Historic Mérida: Live Well in Mexico’s Opulent “White City”

Elegant Spanish colonial mansions… 16th-century churches… cobblestone streets… and a rich Mayan heritage… A visit to Mérida on Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula is like stepping back in time.

I was last in Mérida 25 years ago, and it has the same feel now. In fact, it’s changed little since the city was founded by Francisco de Montejo y León in 1542.

Today, thousands of expats call Mérida home. Nearly 1% of the 1.2 million population come from Canada, the U.S., or from other foreign lands.

Outside the city center, new shopping centers and gated communities have sprung up, providing everything you would want or need. But many retirees have moved to quaint neighborhoods within the large Centro Histórico.

Expats are renting, buying, and renovating homes… socializing at the many local and expat-oriented businesses… and making themselves a home base from which to explore one of the most historically significant and environmentally unique areas on earth.

The Meteorite that Shaped Mérida (and the World)

To understand Mérida requires a trip back in time—66 million years to be precise—when a meteorite slammed into the Gulf of Mexico at what is now Chicxulub Puerto, a coastal village a few miles north of the city. The meteorite created an impact crater 110 miles across and 12 miles deep. This is the same event thought to have caused the extinction of 75% of plant and animal life—including the dinosaurs—and forever altered life on the planet.

As the meteorite slammed deep into the bedrock, it created a ring of cenotes (underground freshwater pools and rivers) around the crater. These cenotes provide fresh water for the entire Yucatán Peninsula. To this day, there are no major surface rivers or lakes in the region—all of Mérida’s water supply comes from these cenotes.

For the Yucatán’s early Maya residents, this abundant water provided a steady supply of fish and the means for agriculture. And their civilization thrived.

Mayas, Conquistadors, and Millionaires

The Mayan kingdom in Mérida fell in 1546 to the Spanish conquistadors Francisco de Montejo and his son Francisco de Montejo the Younger. They tore down many of the grand Mayan temples and constructed churches with the stones they took. These churches are still standing today… and if you look carefully, you can still see some of the original carved Mayan bricks.

By the late 19th century, Mérida’s wealth had skyrocketed, thanks to the production of henequen, a fiber that comes from the agave cactus. It’s used to make rope, twine, sturdy fabrics, and licor del henequén, a traditional Mexican alcoholic drink.

In the early 1900s, Mérida was said to have more millionaires than any other city in the world. Elegant mansions and haciendas sprung up along Paseo de Montejo and the surrounding countryside. Many of these spectacular buildings are still standing in all their glory.

Over the next decades, Mérida continued to prosper, and its population steadily rose. Today, it’s still a wealthy city full of charming pastel buildings, perfectly tended parks and gardens, museums and art galleries, leafy plazas with graceful fountains, cultural centers, and institutions of higher learning.

Mérida is considered the safest and one of the cleanest cities in Mexico, earning its nickname, “The White City.”

The Neighborhoods of Mérida

The Spanish left quite a legacy in Mérida, and there’s no better place to see it than in the Centro Histórico.

Centro is a sizeable city within a city, comprised mostly of one- and two-story buildings, bustling traditional markets, shops big and small, and more restaurants than you could possibly check out in a lifetime of living here.

As I mentioned, many of Mérida’s expats live in Centro, but since it’s such a large place, they aren’t all congregated in one area. The Barrio de Santiago, which some resident expats refer to as “Gringo Gulch,” and “Little Canada,” has a large concentration of expats. Despite the nickname, they aren’t all Canadian; there are Americans and Europeans here too.

Almost all the streets in Santiago are lined with brightly colored, single-story homes; many are covered with bougainvillea or other colorful flowers, and the streets are shady and inviting.

One corner might have a pizzeria and another one will have an Irish pub. You’ll find everything from bakeries and coffee shops to bars and discos, organic markets, epicurean food shops, and yoga studios.

The Mérida English Library is located here and should be one of your first stops if you’re exploring the possibility of moving to Mérida. It hosts various talks and activities designed to help expats meet other expats, learn the language, get oriented to the city, and help foreigners transition to the local culture.

Houses in move-in condition in Santiago and in other good neighborhoods in Mérida start at around $300,000. Many expats buy heritage homes (anything built before 1972) that require a full renovation. These homes start at around $200,000—but if you invest $40,000 or $50,000 into fixing one up, you’ll have a beautiful historic home for well under $300,000.

Some of Mérida’s best neighborhoods are just outside of Centro. Real estate and rents tend to be a bit less, and you still have easy access to shopping, restaurants, and other amenities.

