7 within 3½ hours · 5 under 2 hours
Mérida is the capital of a flat, easy-driving state, and five Pueblos Mágicos are within two hours. Motul, home of the huevos motuleños breakfast, is forty minutes away; Izamal, the yellow city with a Franciscan convent built on a pyramid, an hour; Sisal, the old port with a beach and flamingos, about the same. South is the convent route to Maní and Tekax. For a weekend, Valladolid, the colonial town between the cenotes and Chichén Itzá, and little-visited Espita.
Best months for the area: Jan, Feb, Nov, Dec (when most of these towns are dry with comfortable afternoons)
Day trips (under 2 hours) 5
Close enough to drive there and back from Mérida in a day. Closest first.
Weekend escapes (2 to 3½ hours) 2
Worth a night or two. Closest first.
2 h 6 min · 159 km
Best: Jan, Feb, Nov, Dec
Fiestas: Jan, Feb, Apr, May, Oct, Nov
On the map
Getting there
Mérida has its own airport, Mérida (MID), so you can fly in and rent a car there.
A car is the easiest way to reach most of these towns; the bigger ones also have direct buses from Mérida. Each pueblo's page has its own getting-there notes.
Drive times are from OpenStreetMap routing without traffic. Times marked ~ are estimated from the distance and may run longer on mountain roads.