No. 049 A Marquesita with Queso de Bola

After walking around the historic downtown or if you simply feel like having something sweet, there is nothing better than trying a crispy freshly made marquesita with queso de bola (Edam cheese), you can add Nutella, cajeta (caramelized milk), Hershey’s chocolate, or condensed milk.

During weekends, you can find traditional stands downtown, in Calle 60, in the end of Paseo Montejo Avenue, and at Las Américas Park going through García Ginerés street.

The panoramic tour around the city of Mérida riding a modern Turibus, takes you to historic monuments and main avenues in the northern part of the city, such as Paseo Montejo, Monumento a la Patria, San Ana, among others.

Discover Mérida’s magnificence on each emblematic site, ready to be photographed.

Its unique architecture, its gastronomical richness, and the Mayan heritage that has astounded the entire world, is ready to amaze you from start to end during your stay in the White City.

Professional guides assist tours.

Imagine yourself navigating in a canoe within the mangroves of Celestún Reserve, where silence and peace is just interrupted by a bird singing, a fish plunging or the use of the wooden oar of the expert guide. Also known as Celestún Port, located in the northwest of the state, this experience will let you go inside the heart of mangroves, enjoy flora and fauna living in the reserve, practice canoeing through the biggest mangroves’ tunnels in the Reserve of Celestún, accompanied by friends and relatives.

In Paraíso, Progreso, only 15 minutes away from Mérida, specialized ATV’s tours are offered, either for day or night, they have 15 units equipped with helmet and protective eyewear to avoid dust in the eyes, reflective vest (for nights) to go into a fabulous tour to the aguadas in the area and pathways used by communities, meeting with inhabitants and nature, all these, while feeling the adrenaline of touring the Maya jungle in Yucatán, with your friends and relatives, and learning more about Yucatán.

Pibil Village is located in Tixkokob, 15 minutes away to the east of Mérida, Yucatán, a picturesque place with lots of handcraft’s tradition that preserves their customs regarding language and regional gastronomy. It is a place where you will find Yucatecan food prepared the traditional way and cooked underground, the pib style, as it is said in the Maya language. The exquisite Yucatecan cuisine, like relleno negro, cochinita, queso relleno, frijol con puerco, is a special fusion between Mayan ancestors and conquerors.

As an honor to his heritage, Pibil Master Silvio Campos, heir of numerous secrets of village’s cuisine, jealously kept by generations, prepares food the traditional way; then, it is cooked underground for 15 hours, in a fire made from chukum and catzín woods, oak and jabín leaves.

This gastronomic experience is a trip of ancient flavors, product of the mixture of powerful customs of civilizations set in the Yucatán Peninsula, framed by an old-manor house built in the end of the 18^th Century, still preserving its original paint in some of its walls, a building that has been a witness of the fusion that took at least 250 years between the years 1500’s and 1800’s.

The restaurant “Cocina tradicional Doña Clotilde” is in Calle 21 between Calle 26 and Calle 28 in Maní village, there is signage to identify the access.

In this incredible experience you can taste and delight with dishes from the traditional Yucatecan cuisine made with an exquisite mixture of ingredients used by ancient Maya people, with flavors brought by Spaniards during Colonial times.

The unparalleled combination of flavors results in delicious regional dishes you can taste, such as: traditional chayitas, sikil-pak, frijol con puerco, cochinita pibil, accompanied with a fresh chaya water with lime and the magnificent regional sweets.

For the Day of the Death, you can enjoy the traditional “PIB” (Food of the Death) and be part of this Yucatecan tradition. You will be able to interact with Doña Clotilde Poot, traditional cook of the Maní village, and have a talk of sophisticated knowledge and traditional recipes.

To take advantage of your stay in Río Lagartos and enjoying the natural wonders it has, we recommend the boat night tour that goes through the channels of the estuary, accompanied by the moonlight and stars.

This experience consists in locating, identifying, and getting close, with all precautions and environmental established distances, to observe crocodiles into their habitat. With the guide’s explanation, you will learn about the importance of this animals and its function within the mangrove’s ecosystem.

Rediscover Chichén Itzá Archeological Site, which meaning in Spanish is “in the mouth of the well of the Itza tribe”, referring to the sacred cenote, where Maya people used to carry out human sacrifices as a tribute to their gods.

Mesmerize yourself admiring the Kukulkán Castle, where you can see the equinox every year, which leaves all people astounded with the spectacular snake that goes down as a shadow; besides, visit the Sacred Cenote and the Ball Game field.

The heritage of the Itza people dynasty is one of the most important archeological settlements in the Mayan world.

Have you heard of the ghost town of Misnebalam? There is a night adventure tour on Fridays that starts at the Xcunyá police station: the Ghost Biking Route in Xcunyá. You can experience it accompanied by an expert guide, riding a bike, wearing a helmet and a lamp. You will tour along 4.9 miles and listen to the legend while visiting the abandoned town, where emotions will run high with your friends or family, during this incredible experience.

Near to Telchac Port, you can find the Mayan settlement Xcambó, a prominent place which was dedicated to marine commerce and table salt mining. It has a registration of more than 600 burials, pots, and it is identified as a ritual place. Its important buildings will surprise you, such as the Temple of Sacrifices, masks, and a noticeably clear view of the steam baths of ancient Mayas.

Yaxcopoil Hacienda was founded in the 17^th Century, today, it is a tourist look-out and a private museum showing with the most veracity and simplicity the space and furniture people used to have during its times of splendor. The main house has wide rooms and high roofs, spacious aisles, and it is surrounded by large gardens with an infinite range of colors and lush vegetation. It still has the original European furniture, which provides the corresponding age environment, as well as the machines room, the chimney, the dungeons, among others.

Yaxunah (The First House or The Green House) is a small Yucatecan Mayan Community surrounded by natural beauty and pre-Hispanic vestiges, located near Chichén Itzá. Its inhabitants will share to you about their culture and traditions, as well as their way of life in constant contact with nature. In the Mayan Village of Yaxunah, they will teach you how to prepare recado rojo, with the main ingredient, which is the annatto, using an ancient molcajete (Mexican stone mortar and pestle), how to marinate pork, then bury the cochinita into the pib, and finally, after a brief waiting time you can taste this Yucatecan delicatessen.