Merida is known as the White City, is a beautiful city great to visit, it is located near to Campeche and Cancun. Merida was founded upon the ruins of the Mayan city T’ho and means “Face of Infinity. It has downtown the Historic Center with colonial buildings with history, traditions and culture.
At Merida you can visit the cathedral or you can go to museums (such as the Yucatan Museum of Archaeology), where you can visit the Canton Palace that is a beautiful and elegant building (from porfirian era). If you like the carriage, you can take a ride in a carriage down the Paseo Montejo, this main street has old mansions and great hotels.
Merida also have great food, some of the traditional dishes are the papadzules, panuchos, and of course the cochinita pibil. The papadzules consists of corn tortillas dipped in a sauce of pumpkin seeds, and filled with boiled eggs (on a taco) and finally bathed in a tomato sauce with habanero peppers and onions; the panuchos are small fried corn tortillas, which makes them a cut that puts a stew made from beans that are then fried, at last the cochinita pibil, is pork marinated in orange juice and served with beans and red onion.
Just some minutes outside Merida you can find the henequen haciendas, you can also visit the sinkholes (cenotes) going to Ria Celestun which is a Biosphere Reserve and then you can see the habitat of hundreds of pink flamingoes.
If you like the archaeology don’t forget that near Merida is located Chichen Itza, Uxmal and Dibilchaltun which are greats places to visit.
ACTIVITIES AT MERIDA
Ecotourism and Adventure
- Scuba Diving
- Camping
- extreme sports
- Kayak
- Fishing
- Surfing
Beach
- Beaches
Knowledge and cultura
- Archaeology
- Party
- Gastronomy
- Museums
- Arts
- Handicraft
Hobby
- Shopping
- Recreation
- Night Show
- Sports
- Night Live
Premium
- Golf
- Shipping
- Spas
PLACES TO VISIT
At Merida you can visit some of the old seven arches, such as the San Juan arch to the west and the Dragones and el Puente arches, visiting this you can start a great tour by Merida.
Paseo Montejo is the most important avenue in Merida, you can find restaurants, shopping centers and more, all these in beautiful old buildings; if you walk along Paseo Montejo you will find the Memorial to the Homeland, this monument is to pay tribute to the Mayan Culture and fugures.
If you like art can look for the Juan Gamboa Guzman Gallery, this gallery has the work of various national and foreign artists . Near this gallery you can find the Tercera Orden Church and Saint Lucia this place is great on sundays to get all kinds of crafts and food stalls offer Yucatecan fare. In Saint Ana, you can see several public squares and churches. After that you can visit the Ateneo Peninsular and the Main Square, near is the Cathedral, the City Hall and the Mayab House of Crafts.
You can also see the central clock tower and if you enjoy art deco style have to see the eagles adorning the arches on the first floor. Going out of Merida you will find the Hacienda San Ildefonso Teya, an old Hacienda that now is a beautiful and comfortable hotel with gardens. Later you can go to Izamal, a magical town where you can find The Temple of Kinich Kak Moo (the Yucatan Peninsula’s largest pre-Hispanic construction). You can also visit the Ex Convento de San Antonio de Padua (this has the largest courtyard in Latin America and it is surround by arches).
Not so long from Merida it is Chichen Itza (archaeological zone) and the town of Valladolid here you can buy all kinds of crafts in marketplaces, visit the San Gervasio Church, or admire the turquoise blue waters at sinkholes Zaci and Dzitnup.
SERVICES AND TOURISM
If you are traveling by highway, Merida is connected to Campeche and Mexico by 180 highway. It is also link to Cancun by the same road. If you are traveling by bus Merida has the bus station with the service of ADO bus line.
If you are traveling by air, Merida also has an International Airport with the service of : Aerocalifornia, Aerocaribe, Aeromaya, Aeromexico, American Airlines, Aviacsa and Mexicana. You can fly directly from Mexico City to Merida and other destinations.
As you can see Merida is one of the best-linked destinations in the country.
“Manuel Cresencio Rejon” Airport: (999) 946-1340 or 946-1364
Bus Station: at 564 70th Street in the downtown area.
INTERESTING AND EMERGENCY PHONE NUMBERS
Tourism Secretariat (999) 930-3760
Red Cross (999) 924-9813
Green Angels (emergency highway road service) 078
Tourist Police (999) 983-1184
Local Police (999) 925-2555
Immigration (999) 928-5823