The best place to begin your exploration of Merida is in the main square. Upon
arrival in Merida it is a good idea to take a horse & buggy ride around
town. Find them on the side of the Cathedral Idelfonso. This is the perfect
pace for seeing the historical architecture of this colonial city. There are
also colorful and funky tour buses leaving from Santa Lucia Park. Alternately
there are modern red double-decked buses that you can get at the Anthropology
Museum or the Cathedral. The advantage of the red buses is you can get on and
off at various stops. Get tourist info on the west side of the square. Be sure
and get a Yucatan Today for the maps. If you need a good map of the Yucatan
for driving go to Dante bookstore, you can use the Internet here too. Read the
cultural bulletin board, outside the Olimpo Museum on the southwest corner to
see what events are happening while you are in town. There is an ATM in the
Banamex in the Casa Montejo and there are plans to open a Masters of Mexican
Crafts gallery and museum in this building. Sunday the main square is
blocked off to traffic and is the best place to loose your self in Merida. Here
are our recommendations for planning a week around Merida. And remember
even street numbers run north and south, odd numbers run east and west.
AA
AA
SATURDAY
PLAZA
GRANDE TO SANTA ANA & MONTEJO
Visit the MACAY Museum of Contemporary Art of the Yucatan and the Fernando Castro
Pacheco Murals in the Governor's Palace. Check out the crafts at the state run
Casa de las Artesanias on Calle 63 x 64 y 66. You can find most everything here
and the prices are fair. Buy your hammocks here or at Aguacate 58 y 73 or beware.
The best places for lunch downtown are the cheapest places too. The best seafood
is at Marlin Azul 62 x 59 y 61 or fish tacos at El Cangrejito 57 x 64 y 66.
Codice 59 y 60 is a small store with a selection of crafts from all over Mexico.
Bella Epoca 60 x 59 y 61 has a great balcony overlooking the church 'Iglesia
de la Tercera Orden de Jesus' c. 1618. Don't venture beyond eating the panuchos
and salbutes. Downstairs is a tourist trap to be avoided! The Anthropology Musuem
on Paseo Montejo and calle 43 is a good place to get out of sun and it is essential
that you visit here before going on the nearby ruins. The exotic fruit sorbets
at the nearby Sorbeteria del Colon are very good. Around 7pm you can wander
over to Noche Mexicana at the beginning of Montejo and calle 47. It will be
fun or it will be kitsch or it will be very, very good. It changes every week
but there is always traditional folkloric dancing and music. Anna Sabrina from
Mexico City makes the most heavenly tacos in town she only makes them on Saturday
night here and on Sunday mornings in Santa Lucia. Drop in the hotel San
Angel at the very beginning of Paseo Montejo x 45. There is an excellent
café & bakery and a fonart craft store. Then you can wander back
down to the main square for the Heart of Merida Festival which is from 8pm till
1am. Pane e Vino 62 x 59 y 61 for great Tuscan food featuring home made pastas.
Casa de Frida 61 x 66 y 66a for fun decor and central Mexican cuisine.
AA
AA
SUNDAY
SANTA LUCIA TO PLAZA GRANDE
On Sundays from 9 am- 2 pm there
is a tiny antique flea market and
handcraft market in Santa Lucia
Park 55 y 60 with dancing and salsa
music. Here are the best dancers
in town! Craftsmen from the villages
bring their wares to town and set
up booths along calle 60 to the
main square. In Hidalgo Park there
is maramba music, artists and artisans.
In the Callejon de Congresso there
are usually interesting jewelers
and weavers from Chiapas. The Italian
cafe is only good for café.
The Peon Contreras café is
only good for water. There might
be an afternoon concert in Teatro
Peon Contreras 62 y 57. It's a
nice day to have lunch out at Hacienda
Xcanatun which is located at Km.
12 on the Merida-Progresso highway.
It is one of the best restaurants
in Merida. The Hotel Colon 62 x
59 has 2 art deco steam baths from
the 1920's unfortunately 'restored'
a couple of years ago. It's the
best day to drive around town as
everyone stays home or goes to
the beach.
AA
AA
MONDAY
RUTA PUUC RUINS VIA CONVENT ROUTE
Take a day trip out to the Ruta Puuc.
