Things to do in Merida? Carnival?
 

I've seen favorable and even glowing mentions about Merida, but am a bit unclear on what there is to do there. My wife and I plan to pass through February or March. But we're wondering how much time to spend there. It sounds like a friendly/fun/interesting town, we'd probably be satisfied just walking around it, checking out the architecture, shops, restaurants, etc. But still, if folks have any specific recommendations re things to see or do there, we'd welcome them.

By way of a bit more background, we're wondering whether we should spend extra time there when we fly in and out (on our way to Celestun and to a couple of the Starwood haciendas in Campeche and Yucatan) as part of our 16-day trip to Mexico. Or should we just overnight there on our way in and out?

And if we do spend time there, am I correct in assuming that the weekends, particularly Sundays, are best?

One specific thing I've noticed is Carnival, which the Yucatan Today site says is early March (though the schedule of events doesn't seem to be arranged or posted yet). Sounds like fun, but does it mean that the city becomes really crowded and that there are lots of obnoxious drunks about (friendly drunks I don't mind:D)?

Thanks for any info/advice.

I've overnighted in Merida, and will do so again when we visit the Yucatan and Starwood's haciendas this winter. My strongest memory of Merida is the evening dance performances. There are different types of dances performed in different squares almost every night of the week. It's not tourism driven; rather it is really part of the culture. The dancing was great, and it was fun to see all the local foods that were sold for the audience. If you buy the 2010 Frommers Cancun & the Yucatan, it has a list of which performance is each night. Overnights at the start and end of the trip are sufficient as long as you allow time to get to one of the dance performances. I've just looked at my guide, and the museums and sights seem on the small scale.

By the way, there is a Hyatt in Merida.

Very good to know, SD1K. I hadn't come across mentions of these performances in my admittedly very limited research. I suspect that my wife will particularly like them. Thanks!

Yes, there's a performance in a different park almost every night. Sundays the main drag becomes pedestrian-only, so that's definitely a good time to be there. Merida never gets all that crazy, so I can't imagine carnival gets out of hand there.