MERIDA
 

I AM GOING TO MERIDA THE 1ST PART OF JAN 2001. WHAT SITES AND RUINS ARE CLOSE BY? WHAT THINGS SHOULD I SEE? <BR>THANKS <BR>DAVID

The main attraction is Chichen Itza at about an hours travel time each way. Complete round trip tours are $80 to $ 90 (8 hours). Fantastic! Lots (15+) other sites but not quite as impressive. Make sure you visit one of the high quality "cenotes" (large hole in the ground) for swimming. Some of the above tours include this.

Another excellent ruin is Uxmal. Its not as restored as Chichen Itza, but very impressive and not as many tourists. You could rent a car and tour the many ruins in the Merida area. Celestun on the coast is interesting if you want to take a ride up river to a flamingo preserve... Merida on Sunday is lots of fun, they have a great bazaar in the central plaza - food, crafts, music, entertainment. Don't miss it.

We visited Merida 1 year ago. In terms of Mayan sites we went to Uxmal and Chichen Itza. We wanted to do the other Puuc route and the Caves but we didn't allot enough time in that area. All of these sites are about 2 hours from Merida. We booked tours when we reached Merida, mainly bcause we ddin't want to drive (we only drive automatic cars...which can be a problem everywhere outside the USA), but if you rent a care you will have more flexibility. The roads were all in great shape. <BR>We went to Uxmal in the afternoon and stayed for the lights and sound show. Both my husband and I liked Uxmal much more than Chichen-Itza. There were hardly any people there, while Chichen Itza was swarmed with tourists. We also took a second class bus from Merida to a small town called Izamal (50 minutes away). The bus passed through quaint Mayan villages. Izamal was lovely too, you can walk around and enjoy the colonial buildings. The only other tourist that we saw there was at the restaurant we had lunch at. <BR>My favorite breakfast in Merida was at a cafe called "El Buen Cafe." Delicious and inexpensive breakfast and coffee. We also enjoyed the dinner at La Belle Epoque. We requested a table overlooking the plaza outside and it was great! The food is Merida was all delicious. This is a lovely area of Mexico...enjoy!

Thanks Mari for the tips! We'll be in Merida & vicinity in less than 2 months, so appreciate hearing about your trip.

Stayed in Merida at Best Western during "Mitch". Had a great time seeing all the Colonial style buildings. Advise you to take an inexpensive city tour late afternoon. Every evening there are events at the different plazas for tourists. We much enjoyed the traditional folk dancing by the children. <BR> <BR>Rent a VW. We spent$320 CAN for the week and went oneway from Merida to Cancun (Yuck!) and stayed a week in Playa del Carmen (much nicer). <BR> Go very early in morning and take an umbrella for the sun.See Uxmal,Kabah, Mayapan (SSW).There are lots of cenotes are along the way to Chinchen Itza but don't stay at village there! $125US gets you a hotel room (MissionBell) with NOTHING! Stay in Valladolid 20minutes farther down the road $35US same quality but with a TV and Air Cond. Its another nice old town with lots of ruins nearby. Avoid toll HWY unless you've got bucks and no time. Old highway is fine. See Coba and have lunch at the corner restaurant. <BR>P.S. Watch out for the wild pigs in the jungle at Coba. Its the most rugged ruins with lots of jungle trails. <BR> <BR>Enjoy! Laura

You can see lots of places around Merida and a few hours away on my Web site at oneeyed.homestead.com. I have four pages of comments and tips, plus over 40 photos. The site as a whole is still under construction.