Mérida

Merida depicts much of the splendor of Colonial Mexico. The Spanish Conquistador Francisco de Montejo founded the city in 1542 on the site of a former Mayan city he destroyed.
Cut off from the rest of Mexico for many years because of the difficulty in communicating by train and highway, the locals became somewhat independent, having more contact with European and US Gulf Coast cities and life-styles than with the rest of the country.
Splendid regional dishes, traditional music and local dances are found in restaurants, theatres and shops housed in palatial mansions along Paseo de Montejo - a boulevard fashioned after Paris' Champs Elysée.
Progreso, Merida's port city, is only 30 kilometers north. Being centrally located, Merida is a practical hub to explore all of the splendors of the Yucatan Peninsula.