Travel to Mérida

How To Travel to the Yucatan Peninsula

Continental Airlines offers direct flights to Merida, Yucatan from Houston, Texas. There are also a lot of airlines that fly into Cancun, which is only a 3.5 hour drive from Merida. In addition, many airlines fly from the United States and Canada to Mexico City, which is only a 1.5 hour flight to the Merida airport.

Most airlines and charters fly directly into Cancun. ADO bus line offers a shuttle bus service from the Cancun airport to the main bus station in downtown Cancun. From the main bus station you can take a first class bus to Merida. A one-way bus ticket from Cancun to Merida is about $30.00 USD. The buses have large seats, bathrooms, air-conditioning and movies (in Spanish!). You can buy your tickets on the TicketBus Website.

Driving In the Yucatan Peninsula

If you choose to drive you may rent a car at the Cancun airport. If you are driving to Merida we recommend using the toll road. It will cost about $35.00 USD one way in tolls. If you choose the toll road the drive to Merida is about 3 ½ hours. If you take the old road you will go through every small village between Merida and Cancun and dozens of speed bumps. The drive can to take as long as 8 hours. Make sure your gas tank is full before you leave Cancun. Mexico is not like the US! You will not find a gas station on every corner and many of the small towns near the toll road have no gas stations. There is one gas station on the toll road about midway to Merida. I would also recommend getting water, soft drink, and snacks before you start out of Cancun. Driving at night in Mexico is not recommended because cows, horses, burros, and other creatures may be out and about without their headlights.

If you need more information about driving in the Yucatan Peninsula, Yucatan Living has a great article on the subject right here.