How To Spend The Perfect 24 Hours In Mrida Mexico

The colonial city of Mérida, on the Yucatán Peninsula, is interesting enough to spend a good few days in, but what if you only have 24 hours? Here’s our guide to the best bits that you can see and do in one day.

For a unique insight into Mérida – and the rest of the region – you can now book a nine-day tour around the Yucatán Peninsula, organized by Culture Trip.

Great food is everywhere in Mérida

For breakfast, the best place in town is El Barrio. The menu is varied, the ingredients are top-notch, and the service is wonderful. Suitably fortified, it’s time to go to the Lucas de Galvez Market, where you can find everything from tap dancing shoes to huge religious statues for sale. Sip on a fruit smoothie as you browse the seemingly endless aisles, and experience Mérida shopping as the locals do it.

The Lucas de Galvez Market is full of vendors selling a variety of items and food

This relaxed restaurant offers traditional Mayan dishes without the pastiche feel of other restaurants in town. You won’t find over-the-top tortilla-making displays here, just traditional food at fair prices. Order the sharing platter to try a selection of specialties. Don’t forget to try a Chaya margarita, too.

Take a digestive stroll around the historic center of the city before jumping in a cab to Hacienda Xcanatun. It’s only a 20-minute drive away, but the colonial plantation house feels like a world away. Take a tour through the garden and settle down on the veranda to watch the sunset with a cocktail.

Hacienda Xcanatun is a short cab ride from the city center

Party all night at La Pulquerida

In the evening, take a cab to Rosa Sur 32 for dinner. Bag an outside table to watch life go by on Parque de Santa Lucia, where there are often free events going on. It’s great for people-watching as you try the international fusion cuisine.

After dinner, get the drinks in at La Pulquerida or La Fundación Mezcalería, where young locals and tourists dance the night away. The music is loud, the drinks are cheap, and you can’t help but join in the dancing, which sometimes goes on until 5am.

Dancing in the Plaza de Santa Lucia is not uncommon

Since you are here, we would like to share our vision for the future of travel - and the direction Culture Trip is moving in.

Culture Trip launched in 2011 with a simple yet passionate mission: to inspire people to go beyond their boundaries and experience what makes a place, its people and its culture special and meaningful — and this is still in our DNA today. We are proud that, for more than a decade, millions like you have trusted our award-winning recommendations by people who deeply understand what makes certain places and communities so special.

Increasingly we believe the world needs more meaningful, real-life connections between curious travellers keen to explore the world in a more responsible way. That is why we have intensively curated a collection of premium small-group trips as an invitation to meet and connect with new, like-minded people for once-in-a-lifetime experiences in three categories: Culture Trips, Rail Trips and Private Trips. Our Trips are suitable for both solo travelers, couples and friends who want to explore the world together.

Culture Trips are deeply immersive 5 to 16 days itineraries, that combine authentic local experiences, exciting activities and 4-5* accommodation to look forward to at the end of each day. Our Rail Trips are our most planet-friendly itineraries that invite you to take the scenic route, relax whilst getting under the skin of a destination. Our Private Trips are fully tailored itineraries, curated by our Travel Experts specifically for you, your friends or your family.

We know that many of you worry about the environmental impact of travel and are looking for ways of expanding horizons in ways that do minimal harm - and may even bring benefits. We are committed to go as far as possible in curating our trips with care for the planet. That is why all of our trips are flightless in destination, fully carbon offset - and we have ambitious plans to be net zero in the very near future.