be considered the gastronomic capital of the Yucatan. So the food is unsurprisingly outstanding. Is Merida worth visiting for its food alone? I think so!

I’ve already written a blog post dedicated entirely to the food in Merida. And I have another coming up about my monthlong quest for the best tacos in Merida. But here’s a quick look at some of the most popular things to eat in Merida.

The photo above is Conchinita Pibil from a great local restaurant called Manjar Blanco. This is the most famous of all Yucatan cuisine and it dates back to Mayan times. It consists of pork that’s been slow-roasted in an underground pit after marinating in local spices and citrus juice.

If you love tacos (and I looove tacos), then you will most definitely think that Merida is worth visiting. You will find great tacos everywhere! The tacos below are from my favorite Merida taqueria name Taqueria de la Union. Look at those tortillas! And those toppings!. I want to go back right now!

And another food favorite that I discovered for the first time in Merida Mexico is called Sikil Pak. This is another recipe that originated with the Mayans. It’s a dip that’s made from ground pumpkin seeds and roasted tomatoes. It’s frequently served as a complimentary appetizer in Merida restaurants.

This is obviously just a sample of all the great food you can find in Merida. Be sure to check out my Food in Merida post to learn more and for specific restaurant recommendations. And if you want to know where to eat great tacos, then check out my post entitled A Quest for the Best Tacos in Merida.

Can You Drink The Water In Merida?

No, it is not safe to drink the tap water in Merida Mexico! So in our apartment we used a 5-gallon jug of purified water with a convenient jug-specific manual pump. We used this purified water for everything…even brushing our teeth.

We would then exchange our empty jugs at a local convenience store. Our Airbnb host even provided a 2-wheeled trolley which was helpful since the store was a couple blocks away.

I’d read prior to our visit that locals avoid the tap water too. And that consequently, Merida visitors should feel confident that filtered water is used by restaurants in food and drink preparation. And I was generally satisfied that this was the case (though I did wonder about it a few times in the market.)

I did get a mild case of traveler’s diarrhea during our stay. And fairly early in the trip too. This was a first for me during all of our travels up to this point.

And The Weather?

We spent the month of January in Merida. We always look for somewhere warm to escape snowy northern Utah in the winter.

And mission accomplished! The daily high temps during our time visiting Merida ranged from 75-92 degrees F. It was only noticeably humid when the temperatures were in the higher part of that range, and never particularly uncomfortable. We did experience brief periods of light rain. On some evenings it would cool down enough that we would wear a jacket out to dinner.

As a reference, we spent the previous January in Cartagena Colombia where it was both hotter and more humid. (And yes, Cartagena is also worth visiting!)

From what I understand, summertime in Merida is very hot and muggy. Winter months are certainly the best time to visit.

What About Bugs?

We did battle bugs during our month in Merida. But not mosquitoes. I only saw the occasional mosquito, though I’ve read that they can be a bigger issue in Merida at other times of year.

For us, our battles were with no-see-ums (midges). And true to their name, I didn’t really notice them at first (very similar to our experience in St Croix). But on day #2 in Merida, I was already covered in bites on both legs. From that day on, I experimented with various types of bug repellent…

We had traveled with a Picaridin-based repellent which has become my mosquito repellent of choice in recent years. However, it didn’t seem to faze the little critters. I noticed that Citronella-based sprays were popular in the stores, and we both had better success with that. Though I personally found that DEET worked the very best for me.

I ended up wearing bug repellant the entire time we were in Merida. But always still had at least a few bites.

You don’t really need to travel to Merida with bug repellent. It is easy to find in Merida stores at a reasonable price.

Final Thoughts

I think that those are some of the most important points to consider when deciding if a visit to Merida Mexico is worth it.

So then…what’s the answer? Is Merida worth visiting? I think it clearly is!!

We had a great time during our month in Merida, and would not hesitate to return. I’m confident that you too will enjoy yourself while visiting Merida.