La Plancha and Chembech are both just outside the old city walls that used to surround Centro.

For those on a budget, these are two desirable neighborhoods. La Plancha is building a train museum in the large La Plancha Park, and there’s a good local market. Rents for two-bedroom houses in La Plancha, a five-minute walk from Centro, start at around $500, and the price drops even further if you don’t mind being a bit farther from the center.

Other areas close to Centro are Reforma and Garcia Generes. Reforma is about a mile from Mérida’s historic center; it’s a nice, quiet area that offers lower prices on both property purchases and rentals. Garcia Generes is one of the more upscale neighborhoods in the downtown area, with stately homes, large yards, and mature shade trees. Though the mansions along this street might cost between $800,000 and $1 million, you could find a renovated two or three-bedroom house on a side street for around $250,000.

I really like wandering around the Itzimná neighborhood. It’s in the geographic center of Mérida, so it’s close to almost everything around town, and it’s less than two miles from Centro. Itzimná has a lovely little park and church, and nearby shops include a thrift store (a rare find in Mexico), a health food store, and the Escargot Pananderia, a wonderful little bakery that has nothing at all to do with snails. You’ll see plenty of expats here, though Itzimná has the feel of a small, local village.

Itzimná is next to prosperous Colonia México, which has wide streets, big yards, and many 1970s-era homes. American expat Casey Leonard, the owner of Yucatán Transitional Services, has lived in Mérida since the 1990s and says, “I live in a fourbedroom, six-bathroom, 4,500-square-foot house with a pool and fully gated front and back yards. This is one of the safest and most comfortable parts of the city—and I pay just $750 in rent per month.”

As you go north of the city center, towards the port city of Progreso, you’ll be in a part of town with newer construction and even a few high-rise condo towers. Prices tend to increase the farther north you go. The neighborhood of Monte Cristo has some huge houses—so big that a single home may take up an entire block—as well as some newer, less opulent homes and townhomes. You could rent a two-bedroom apartment for $400 to $600 per month here, or one in a high-rise for around $1,000.

La Ceiba is a gated community north of the city, close to some of Mérida’s best shopping. It’s less than a 15-minute drive from either Mérida’s historic district or the beach in Progreso. La Ceiba has the feel of a place that’s been settled for years, with spacious homes, large, carefully tended yards, parks, and one of the two golf courses in Mérida. Though homes in La Ceiba are expensive by Mérida’s standards, they’d be bargains almost anywhere else. Houses that might need some repairs or renovations start at $300,000 to $500,000, and homes in move-in condition range from $600,000 to $800,000.

A Hot, Tropical Climate

Mérida’s weather is hot and humid yearround, with temperatures likely to rise into the 90s F every month of the year. It rarely gets cooler than the mid-50s or hotter than 103. Though it can, and does, rain at any time of the year, summer (June to October) tends to get the most rainfall.

Many homeowners and even long-term renters invest in solar panels; without them, your biggest monthly expense will probably be the electricity to run your air conditioners.

Bill Dremmon, a 76-year-old expat from Emery, Georgia, who has been living in Mérida since 2007, says, “For me, I have a pool to cool off, but Mérida is a hot place. I can’t imagine living here without air conditioning. I have solar panels that I put in myself, but there are places in Mérida that will install them for you for less than you could do it yourself. I have a six-bedroom house and my electric bill is between $2 and $2.50 per month because of the solar panels.”

Affordable Living

Mérida is an extremely affordable city to live in. Two people could live well for under $2,000 per month, which would cover rent, utilities, a part-time housekeeper, groceries, frequent dining out, travel around the region, and incidental expenses.

As mentioned earlier, you could spend a lot more than that if you use your air conditioner frequently. Consider installing solar panels or choosing a home with good exposure and insulation.

High-Quality, Affordable Healthcare

Medical care in Mérida is excellent. Many of the doctors have received all or part of their education in the U.S. or abroad and speak fluent English. Facilities are clean and modern, and prices are a fraction of what they would be in the U.S.

Bill Dremmon says, “Medical is not only good but better than I had expected. My daughter got long COVID, but when she was in the U.S., it was hard to even get an appointment with a doctor. Here in Mérida, I was able to get her in to a specialist quickly.

“One day, I fell into my half-full pool and broke my foot. My primary care doctor recommended a specialist for surgery. I went to Centro Médico Pensiones for x-rays and bloodwork. The labs and subsequent tests concerned the radiologist. He referred me to a urologist, who discovered a tumor on my right kidney. I had the surgery for both my foot and the cancer the next weekend. My impression is that the medical care here is phenomenal.”

