The Best Things To Do In Mérida, Mexico in 2026

The beautiful city of Mérida in the northwest of the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico is often overlooked, especially with visitors prioritising Valladolid for its proximity to Chichén Itzá and the amazing cenotes nearby.

However, we believe this gem is well worth a visit, and this article will hopefully convince you to add it to your itinerary by pointing out all of the best things to do in Mérida. 

The city is rich in history and culture, with grand plazas, colonial architecture and narrow streets that reflect its Spanish heritage, while its strong Mayan influence remains visible in the language, traditions, and cuisine of the region. 

Bustling markets, excellent museums and traditional food are where this amazing city shines! On top of that, it’s location in the Yucatán means it’s close to some fascinating ancient Mayan ruins – the highlight being Uxmal (pronounced oosh-mahl), located just a short hour drive away.

Best Things To Do In Mérida 2026

Free Walking Tour

We always recommend a walking tour when arriving in a new city, and Mérida is no exception!

The knowledgeable guides give you such an interesting insight into the city, plus they often point out loads of fantastic places to visit during your stay that only a local would know! Ongoing events, restaurants that locals really eat at, the best shops for anything you need… the list of benefits goes on.

The best tours in Mexico are run by Estación México who provide suuuper knowledgeable and fun guides and provide such interesting information! If you’ve read any of our other city guides, you’ll know we’re massive fans of their high-quality tours.

There are 2 free tours to choose from in Mérida: Mérida Downtown Free Tour and Paseo Montejo Free Tour. We only had time for the downtown tour and would recommend this if you’re shorter on time. If you have more time, why not do both?

Plaza Grande

The Plaza Grande is in the centre of the city and is surrounded by some really fascinating buildings with great history (which we’ve written about separately below).

The plaza itself is a great place to relax, having been remodelled recently with many benches, beautiful plants, and even free wifi added. Take a break from the sun and enjoy the vibe of the city!

🕙 Opening times: 24/7!
💲 Cost: Free!

Cathedral de San Ildefonso

The impressive Cathedral de San Ildefonso was built between 1561 and 1598 and was the first cathedral on the American Continent (cathedral, not churches, there were many churches before this).

Its interior is quite plain, but it’s well worth a quick visit. The foundations were built on top of a Mayan temple, and some of the stone from that very same temple was even used in its construction.

🕙 Opening times: Daily from 7:30am – 12pm and 4pm – 7:30pm
💲 Cost: Free!

Palacio de Gobierno del Estado de Yucatán

The Palacio de Gobierno del Estado de Yucatán (Government Palace of Yucatán State) is free to enter and is an absolute must for the amazing murals found on the first and second floors!

Painted by Fernando Castro Pacheco, each epic mural portrays various depictions of the turbulent history of the Maya and their interaction with the Spaniards. They’re powerful images which give a richer understanding to the area and its history.

There are 27 murals in total housed within the grand building, which is known for being the best painted building in the entire Yucatán area! We’d recommend spending some time perusing and admiring the murals – they’re fantastic.

🕙 Opening times: Mon – Fri from 9am – 4pm
💲 Cost: Free!

Uxmal

Uxmal is an ancient Mayan city which is located about a 1 hour drive south of Mérida. It is considered one of the most important Mayan archaeological sites of Mayan culture, and is likely the reason most people decide to visit Mérida – until they realise how much else there is to do! 

Uxmal is an hour drive south of Mérida, which means there’s 2 ways to visit; either by yourself via car or with a tour. We didn’t have a car so it was easier for us to join a tour.

Uxmal Tours

Tours to Uxmal tend to be on the more expensive side of things, but in our opinion it’s totally worth it. 

Typically tours will include hotel pick up, transport to and from the ruins, a super knowledgable guide, plus some extras depending on the chosen tour. Ours included a visit to nearby Kabah (additional ruins), a 3-course lunch and a swim in a cenote on the way back to Mérida. It was 10/10 and we’d highly recommend – the BEST Uxmal tour! 

🕙 Opening times: Daily from 8am – 4pm
💲 Cost: MX $100 entry fee + $461 for international tourists or $157 for nationals “additional tariff” = MX $561 / MX $257 (£22.30 / US $30.20 for international tourists). Official ticket information.

Getting yourself to Uxmal

If you have a hire car it’s easy to drive to Uxmal yourself and explore the ruins with or without a guide on arrival.

