Things To Do In Mérida On Your Next Trip

Established in 1542 by the Spanish, Mérida has a special claim among Mexican cities. Handsome colonial buildings—San Ildefonso Cathedral and 16th-century mansions—grace the perimeter of its central plaza and define much of the city’s historic center. Known as the “white city”—in part because of the predominant use of limestone which endows Mérida with a luminous appearance—this is Mexico, where some façades are embellished in an array of vivid colors: peach, lime green, periwinkle blue. Striking, too, are the grand residences and Beaux Arts palaces that line the leafy boulevard Pasejo Montejo, built in the late 18th and 19th centuries. Among them is Palacio Cantón, constructed at the turn of the 20th century for a former governor of Yucatán. It now houses the Regional Museum of Anthropology of Yucatán (485 Paseo de Montejo; +52-999-923-0557), with extensive holdings of Mayan artifacts, and an overview of the history and culture of the Yucatán, including colonial and independent Mexico. Complimenting this collection is that of the spectacular Gran Museo del Mundo Maya (299E Calle 60 Norte; +52-999-341-0435). Opened in 2012, it considers the Maya civilization along a broad panorama—pre-Hispanic, colonial, and present day—which is made vivid by interactive displays and the latest in digital technology.

Dining in Mérida is as varied as one would expect in a city that has welcomed French, Lebanese, Korean, and Caribbean immigrants. It is also a showcase for Mexican cuisine from other regions throughout the country. Nectár (A. García Lavín, Plaza Jardín; +52-999-938-0838) offers Yucatecan classics like cochinita pibil—roasted suckling pig—as well as fresh interpretations of traditional food. Emblematic dishes include queso relleno, cheese stuffed with seasoned beef, raisins, and nuts, and venison with a charred corn sauce. Eating at a place named Museo de la Gastronomía Yucateca (466 Calle 62; +52-999-518-1645) might sound earnest but the experience is far from it. Tables are set around a central patio and in the adjacent rooms of a gracious casona. One should not miss the caldo de lima, a finely seasoned broth, with chicken, avocado, and lime juice, its essential ingredient. Apoala (471 Calle 60; +52-999-923-1979) is a fine dining spot on the Parque Lucía, which in addition to Yucatecan-inspired food, has dishes inspired by Oaxaca, one of Mexico’s great regional cuisines. Brother and sister Carlos Arnaud García and Sara María preserve their Oaxacan grandmother’s recipes fused with by contemporary taste. Here, Oaxacan black mole sauce bathes house-made tortillas filled with quinoa and amaranth.

Few of the mansions along Paseo Montejo are still family residences—some are corporate or private offices, house museums—but the more intimately-scaled Casa T’hō (498 Paseo Montejo; +52-999-923-2350)—a Mayan name for Mérida—gives a sense of a type of house built in the early 19th-century. The architectural style is eclectic. Palm trees fill its patio around which is the restaurant Guillermina, an art gallery, and 11 boutiques with an array of fashion for women and men by Yucatecan and Mexican designers (Carla Fernández, Daniela Bustos Maya, Yucabanas), plus botanical fragrances, jewelry, and housewares. For traditional crafts, the Casa de las Artesanías del Estado de Yucatán (503A Calle 63; +52-999-928-6676) has embroidered textiles, sisal bags and basketry, decorative bowls made from calabash gourds, and guayabera shirts.

Of the Mayan archaeological sites in Mexico’s Yucatán peninsula, Uxmal (yucatan.travel) is one of most important and best-preserved, known for the Puuc-style of architecture. Like Chichén Itzá, Uxmal is a UNESCO World Heritage site. Unlike other Maya cities, it was not laid out geometrically but rather organized in relation to astronomical observation, the planetary movement of Venus. Wide, open spaces and plazas characterize Uxmal. Construction suggests a period within the 8th and 10th centuries A.D., although the site was likely inhabited by the mid-6th century and its population grew to 15,000 or 20,000. Among its notable buildings, crafted in soft pink and yellow stone, are the sweeping Pyramid of the Soothsayer, the Governor’s Palace, the House of the Tortoises, which are enhanced at night by an evocative sight-and-sound show.

While the Yucatán is a year-round destination, a special claim can be made for visiting in December. Every year, more than 23,000 American flamingos arrive to nest in the Celestún and Lagartos estuaries (yucatan.travel), both of which represent Special Biosphere Reserves in Yucatán. Celestún is on the northwest coast, very close to the adjacent state of Campeche, and the closer to Chablé. If the collective noun for the bird is a flamboyance of flamingos, these numbers suggests a riot of color. As a natural wetland encompassing both salt and freshwater lagoons, Celestún and Lagartos attracts more than 300 migratory and resident birds, including herons, ducks, geese, gulls, and plovers. This nature reserve is a birder’s paradise, but it is also an important nesting area for the hawksbill and loggerhead sea turtles, and among mammals, the jaguar and ocelot.