The Mayan ruins of Uxmal are just 80
km away and there's a lot to see and
do on the way. First stop at Hacienda
Yaxcopoil an old cattle ranch in colonial
times that became a hennequen farm in
the 19th century. This rare hacienda
remains in the authentic state it was
in 100 years ago. Next stop at Hacienda
Ochil for a look at the craft studio's
and shops. There is also a history of
hennequen exhibit and a restaurant that
is not bad. There is a large five star
hotel, Hacienda Temozon Sur, just off
the highway. If you reserve you can have
lunch or dinner here. Otherwise they
might not let you on the grounds. Next
is Muna one of the towns on the Convent
Route. Go on to Uxmal and then decide
whether you want to see the other ruins
in the area, Kabah, Sayil & Xlapak.
Santa Elena is rumored to have a good
restaurant and has a museum with 200
years old mummified children. Lolun caves
are a cool option on a sunny day. Oxkutzcab
is where most of the local fruit and
vegetables are grown. The roads around
there are magical in the harvest season.
Mani has the most important convent in
the area and El Principe Tutul-Xiu the
best place for Puc chuc in the Yucatan.
If you are going back to Merida pass
through Ticul, famous for its mediocre
pottery of inferior quality. Or return
via Mayapan a once powerful Mayan city.
Stop at Tecoh and Acanceh and you will
have done most of the convent route and
the Ruta Puuc ruins in one day. At 9
pm in the Grande Plaza there is a traditional
Yucatecan dance concert well worth seeing.
The dancers will most likely be from
some of the villages you have seen today.
AA
AA
TUESDAY
CHICHEN ITZA TO IZAMAL
Go early in the morning to Chichen Itza to avoid the crowds and the mid day
sun. Then take a detour on your return and visit the perfect Colonial town of
Izamal. Take the buggies to the craft workshops. Our favorites are the herbalist
who makes pinatas, the jewelry maker who sings Mayan songs and makes nice things
from Cocoyol beans. Also there is the ninety years old carriage maker who likes
to chat and the man who makes nice tin lanterns but is seldom open. Hecho a
Mano is one of the best shops in the Yucatan for antique crafts and crafts from
all over Mexico. Drop into Kinich restaurant that has very good Yucatecan cuisine
and say hi to Paco the parrot! Climb the pyramid Kinich Kakmo for a great view
of the Convent. The 16th century Convento de San Antonio de Padua built on and
from the remains of a Mayan pyramid has a colonnaded cloister that is just slightly
smaller that of the Vatican. Take the old road back to Merida and stop at the
hotel Hacienda San Jose Cholul for a drink or a meal. In Merida on Tuesday night
9pm there is another salsa concert in the Park of Santiago. The 17c church of
Santiago was heavily restored in the 19th century. Have a very good Yucatecan
fast food meal at La Reina de Itzalana 57 x 70 y 72. Or Watch the dancing and
then have dinner at Villa Maria 59 x 68 a beautiful Moorish courtyard restaurant
with an Austrian chef.
AA
AA
WEDNESDAY
COLONIAL CHURCHES FROM ERMITA TO
ITZIMNA
Take a bus or taxi to Ermita de Santa Izabel 66 y 77 a
charming 18c church and botanical garden. Then walk
up the brick road which is the old Camino Real to
Campeche back into the center. Some of the oldest
houses from the Colonial period are still standing in
this area that was the first suburb of colonial merida
for mestizos. Take 73 over to San Sebastian 73 y 74
or stay on 64 and pass through the old city arch into
the park San Juan 64 y 69. The church is mid 18c with
a baroque facade and the round beams 'rollizos' are
unique and has one of the few alter pieces that
survived the revolution. Candaleria 64 y 67 founde
in the early 17c as an hermitage looks much as it did
when it was built. Iglesia de Monjas 64 y 63 built
circa1564 as a convent for the order of the
Immaculate Conception. Casa de las Artesianas is next
door. The favorite church for local weddings, Iglesia
de la Tercera Orden de Jesus 58 y 60 was built in 1618
and was the church of the Jesuits. There is a fine
painting collection in the back convent rooms. Santa
Lucia 60 y 55 circa 1877 sits in a square that was
once a stage coach station. Santa Ana 60 y 43 this
charming church was started in the 16th century was
rebuilt in the 18 century in a barrio that was
orginally populated by Indians and Mulattoes. There
are very good fast food stalls, a new covered market
and craft stalls beside the park here. Just up the
street on the Paseo Montejo and calle 43 you can take
the turibus to Itzimna which is just north east of the
historic center. When the conquistadors arrived they
discovered a small community dedicated to the god
Itzimna (creator of all things, that receives and
possesses the graces of the morning dew from the sky).