The drive will take about an hour – just drive south on highway 180 until you hit the 261 then follow that south.

When it comes to historical or cultural sites, especially the various ancient ruins in Mexico, we’d always recommend getting a guide. They’ll always have more information and add loads of colour to your visit to bring the history to life than simply wandering around yourself reading the signage (that isn’t always present)!

Parque de Santa Lucia

The Parque de Santa Lucia is a small, open corner lined with cafes/restaurants that has live music every Thursday at around 8:30pm.

It’s got a great vibe to go for a bite to eat – especially if you can grab a table outside for dinner!

Also, if chocolate with chilli sounds like a bit of you (or other kinds of choccy actually), there’s a small chocolate shop in the corner that’s well worth a look.

Try ALL of the Delicious Traditional Food 

Since Mérida is the capital of the Yucatán, it’s the perfect spot to try some traditional Yucatán food!

Our absolute favourites were cochinita pibil (slow-roasted pork) and sopa de lima (lime soup).

For great (and cheap) sopa de lima head to Loncheriá La Misión located in the market.
For cochinita pibil, check out Taqueria La Lupita (note this place closes at 1:30pm!)

Museo Casa Montejo

Casa Montejo was once a 16th century house belonging to Don Francisco de Montejo, who was the conqueror of the Yucatán and founder of Mérida in colonial times. Nowadays, it’s been turned into a restored museum full of Victorian furniture and other artefacts, making it a window into the past.

The most impressive thing to see, however, is right outside before you enter the building.

The main facade is over 500 years old, and belongs to the original building – thought to be the oldest building in Mérida! It’s decorated with ‘victorious’ conquistadors standing over the local people – a common piece of symbolism of the time.

The only other facade like this in the world is in Salamanca in Spain.

🕙 Opening times: Tues – Sat from 9am – 4pm, Sun from 10am – 2pm, Mon closed
💲 Cost: Free!

Kabáh

If you already have a hire car and are driving yourself to Uxmal, you only need to drive an extra 20 minutes to visit another Mayan archeological site of Kabáh.

We found Kabáh really special as it had some incredible, intricate stone carvings that had been preserved, which just shows the level of craftsmanship they had so many centuries ago! Another plus of Kabáh is that it’s a lot quieter than Uxmal – great if you’re not a fan of crowds!

Even if you don’t have your own car it’s well worth a visit – why not check out this brilliant tour that includes both Uxmal and Kabáh?

🕙 Opening times: Daily from 8am – 5pm
💲 Cost: MX $80 (£3.20 / US $4.30). Official ticket information.

Cenote Peba

If you’ve never heard of a cenote before, they’re basically natural pits or sinkholes that typically have super clear water, with many of them being swimmable!

Cenote Peba is almost completely covered, with only a small entry hole and a set of steps leading down. As you descend the steps you can feel the humidity that builds up inside!

It’s a great one to have a dip in and explore – swimming in a natural cave feels so cool! It can get deep in some places so if you’re not a strong swimmer we’d recommend wearing a life jacket.

Cenote Peba can be visited on the way back from Uxmal to Mérida too. If you book the Uxmal tour we’ve mentioned above, it’ll include a trip to this cenote – two birds one stone!

Otherwise, if you’re driving yourself, you can add it on to your visit on the way back – it’s worth it for a dip in this awesome cenote.

🕙 Opening times: Daily from 9am – 5pm
💲 Cost: MX $100 (£4 / US $5.40)
ℹ️ Info: Dressing rooms, bathrooms, and life jackets are included in the price

Walk at night to the Monumento a La Patria to see a light show

Although a bit of a walk from the central park, the route to the Monumento a la Patria is full of activity, with lots of hotels, bars, museums found along the way. When you finally reach the end of the road, you’ll be treated to the most AMAZING monument; the Monumento a La Patria!

Featuring over 300 intricately carved figures it tells a colourful story of Mexico’s history from the ancient Aztec capital Tenochtitlán to modern day.

While it’s plenty impressive in the daylight, it really shines at nighttime. From about 8:30pm onwards a light show is projected onto the monument itself to tell the full story and bring the monument to life!

🕙 When to visit: During the light show (after 8:30pm) is best
💲 Cost: Free!

Try a Marquesita

The marquesita is a delicious dessert originating from the Yucatán, made of a crispy crepe rolled-up & filled with sweet or savoury ingredients. You’ll no doubt see loads vendors/shops serving their take on a traditional marquesita, so you won’t miss the opportunity to give them a try.

