Many travelers take Merida as a base to get to know Yucatan. From the quiet and beautiful capital you have several visits around Mérida that you will love. Discover what to do in Mérida and surroundings, the best places to visit.
For me, the medium-sized cities are cool where one operates comfortably in a few hours, as is the case of Mérida, which offers all the services and facilities and also an interesting range of places that you visit around Mérida. These places are easy to go by yourself or with a tourist agency, you will see that you have no problem getting there.
The proposed places are less than 120 kilometers around Mérida, maximum 2 hours by car.
Don't miss our complete guide to Merida with the best activities and visits in the city, restaurant and hotel recommendations, and secrets for travelers.
DISCOVER WHAT TO DO IN MÉRIDA AND SURROUNDINGS
Within the same city of Mérida we propose different activities in the article on what places to visit in Mérida. You will see there many proposals that are free. You can dedicate a whole day to Merida or more, and then you have the surroundings. The area is worth it 🙂
You may be interested in this Two-hour tour of the city of Mérida to learn its history.
The 9 best visits around Merida, I'm sure you'll enjoy these places a lot. We give you all the information for your way: choose whether to go by free or on tour, what are your interests, what archaeological zones to choose.
9 DESTINATIONS IN THE SURROUNDINGS OF MÉRIDA MUST-SEE
1-OBSERVE FLAMENCO IN THE RIA CELESTÚN BIOSPHERE RESERVE
Without hesitation, I would visit the Ría de Celestún, a natural site, where an arm of sea water weaves its way into the mangrove swamp. Pink flamingos live here, which you can visit all year. Boat trips are made, or you can go kayaking.
The coastal town of Celestún offers accommodation and restaurant services. I recommend eating at one of the restaurants on the beach. Local atmosphere in fishing village.
2-TRAVEL THE PUUC ROUTE AND THE CONVENT ROUTE
Two of the most interesting routes in Yucatan leave from Mérida that will lead you to know the pre-Hispanic and colonial history of this region. Two routes that complement each other perfectly.
- PUUC ROUTE: where you can visit the most relevant ancient Mayan cities of the Puuc architectural style, the most elaborate of the Mayans. Uxmal it is the jewel of all, a must-see place.
- ROUTE OF THE CONVENTS: a tour of the different towns that emerged with colonization, a trace that changed the landscape of this area.
How to travel the puuc route? ¿How to walk the route of the convents?
3-KNOW XCAMBÓ AND THE PINK SALT DZEMUL
X'cambó is the perfect excuse to visit the north coast, where many of Meridans go on vacation, Progreso. An archaeological zone that catches, small, easy to visit, with good views and an interesting stop along the way: the Dzemul salt flats.
On the same way to Progreso you can stop to visit the interesting archaeological zone of Dzibilchaltun, where you can bathe in its cenote.
4-STREET BY THE BEAUTIFUL IZAMAL
Another must in your way is Izamal, known as the yellow city, for its streets of this color. A beautiful population with a quiet atmosphere to enjoy strolling and visiting the most relevant places, from archaeological zones to the convent with the largest atrium on the Yucatan peninsula.
I recommend you sleep in Izamal if you have the opportunity, so you live the town more locally.
5-ENJOY THE CENOTES DE HOMÚN
The surroundings of Mérida have many cenotes to visit, we will already make an entry on the best of them. To put one of the many, I recommend Homún, a town with more than a dozen to visit. You can go on your own or by tricitaxi on the tour of the cenotes.
There are restaurants and accommodations in Homún, it is a good idea to sleep here, in addition to the cenotes you can visit caves and the Yalahau lagoon.
6-DISCOVER THE OLD HACIENDAS DE YUCATÁN
For me to visit a hacienda and to know this important part of the history is something essential in a good trip. Merida has many interesting haciendas in its surroundings, I'm going to name some of them so that you can choose which one to go according to your tastes.
- Hacienda Yaxcopoil retains the charm being half rebuilt decorated with antique furniture. It has two rooms to stay if you want.
- Hacienda Sotuta de Peón, where you can also stay and they have an interesting tourist tour of their hacienda, where you go in horse-drawn carts.
- La Hacienda Aké It is another one that offers a tour of the henequen, besides being able to visit the archaeological zone of Aké.
- Hacienda and cenotes Mucuyché where you have the opportunity to visit a crumbling hacienda and take a swim tour through two cenotes.
7- SURPRISE YOURSELF IN MAYAPÁN
Another archeological gem in the area that will enchant you, its great resemblance to Chichén Itzá surprises greatly. It is not very visited, it has very nice views, it is small and preserves frescoes of the time. This allows to observe the complete city from the temple, and is a great plus to get a better idea of the places.
8-VISIT THE CAVES OF LOLTÚN
There are many interesting caves in Yucatan, but those in Loltún have an advantage: access and level are simple, something that allows you to go with the whole family. A tour with schedules for more than an hour will take you through different impressive galleries.
At the entrance to Loltún, one of the oldest Mayan glyphs on the Peninsula was found. Loltún has a long history.
9-DISCOVER THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL ZONE OF OXKINTOK
Another archaeological gems is Oxkintok, who has been gaining followers over the years: glyphs, temples, statues and a labyrinth, which although it remains closed to the general public, you can learn about the history it contains. Near Oxkintok are the Calcehtok Grottoes, in case any adventurers want to get dirty.
ON TOUR FROM MÉRIDA
I leave the offer of the other agency with whom we have affiliation, Civitatis, if you see something that interests you or want to compare prices. The excursions leave daily from Merida and you can still cancel 24 hours before leaving.
Enjoy these visits around Mérida, an absolute enjoyment of the area.
Good way,
- Offers on flights international and national ..
- Find the accommodation with the best offers from Booking.com.
- Stay with Airbnb and get 25 € discount.
- Contract activities, tours and excursions organized.
- Rent a car with the indispensable and necessary best discounts.
- Secure your transfers of arrival or departure to the airport.
- Travel safely with IATI and take advantage of 5% off.
If you prefer, you tell us your idea of the trip and together we organize it.
Dear: I wanted to consult what is the best option to travel from Merida to Palenque. We will start to visit Chiapas from Merida and then return from Gutierrez to Cancun. The idea is to spend a week in the state of Chiapas, will it be enough time ?.
Thank you very much. Very good page.
Greetings from Argentina
Hello Martin, we are glad that the blog helps you to plan the trip. One week gives you time to get to know Chiapas, of course. I do not know if you plan to go by car or public transport, times vary a lot.
In case you are interested, we are dedicated, thanks to our knowledge and experience, to helping travelers plan their journey. One way to do this is to solve doubts and help with the circuit already designed by the travelers themselves, filling in the gaps and doubts about the itinerary. The other way is to design us the complete tour, according to your preferences, of course. They are made-to-measure trips, with those essential stops, coexistence in Mayan communities with which we have friendship, little tourist cenotes, places where you can eat, thinking about the best hours of visits, we can book hotels and also the car. We give you an estimated budget of daily expenses. In both cases we talk for half an hour to know your doubts and needs, and from here we work on it. During the trip we also support you if doubts arise. Honestly we think we improve the trip a lot, we hope to have your confidence for it. I leave the page where we talk about our services: https://www.elcaminomascorto.es/planifica-con-nosotros-tu-viaje-a-tierras-mayas/
Best regards to Argentina 🙂