Things to Do in Merida Mexico
Mérida puts on something free almost every night of the week, and that programme is the best reason to sleep here rather than on the coast. This page is what is on, what to do when the sun is at its worst, and what still works in the rain.
A different free event every night of the week
The city government runs a standing weekly programme in the centro. None of it charges, none of it needs booking, and it has been running long enough that locals go as well as visitors.
| When | Time | What | Where |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monday | 21:00 | Vaquería Yucateca | Bajos del Palacio Municipal, Calle 62 x 61 y 63 |
| Tuesday | 20:00–22:00 | Remembranzas Musicales | Parque de Santiago, Calle 72 x 57 y 59 |
| Tuesday | 20:00 | Trova | Auditorio del Centro Cultural Olimpo, Calle 62 x 61 y 63 |
| Wednesday | 20:00 | Diálogos del Conquistador | Casa de Montejo, Calle 63 x 62 |
| Thursday | 21:00 | Serenata de Santa Lucía | Parque de Santa Lucía, Calle 60 x 55 |
| Thursday to Saturday | 20:00–01:00 | Corazón de Mérida | Calle 60 between 61 and 57, closed to traffic |
| Saturday | 20:00 | Pok Ta Pok, the Maya ball game | In front of the Cathedral |
| Sunday | 08:00–12:00 | Biciruta | Routes closed to cars, published by the city |
| Sunday | 11:00–15:00, 17:00–20:00 | Mérida en Domingo | Plaza Grande and the centro |
Times shift for public holidays and for Carnaval, and the city moves Pok Ta Pok around the calendar, so check the Ayuntamiento's own agenda for the week you are there. The addresses use Mérida's numbered grid: Calle 60 x 55 means the junction of 60 and 55, not a house number.
What Pok Ta Pok is, and where to stand
Pok Ta Pok is a staging of the Maya ball game, played on the ground in front of the cathedral on Saturday evenings by a company in traditional dress. The ball is solid rubber and hands are not allowed; late in the game it is set alight. It lasts about forty minutes.
Come twenty minutes early and stand on the cathedral side rather than the square side, because the light is behind you there and the players face that way. It is free, and it is the one evening event that fills up.
Sunday: Biciruta in the morning, the city closed all afternoon
Biciruta runs 08:00 to 12:00, closing a published route to cars for cyclists, runners and anyone on wheels. Bikes are rented along the route.
Mérida en Domingo follows, 11:00 to 15:00 and again 17:00 to 20:00, with the Plaza Grande and the streets around it given over to stalls, food and music. Sunday is the single best day to be in the centro and the worst day to try to drive through it.
What to do between noon and four
This is the part of a Mérida day that catches people out. May averages 37.3 °C by day and the record is 43.5 °C, so the middle of the afternoon is not the time to be standing on an unshaded ruin or walking Paseo de Montejo. Go indoors or go underground.
Indoors: the Gran Museo del Mundo Maya, the Palacio Cantón, the cathedral, the Palacio de Gobierno murals. Underground: the cenotes at Homún are an hour away and the water sits in the low twenties all year. Eating: a long lunch is the local answer and it is the correct one.
Music, trova and the Serenata
Yucatecan trova is guitar music with sung poetry over it, and Mérida is where it comes from. You can hear it free on Tuesday at the Centro Cultural Olimpo and on Thursday at the Serenata de Santa Lucía, where the arcade around the plaza fills up an hour before it starts.
The Vaquería on Monday is a different thing again: a Yucatecan country dance with the women balancing trays and bottles on their heads, performed under the Palacio Municipal.
Days out that get you out of the heat
The cenotes. Homún is an hour south-east and has around thirty of them; Valladolid, two hours east, has the cavern ones. Both are cool by definition.
The coast. Progreso is forty minutes north for a beach, and Celestún is ninety minutes west for the mangroves and the flamingos.
The ruins, but early. Every good Chichén Itzá day leaves before 07:00, and the reason is as much the temperature as the coaches. The cenote tours from Merida and the ruins days are the two ways out of a hot afternoon in the city.
Rainy afternoons in the centro
June to October it rains, and it usually arrives as one heavy afternoon downpour rather than a grey day. That is an hour to fill, not a day. The markets are covered, the museums are dry, and the cenotes do not care what the sky is doing — you are getting wet either way.
What rain does change is the drive. A Chichén Itzá day in September is still a good day; a Las Coloradas day with three and a half hours of road each way is a harder sell.
Frequently asked questions
What is a cenote?
What is the difference between Maya and Mayan?
When does it rain?
What should I wear to a cenote?
Where to go next
The fixed things — the square, the cathedral, the mansions, the markets — are on the key highlights page. If you are choosing dates around a festival or around the flamingos, the best time to visit works through the year month by month. And Merida Mexico Tours lists every day trip out of the city with what it costs and how long it takes.