Today beautiful Porfirio era mansions surround the
square and colonial church. Just south of the square
on Avenida Perez Ponce is Caffe Latte with the best
coffee in town. Colomar the best furnishing store in
town is on the west side of the square. Our favorite
taco stand in town is Wayne's no 92 calle 20 y 15 It
is in a curious mobile home inspired building a few
blocks from the northwest corner of the square. They
generally runs out of food by 1pm. Wednesday night at
9pm is Trova night at the Olimpo Theatre on the main
square. If you can tolerate being treated like a
tourist you might try Portico el Peregrino 57 x 60 y
62. Our trick is to order a drink and appetizer and
if
that is good order another or a main course. The
courtyard has charm.
AA
AA
THURSDAY
MARKET TO MEJORADA
Start your morning in the Mercado Municipal 65 x 56, where all the villagers
come to trade beginning at 5am. There are excellent fast food stands all around
here. The craft stalls are less interesting. Find a juice stand and try all
the exotic fruit shakes (licuados) you can hold. The new Merida City Museum
is in the old 19c post office on calle 65y 56. Walk over to Merida's last colonial
church, San Cristobal 50 y 69 . Construction began in 1757 and the following
year it was dedicated to the newly recognized patron saint of Mexico, the Virgin
of Guadalupe. The Franciscan convent La Mejorda 50 y 59 has a stark and simple
facade dotted with carved Mayan stone artifacts. Across the park is El Meson
del Segoviano a Spanish restaurant. We think it's the best restaurant in centro.
Also the much recommended (though not by us) Los Alemendras restaurant is next
door. The Popular Art Museum is on the park at calle 50 y 59. The Yucatan Music
Museum of behind the church on calle 57 no. 464-a. Near Santa Lucia there are
a couple of our favorite places to have a light lunch, they are both very casual.
We order the vegetarian soup at Cafe Club calle 55 x 60 y 58 with a pitcher
of watermelon or mango juice. Café Alemeda 58 x 55 y 57 has some of the
best Lebanese food in town but it's not a cafe. Merida has a large Lebanese
population of long standing. There is Folkloric music and dancing in Santa Lucia
Park at 9pm. The Italian owned Casa Santa Lucia is a more formal place for lunch
or dinner in front of the square on calle 60 x 55 y 53.
AA
AA
FRIDAY
SEA AND BE SEEN
You could go to the beach at Celestun. The ria tour of the lagoons is supposed
to be both fun and mosquito infested. The seafood on the beach is rumored to
be great. Flamingos are amazingly pink. Or you could go to the beach at Progresso
and eat good seafood at San Bonnet or get drunk at Eladios. Just know this... it
ain't the Caribbean which is only 4 hours away. Progresso has not been romantic
or pretty since hurricane Gilberto hit over 15 years ago. On your way back you
can stop at the Gran Plaza mall and buy something from Zara's (yes, the Spanish
boutique) to wear to Nectar's tonight. You may have been eating at Nectar's
every night this week but tonight there will be a lot of people there. You might
even have to wait in the bar. This is as close to a scene as you are going to
find west of Playa del Carmen. And the wonderful thing is...it's not Playa del
Carmen! Skip the scene and go to Nectar any night of the week. Take a taxi to
Nectar Ave. 1 no. 412 Col. Diaz Ordaz. Skip the beach and have a good seafood
lunch in town. La Pigua on Avenida Cupules x 62 has good seafood in a
cafeteria atmosphere and it is always full of business men. Muelle 8 is where
the businessmen's wives will be having lunch. The fish is good but the decor
is priceless. Very Hemingway in Key West meets Thurston Howell the 3 rd . A
word of advice: don't order anything called a cocktail at any local seafood
restaurant unless you worship ketchup. Stick to the excellent and fresh ceviches.
Blow your eardrums out and dance the night away at Cumbachero's on Paseo Montejo.
Or go unplugged at La Trova 60 x 57. Don't risk driving on Montejo this weekend.
Drunk driving is an art form that may be genetic. And of course there is a free
9 pm concert tonight too at Teatro Peon Contreras, the Ballet Folklorico de
las Universidad. If you are staying another week in Merida we assume your shopping
for real estate. Bienvenidos!
