Not only is the historic center of Merida basically a magnificent open-air museum but Merida is also a beautiful city bursting with excellent museums. If you’re interested in the history and culture of the Yucatan Peninsula then you absolutely must spend a couple of days exploring the museums in Merida. 

If you’re wondering if Mérida is worth visiting, know that when you visit Mérida you’ll be surrounded by incredible historic buildings, beautiful gardens and plazas everywhere you turn.

And don’t forget, of course, that the archeological sites and haciendas in and around Mérida are also worth exploring when you’re in town: some of them have museums attached. 

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Important Mérida Information

Best Time of Year to Visit Mérida

🔆 Warm and Dry: November – March. The weather is just about perfect for exploring, making spring break a great time to visit Mérida.

🔆🔆 Hot: April – May. The temperature rises dramatically and can regularly reach over 40C in April and May.

🔆 ☔️ – Hot and Wet: June – September. Most days are extremely hot and humid and there are regular aguaceros (heavy rain storms) for an hour or so in the afternoons.

💨 October – November are also officially known as hurricane season. Yucatan doesn’t really get many hurricanes but there are often tropical storm warnings in this season.

⭐️ Consider this packing list when visiting Mérida with kids

Where to stay in Mérida

Most people who visit Mérida choose to stay in the centro histórico, the historic centre of Mérida. Doing so provides easy access to the majority of museums, many restaurants and most of the free cultural activities.

➡️ Read more about what to do with a week in Mérida

➡️ Read about all the incredible free activities Mérida offers its visitors

🚗 If you’re planning on exploring around the region then you’ll probably want to consider renting a car.

➡️ Check car rental options now

➡️ Check Mérida hotel options now

Is Mérida safe?

✅ Yes, Mérida is a safe city to both visit and to live in. Yucatán is Mexico’s safest state and Mérida is one of the safest cities in all of North America.

So let’s look now at the museums of Mérida, what they offer and how to find them. 

Museums in Merida  – Centro & Plaza Grande

Palacio de Gobierno – Plaza Grande

📍 Calle 60/61 (on Plaza Grande) ⏱ Mon – Fri 09:00 – 16:00 💲 Free

📌 The Government Palace remains a working governmental building. The upstairs balcony and upper floor are dedicated to murals by artist Fernando Castro Pacheco depicting the struggle of the Mayan people against not only the Spanish conquistadors but also later the Mexican ruling classes. Prepare to be moved as you learn about the history of Mérida and Yucatán through these murals.

Museo Casa Montejo – Plaza Grande

📍 Calle 63 (on Plaza Grande) ⏱ Tues – Sat 10:00 – 19:00 and Sun 10:00 – 14:00 💲 Free

📌 This restored colonial home was built in the mid 16th century at the orders of Francisco de Montejo, the Spanish conqueror of the Yucatan Peninsula. It is thought to be the oldest colonial house in Mérida. I recommend that before you visit this Banamex restored house, you take a free walking tour and learn more about the fascinating history of the building and its facade. 

This interesting museum consists of four rooms restored in the style of the late 19th century.

➡️ You can also watch the free video mapping on the house at 8 pm on Wednesdays to learn more if your Spanish is up to it.

Palacio de la Música

📍 Calle 59 Parque Santa Lucia, Centro ⏱ Tues – Sun 10 am – 4 pm Closed Mon 💲 varied prices depending on age and residency

✅ Good for kids: my kids absolutely love this museum because there are a lot of buttons to press and interactive screens to enjoy. 

📌 This brand-new hyper-modern building can’t be missed when you’re strolling around Mérida, so different is it from the buildings surrounding it.  Basically, this place is everything everyone needs in a museum: for the kids, there are buttons and screens aplenty and for the adults and music lovers, there is enough information and music to listen to that you can cope with the kids jabbing at things for hours. It was truly a great few hours spent here. Visitors will really enjoy learning about the history of Mexican music. 

Did you know that Guadalajara also has an incredible array of museums?

Museo de la Ciudad de Mérida (Museum of the City of Merida)- Lucas de Galvez Market

📍 Calle 59 x65 y65a ⏱ Mon – Fri 09:00 – 18:00 and Sat – Sun 09:00 – 14:00 💲Free

📌 This is a small museum that is well worth visiting. Downstairs has two rooms: one is a history of the city including an entertaining anecdote about why the region is called Yucatan but I will leave you to discover that little gem yourself.