Star Médica, which has hospitals throughout Mexico, has a large facility here and can handle any healthcare need. Casey Leonard, whom I mentioned above, recommends Clinica de Mérida, which has several branches throughout the city, Onkort, where she takes her family, and Star Médica.

If you need medical care when you’re in Mérida, there’s no need to travel farther afield.

Making Mérida Your New Home

Since Mérida is a big city and expats are scattered throughout town, I recommend finding a relocation specialist (like Casey Leonard) to help you with the process. These are professionals found in most parts of Mexico who will assist you with everything from neighborhood tours to visas and residency assistance, including lease or contract translation, notary services, finding rentals, and purchasing real estate. They can also help you find an electrician, plumber, housekeeper, gardener, or handyman.

If you’re new to the area, having a resource like this is invaluable. You could certainly see neighborhoods on your own and find a suitable place to rent—eventually—but it can be so much easier and more efficient to use the services of a bilingual professional. Thanks to Casey, I gained a wealth of information on every aspect of living here.

Mérida does not have a master listing of houses or apartments for sale or rent. Both are generally handled through relocation specialists and real estate agents. Mexico International and Tierra Yucatán both offer properties for rent and for sale in Mérida.

Getting There and Away

You can fly directly into Manuel Crescencio Rejón International Airport (MID) from Miami, Houston, Dallas/Fort Worth, and Toronto, as well as from many airports in Mexico and Latin America. The airport is about five miles south of Centro.

Mérida is a walkable city, but you can hire inexpensive taxis through ride-hailing apps like Uber and DiDi or use public transportation. Buses and combis (passenger vans) are good for getting around town as well as for exploring destinations farther afield.

Though it’s easy to take a bus or taxi from Mérida to Progreso (a taxi costs around $15), if you want to explore a bit farther—and it’s worth it—you’ll want to have your own wheels.

Want Some Beach? Head to Progreso

If you’re not a big city person and would prefer a beachfront house or a condo on a quiet beach with swaying palms, be sure to visit Progreso and the surrounding Emerald Coast. From Mérida, the 25-mile trip takes less than 45 minutes on an excellent highway.

Founded in 1872, Progreso was established as a port to ship henequen. The Mexican government hired a Danish company to build a pier—a monumental project that wasn’t completed until 1947. The 1.1-mile-long pier was one of the longest of its day, and in 1985, an addition was added, bringing the structure’s total length to four miles, making it the longest pier in the world.

The pier brought the fishing and container industries to Progreso, and European workers brought their cultures to the region. Tourism also began to flourish.

You won’t see Spanish colonial influence in Progresso, but Dutch and Danish. Edam cheese is a popular street snack here—and you’ll see many northern-European styled buildings, including Progreso’s unusual lighthouse about three blocks inland from the shore.

Though the town once had a reputation for being a rough-and-tumble place, it’s changed a lot in recent years. It now has a new malecón, a lively area with a bohemian vibe, that’s lined with trendy restaurants, bars, and bistros on one side, and shady palapas, beach chairs, powdery white sand, beach clubs, and the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico on the other. Cruise ships dock here now, with passengers brought ashore to explore the nearby Mayan archeological sites.

I was quite taken by Progreso. The weather was comfortably warm (I came in December) but noticeably cooler and less humid than Mérida. Though there were plenty of visitors—mostly Mexicans and expats—this was actually the off-season. People descend on Progreso during the Yucatán’s hot summer months, when the lower humidity and cooling breezes provide a pleasant getaway from the city.

The town square—a pretty little plaza with chairs and a gazebo—is inviting. City Hall is a historic building painted powder blue, and there’s also a museum dedicated to the meteorite and extinction event that followed.

Though Progreso is small—the total population is only around 66,000—it has most everything you might need. There’s both a Soriana and a Súper Akí supermarket, so unless you’re craving a large selection of imported items, you can probably find what you’re looking for in town.

Centro Médico Americano, across the street from the City Hall, has Englishspeaking staff, specialists, an intensive care unit, and 24-hour emergency services. Some patients with complicated conditions still may be referred to Mérida, though expats I’ve spoken with in this area say that they rarely have to drive into Mérida for anything.

If you must go to Mérida for groceries, shopping at the new Chedraui on the edge of the city is a pleasure. This huge, ultra-modern supermarket has a section devoted to aged meats, a humidor, a big selection of organic foods, and an impressive number of square feet devoted entirely to local fruits and produce. I explored the aisles with a small shopping list of some hard-to-find items—including some things I’ve never seen sold anywhere else in Mexico—and Chedraui had them.