Our favourite was the nutella/strawberry combo! We opted out of the cheese addition, but this does make it more traditional, apparently. It’s a must while in Mérida!

💲 Cost: It’ll vary depending on vendor and fillings, but expect to pay around MX $25-50 for a standard marquesita (roughly £1 – 2 / US $1.35 – 2.70)

Day trip to Izamal (Yellow City)

Izamal is a small city not far from Mérida, but it’s better know as the ‘Yellow City’ due to the majority of the central buildings being painted a bright yellow!

It’s worth a short visit simply to explore the vibrant streets! Check out the fantastic Convento de San Antonio right in the centre of town and the free ruins of Itzamatul right in the city whilst you’re here too. There’s limited written information at the ruins but they still make for a fun experience. 

You can get the bus from Mérida to Izamal which takes about 1 – 1.5 hours in total. We took the bus from Noreste Bus Station. A ticket cost us MX $39 (£1.55 / US $2) each way and can be bought at the ticket counter in the station before boarding the bus.

Mercado 60 

Mercado 60 is one of those outside, shared bar/food spaces with a great atmosphere in the evenings.

Often you’ll find live music as you enjoy a drink or snack (or both) from the various vendors squeezed into miniature food service shacks. How they fit functioning kitchens into such small spaces is beyond us!

It might not be the cheapest spot, but it’s a great spot to spend an evening and soak up the excellent atmosphere.

🕙 Opening times: Daily from 6pm – 3am

Museo Regional de Antropología, Palacio Cantón

If you are looking for an interesting museum, look no further than the Museo Regional de Antropología, Palacio Cantón.

The museum is a little small but the cost is only 90 pesos, so there’s not much room to complain.

You can find Mayan exhibits on the first floor and Spanish colonial history on floor 2 – both worth a look!

🕙 Opening times: Tues – Sun from 8am – 5pm, Mon closed
💲 Cost: $90 (£3.50 / US $4.85)

How to Get to Mérida

Your route will ultimately depend upon where you’re coming from! We’ll cover the most popular routes below:

Palenque to Mérida

This journey takes around 8-9 hours, which can either be completed as a (very) long day bus, or you can save on the cost of a night’s accommodation (just like we like to do!) and take the overnight bus instead.

We’d recommend the ADO bus – the cheapest of Mexico’s bus operators in the area – which leave at the following times daily:

• 8:30am
• 10:30am
• 8:45pm
• 10:00pm

We chose the ADO overnight bus departing at 10:00pm and found it to be a smooth, sleep-filled ride!

Overnight bus tickets start from around £51 / US $69 for this route at the time of writing. Check here for bus tickets from Palenque to Mérida (with the shortest travel time).

You can get a flight if the overnight bus is not something that interests you at all, but bear in mind this’ll be much more expensive and would normally involve making at least one connection.

Valladolid to Mérida

Valladolid is much closer to Mérida with the journey typically taking around 3 hours by bus.

Once again we’d recommend the ADO bus for the same reasons as before. You can find your bus tickets and the timetable here: Bus tickets from Valladolid to Mérida (with the shortest travel time). Tickets will start from around £13 / US$17.50.

If you’re coming from Cancun, you will pass through Valladolid on the way to Mérida. Get your tickets from Cancun to Mérida ahead of time here. Tickets start from roughly £25 / US$34.

If you’re planning on renting a car in Mexico, it’s really simple to drive between Valladolid and Mérida (you can even pay a visit to Chichén Itzá on the way – check out our full Chichén Itzá guide for more!)

When renting cars we always use Rentalcars.com as a comparison website.

Where To Stay In Mérida

We’d recommend staying in the Centro area so that you’re close to everything – attractions, restaurants, shops, etc.

Here’s a couple of hand-selected accommodation options for all budgets:

• $ Budget: Hotel San Jose
• $$ Budget/Mid: Hotel Reforma (This is where we stayed – we prioritise price, location and having a private room. So this place was good for us)
• $$$ Mid-range: Viva Mérida Hotel Boutique
• $$$$ Luxury: Mérida Santiago Hotel Boutique 

We hope that this article gives you some really helpful tips on how to spend your time in Mérida! It’s such a lovely city to spend some time in and we hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

If you’re still planning your epic Mexico trip, make sure to check out some of our other Mexico articles to help you plan your trip!