📌 The second downstairs room is an odd history of notable locals. Upstairs is two stories of art, some contemporary, some less so, all of it by local artists. There is a series of paintings by the bathrooms depicting Merida over the last 100 years or so.

Centro Cultural Municipal Olimpo

📍 Calle 62 x 61 (Plaza Grande) ⏱ Tues – Sat 10:00 – 02:00 Sun 10:00 – 17:00 💲Free general entrance but cost for planetarium

📌 This is a modern cultural centre with a planetarium, art exhibits and film screenings. There are plenty of free events here but the building itself is something special too – with open-air courtyards and stunning arches, it’s really a special building.

Museo de Arte Contemporáneo Fernando Garcia Ponce-Macay (Contemporary Art Museum of Mérida)

📍 Calle 60 (next to the cathedral)⏱ Wed – Sun 10:00 – 18:00 💲Free

📌 This free art gallery is housed in a former colonial palace next door to the city’s main cathedral on Plaza Grande. It is home to temporary exhibits of modern Mexican artists as well as a permanent exhibition by Fernando Garcia Ponce.

📌 There are also regular interesting exhibitions in the Paseo de la Revolucion, the covered walkway between the cathedral and the art gallery. Even when the gallery is closed I recommend you check out what’s happening here. 

Pinacoteca De Merida Juan Gamboa Guzman

📍 Calle 59 x60 y58 ⏱ Tues – Sun 09:00 – 20:00 💲Cost Minimal

This small museum exhibits paintings from the pre-Hispanic era to the 19th century.

Filux Lab

📍 Calle 64 383A por 45 y 47

Temporarily Closed – check before visiting

📌 Keep an eye out for the reopening of this incredible gallery of light in Mérida. 

Museo de la Gastonomía

📍 C. 62 466 x 55-y 57, Parque Santa Lucia ⏱ Open every day

​📌 This is really a restaurant rather than a museum but there is a tour offered and if you’re interested in learning more about local foods then this is a great option. 

Museums in Merida – Around Paseo de Montejo

Quinta Montes Molina

📍 Paseo de Montejo 469 ⏱ Mon – Fri 09:00 – 17:00 and Sat 09:00 – 13:00 💲 Entry varies based on age and residency

📌 This beautiful museum is a house has been deliberately kept in the style of its day. Take a step back in time to the early 20th century when henequen was making Merida rich beyond its wildest dreams and the lucky few could afford to import treasures from Europe.

📌 The same family that built the house still own it. There is no hidden area for them so if the family are around, you see them too.

📌 Don’t miss the gift shop – it’s my favourite museum shop in Mérida. 

Museo Regional de Antropología, Palacio Canton (Anthropology Museum)

📍 Paseo De Montejo 485 ⏱ Tues – Sun 08:00 – 17:00 💲 Entry varies based on age and residency

📌 This museum is home to a  permanent collection pertaining to the region’s cultural heritage. Be warned that many of the explanations are only in Spanish. The exhibitions on the top floor change regularly. The building itself is worthy of note: it is absolutely magnificent. Sadly you’re not permitted to explore the grounds or its beautiful gardens.

Do note that this museum is not really good for smaller kids. When my kids were little we were followed around and barked at regularly and my kids are well behaved museum visitors. 

Casas Gemelas

📍 Paseo de Montejo 495 ⏱ Thurs – Sun 9 am – 5 pm 💲 $250 pesos general, $125 with Yucatan ID

📌 One of these twin houses was opened to the public in 2021. Like the Casa Quinta Molina, touring this house will help you get a better idea of life in henequen rich Mérida. Note, there is no access to the upper floor granted.  

Museo de la luz (de la Universidad Autónoma de Mexico -UNAM) 

📍 C. 50 419B, Parque la Plancha ⏱ Sun – Tues 9 am – 1 pm and 4 pm – 8 pm 💲Cheap

⭐️ Brand new in late 2023 ⭐️

✅ Good for kids

📌 This interactive museum is all about colour via science and art – it’s a perfect spot to take the kids as it’s small but interactive and friendly. It’s a great addition to the Mérida museum scene.

Museo de los Ferrocarriles (Train Museum)

​Appears to be permanently closed

📌 This outdoor museum / train graveyard is an absolute delight. There are a couple of trains that have been turned into small museums but mainly you’re here to run around and climb on old decaying trains.

