GUIDE / PHOTOS

When: September

where we stayed, where we ate and what we did...

When planning our three week trip to Mexico, we were certain on visiting Mexico City, Cancun, Playa Del Carmen and Tulum. We needed a place to visit more inland and on route, after reading a lot of things we decided on Merida, the capital of Yucatan.

We had a three day stay in this colourful city, out of all the places we visited we thought Merida to be the most traditional place. The locals gave me a warm feeling inside, togetherness and faces filled with smiles.

Stay - Hotel La Piazzetta

We looked for somewhere to stay that was a lot cheaper than our previous hotel, which was still obviously cute and we found it. The outside was painted a bright cyan colour which stood out amongst the other buildings, the ground floor doors were all open and the seating/bar area was brightly lit. We were welcomed by the couple who owned the place and they were wonderful and kind.

The room was bright and quirky, random furniture and plants dotted around the room and artwork on the walls. Our doors looked out onto the patio and we had access to the little roof garden, but since it rained quite often here we never sat out there.

The lobby and courtyard was extremely cute, and homely. With loads of seating and a bar/kitchen you can easily spend all day here.

The hosts took good care of us, fed us every morning and gave us some good things to check out in the city and some things we must see in other places in Mexico. Very friendly and a homely feel.

Eat - Apoala

The most perfect dinner setting, the restaurant was also a bar and their cocktails were delicious. We shared all the dishes because we wanted to try a few mains, one of them being the Chilaquiles con Aton. The plates were dressed up in such a pretty way and tasted heavenly (not kidding, look at that dessert!) This is the place if you fancy treating yourselves.

Eat/Drink - La Negrita Cantina

The outside of this bar looks like a traditional Mexican bar one you'd kind of believe was in the middle of nowhere. We stood outside for ages just photographing the empty streets, inside was interesting, like something you wouldn't actually expect. Randomly decorated but still to a minimal style. We had a bucked of Indigo beers and then went on to sangria mason jugs. We wasn't hungry but after browsing their menu we got lured in and shared a Choripan (a chorizo sandwich) and some quesadillas. 

Eat - Oliva

There seemed to be more fine dining in Merida than we thought there would be... we spotted this restaurant online and realised it was only down the road from our hotel and it was perfect for our last night. The interior was gorgeous, black and white floor tiles with earthy toned walls. The pasta dishes in Mexico were so good, spicy shrimp, scallops and tomato pasta.

Eat - Wayan'e

Word on the street was that this place do the best tacos so we decided to go here for breakfast and guess what, they were good. I went for the egg and spinach ones because it was still breakfast time (and obviously because I love eggs), we also had our first Horchata!

Eat - Pola

Obviously with the heat, gelato just makes sense. The tiles! and the funky colour scheme made this place fun. I went for the chai and caramel scoops and of course didn't regret it. 

Do - La Bici Ruta

On Sundays in Merida one side of Paseo De Montejo is closed off in the morning, this event allows locals and tourists to cruise on one of the prettiest streets in the city. The event brings out families on bikes of all sizes (there were bikes with four seats every where!). You can rent used bikes inexpensively at Monumento a La Patria and at the Burger King. We luckily got use of the free bikes at our hotel but you have you make sure you get first pick.