Sightseeing - 7 Days in and around Mérida
ZOCALO
/ MAIN SQUARE / PLAZA GRANDE
The
best place to begin your exploration of Mérida is in the main square.
Upon arrival in Mérida 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 Free Yucatan Today Magazine for the maps. If
you need a good map of the Yucatan for driving go to Dante bookstore. 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 Mérida. Here are my recommendations for planning a week
in and around Mérida. And remember even street numbers run north and
south, odd numbers run east and west.
SATURDAY
PLAZA
GRANDE TO SANTA ANA & MONTEJO
Visit
the MACAY Museum of Contemporary Art of the Yucatan, to the right of the Cathedral 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 Mérida 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.
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. At 1 pm in the
Grande Plaza there is traditional Yucatecan dancing which is a must see ! See my VIDEOS for a sample! In Hidalgo Park there is marimba music, artists and
artisans. The Italian coffee shop has nice cappuchinos and free internet, as does the whole main square area. 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-Progreso highway. It is one of the best restaurants in Mérida. 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.
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 Mérida pass through Ticul, famous for its
pottery. 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.
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 and stop at the
hotel Hacienda San Jose Cholul for a drink or a meal. In Mérida 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.
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 Mérida 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 founded 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.
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 Mérida 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 me) Los Alemendros restaurant, which prides itself on traditional food, is next door. The
Popular Art Museum is on the park at calle 50 y 59 and has some exquisite Folk art in it. 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.
FRIDAY
SEA
AND BE SEEN
You
could go to the beach at Celestun, to the West of Mérida. It is a long drive so start out early. The river tour of the lagoons is fun and if you time it right, you will see thousands of flamingos! See my VIDEO here. It is worth asking if there are any first, if you do not want to be disappointed. In any case, the boat trip is nice since there are lots of other birds to see. Or you
could go to the beach at Progreso, just 20 minutes to the North of Mérida, 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. Progreso. 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. A 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. 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 Mérida we assume you're
shopping for property. Bienvenidos!