Museums in Merida – Parque de La Mejorada

Museo de Arte Popular De Yucatan

📍 Calle 50A 487 ⏱ Tues – Sat 10:00 – 17:00 and Sun 10:00 – 15:00 💲Free

This museum is temporarily closed – check maps before visiting

📌 This small and sweet museum is well worth a visit if you are interested in learning more about traditional arts from around Mexico. 

Museo de La Canción Yucateca

📍 Calle 57 464 ⏱ Tues – Fri 09:00 – 17:00 and Sat – Sun 09:00 – 15:00 💲 Minimal

📌 The focus of this tiny little museum is Yucatecan musicians. Each room is about a couple of famous locals and the music they made. Their music was playing in the room, which was lovely but I have to admit that as a non-afficionado of local music, the museum meant very little to me.

📌 Everything is in Spanish but my non-Spanish speaking mother was handed a pile of laminated papers in English to help her out.

Museo Conmemorativo de la Inmigracion Coreana (calle 65 397A Centro)

📍 Calle 65 397a ⏱ Tues – Fri 10:00 – 13:00 and 14:00 – 17:00 Sat – Sun 10:00 – 13:00 💲 Minimal

📌 This is a small museum with photos, documents and artefacts related to Koreans in Yucatan. The museum outlines how Koreans were brought to the Americas to work in the early 20th century. People were promised safe and well paid work but it soon transpired that this was not true. After a visit to the museum you could continue the Korean theme with a stop at the delicious Korean restaurant on Paseo de Montejo for a meal and ice cream.

Museums in Merida – Other Excellent Museums

Gran Museo del Mundo Maya de Merida (Mayan World Museum of Mérida)

📍 Calle 60 (Up by Costco in the north of the city) ⏱ Wed – Mon 08:00 – 17:00 💲varied by age and residency

📌 This stunning nest style building is the home of the Mayan cultural museum. If you have time and the interest in better understanding the Mayan world, you can’t go wrong with this museum. The museum is modern and uses all sorts of different technologies to share Mayan history with visitors.

✅ Good for kids: Many weekends also have Sunday morning children’s activities (in Spanish), which are great fun and very interactive.

Museo de Historia Natural (Natural History Museum)

📍 Calle 59 x84 y84a ⏱ Tues – Sun 09:00 – 15:00 💲 Free

📌 This tiny natural history museum next to Parque Centenario focuses on regional ecology and dinosaurs. If you’re hoping for a large and modern Natural History Museum, then you’ll be sadly disappointed but if you go in hoping for nothing more than passing 15 minutes looking at some well-meaning exhibits then it’ll do just fine.

Museo Paranormal

📍 Calle 63B #230 x8 y10 Col Cortes Sarmiento ⏱ Mon – Fri 9.30 am – 5.30 pm and Sat 9.30 am – 1.30 pm 💲 minimal

📌 This is a really good museum with a focus on paranormal happenings in Mexico. It’s probably one of the most interesting museums I’ve ever been to. I’m not saying I believe any of it but I definitely thought it was well laid out, well presented, the tour was excellent (we had a tour in Spanish but they tell me there is someone available who can offer an English tour if you don’t speak Spanish).

✅ Good for teens.

Final Thoughts on Museums in Merida

As you can see, Mérida is hardly short of great museums. I think it’s an excellent place to visit if you’re interested in culture as not only are there many museums but you’re also surrounded by culture and history everywhere you go in this beautiful city. 

If you have time to explore, why not take a road trip from Mérida and explore more of the state of Yucatán?

Mayan Ruins 

➡️ If you have time, Chichen Itza is easily visited as a day trip (plus cenote obviously)

➡️ Uxmal is another incredible archaeological site well worth visiting. Pair is with the nearby Choco-Story museum for a really special day

➡️ Read about all the Mayan ruins you can visit from Mérida

Haciendas

➡️ Sotuta de Peon is the most famous living museum in the region. Book yourself onto a tour of this amazing place to learn about Yucatán’s history during the henequen days in this excellent museum hacienda. The hacienda is about forty minutes from M;erida. You could even book a night or two in the hotel here and make use of their gorgeous facilities.

➡️ Hacienda Yaxcopoil – book a tour of the grounds and history museum of the former hacienda Yaxcopoil.

➡️ Hacienda Mucuyuche – most people think of this as somewhere to swim in beautiful cenotes and while that’s true, part of its appeal is the excellent tour around the ruined hacienda grounds. Highly recommended.