Less than a mile from there, you’ll find many familiar names: Home Depot, Walmart, Costco, Office Depot, Texas Roadhouse, Petco, and a huge Liverpool, an upscale department store similar to Dillard’s or Nordstrom. This is all less than 20 miles from Progreso and north of Mérida’s downtown.

Progreso has lots of restaurants and bars, and my well-traveled friend, Ernesto Patrón, a local real estate attorney with InterLexMexico who specializes in corporate and immigration law, swears that they have the best Chinese restaurant in Mexico. If you want to verify that for yourself, visit Win Chang restaurant, three blocks south of the malecón, and see what you think.

I decided to sample some local seafood at the upscale Restaurante Scappata on the malecón. Their shrimp linguini was outstanding, and it was pleasant to peoplewatch and take in the soothing views of the Gulf during the meal.

You’ll see many new housing developments and high-rise condos in Progreso, and this trend continues up and down the coast.

Picturesque Expat Havens Near Progreso

To the east of Progreso, the first town you’ll get to is the quaint seaside village of Chicxulub Puerto (pronounced CHIKsoo-loob). This is the start of the Emerald Coast, a long stretch of deserted sand beaches and lagoons, dotted with new developments. Everything is built along a narrow stretch of land—the Gulf to the north and lagoons to the south. In places, the distance from one side to another is less than a quarter of a mile.

This pretty little town has a long, white, sandy beach, bordered by a few exquisite homes and some low-density developments just behind them; everything along this stretch is built very near to the beach. Chicxulub is tiny, but it’s large enough to have a handful of dinosaur statues, its own small supermarket, a clinic that advertises an English-speaking doctor, and the Italian Osteria Restaurant (a Canadian expat told me that they have incredibly good calzones). There’s a small town square that doubles as a traditional market in the afternoon.

Many Chicxulub residents are foreign, and most of the ones I met were originally from Canada, though they claim that there are a few expats from the U.S. living there as well.

Houses on the beach run around $1 million, but step a row back, and these same 1,076-square-foot, two-bedroom homes sell for only $150,000 to $250,000. Condos on the beach are listed for $400,000 to $500,000, while two-bedroom condos, one row back, can be had for between $120,000 and $150,000.

I spoke with Coreen Jackson, a 60-yearold expat from Winnipeg, Manitoba, who loves her penthouse apartment at Miramar Beach Condos, a small complex in Chicxulub two blocks from the beach. Her spacious three-bedroom apartment has its own private rooftop with a Jacuzzi and a full view of the Gulf. She paid $155,000 for it less than two years ago.

If you like it enough that you want to stay for a while, renting a place in Chicxulub is also an option. Furnished, twobedroom condos, one row back from the beach, can be rented long-term for $500 to $700 per month, but if you come in the summer during the high season, it may be difficult to find one.

Continue east along the coast from Chicxulub towards the picture-perfect village of Telchac Puerto, and you’ll pass the Chicxulub Crater, where the earthshattering meteorite struck 66 million years ago. Though it isn’t visible from the land, the many cenotes in the region are a direct testament to its impact.

This is also where you’ll find the large Laguna Rosada—an undeveloped lagoon evocative of the Everglades, complete with crocodiles. This area attracts birds of all kinds, but especially huge flocks of pink flamingos. You’ll also pass by the natural cotton-candy pink salt lakes of Las Coloradas. The pink color is seasonal, and I was told that sunny days in October are the best time to see the lakes in all their glory.

Telchac Puerto is about 22 miles east of Chicxulub Puerto. All along the way, you’ll notice signs of development. Many smaller projects are complete, others are little more than vacant lots. Most of the finished projects appear quite attractive.

Not much construction has taken place in Telchac… yet. For now, it’s a sleepy, photogenic village with a popular pier, a few small seafood and Mexican restaurants, and some pretty good street food—fresh fruit and marquesita vendors are popular here. Marquesitas are rolled Dutch Edam cheese-filled crepes made with a delicate, crispy, waffle-like shell, with jam, cream, caramel, or syrup drizzled over the top.

Telchac’s beach is exceptionally nice—clean, wide, and the water is warm. Pelicans rest on the docks, and fishermen try their luck from the long pier.

Real estate in Telchac costs less than in Progreso or Chicxulub. Fancy homes right on the beach run $400,000 to $500,000, while two-bedroom townhomes sell for around $100,000. If you want to rent, you should be able to find furnished twobedroom homes with long-term leases for $300 to $500 per month.