Mérida (Mexico)

Introduction

Downtown Merida

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Mérida is the capital of the state of Yucatan, located at the northwestern tip of the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico. It's also the largest city within the state and has about 800,000 inhabitants. The metropolitan area is a little bigger with 900,000 people and includes the municipalities of Uman and Kanasin.

Neighbourhoods

Sights and Activities

• Museum of Contemporary Arts
• Natural History Museum
• Monumento a la Patria
• Palacio de Gobierno
• Catedral de San Ildefonso (1598), the first in the continental Americas.

Events and Festivals

Weather

Mérida, like most of the region, has hot and humid conditions typical for the tropical location of this part of Mexico. The temperatures are high throughout the year, with mostly between 30 and 34 degrees Celcius and nights between 17 and 23 degrees Celcius. December and January are coolest, with average daytime temperatures of around 29 degrees Celcius while May peaks at 35 degrees on average. June to October is the rainy season, when hot and humid conditions are even worse and there is a chance of hurricanes as well. November to March obviously is the better time for a visit, though it's more crowded and prices rise a little, though not as much compared to coastal areas.

Getting There

By Plane

Manuel Crescencio Rejón International Airport (MID) serves the city with a number of airlines. Destinations include Mexico City, Guadalajara, Cancun, Veracruz, Villahermosa, Monterrey, Houston, Miami, Milan, Toronto, Belize City and San Pedro Sula (Honduras).

By Train

By Car

By Bus

Autobuses de Oriente and Uno buses have connections to quite a few Mexican cities in the southern parts of the country, including Campeche, Cancun, Oaxaca and Mexico City.

By Boat

Getting Around

By Car

By Public Transport

By Foot

By Bike

Eat

Drink

Sleep

Budget

Mid-Range

Upscale

Work

Learn

• Autonomous University of Yucatan

Keep Connected

Internet

Internet cafe's are widely available and you generally can find one in the direct vicinity. Sometimes photocopy stores or photo processing stores will double as an internet cafe with a couple of computers. Look for signs reading "Acceso a Internet" or "Cibernautica" or "Cibercafe". Charges range from approx. US$1 an hour to US$3 an hour, depending on the location.

Phone

See also International Telephone Calls

Phone cards can be purchased anywhere and are needed for the majority of public phones. To call any number outside your region you have to dial 01 then followed by the area code. If calling a cellphone from a normal phone start with with 044. If calling cellphone to cellphone just dial the 10-digit number. To make an international call dial 00 followed by the country code then the local number. To call to Mexico, also dial 00 (most of the times) followed by the national code 52.

Post

The Mexican postal service is operated by Correos de México. The post service in Mexico is pretty good although not very cheap. It is reliable regarding the sending of postcards, but it takes at least a week to send it to other countries (US/Canada), more so if you send it to Europe or Australia. For packages it is better to use international services like FedEx or UPS. If you are sending a package internationally with the Mexican postal service, take the package OPEN to the post office, they may want to inspect it. Seal it up at the post office. Post offices typically open from 8:00am to 6:00pm Monday to Friday, and 9:00am to 1:00pm Saturday. You will find post offices (Oficina de Correos) is almost any town or city in Mexico. To buy stamps it is best to go to the post office, although you can also get them at stamp machines, located outside the post offices, at bus stations, airports and some commercial establishments.