TAKE A BREAK IN IZAMAL

To go to Izamal from Mérida, it’s quite simple. You can go there by collectivo, the trip is around 1h and 1h30. It’s possible to visit the city in one day, and to return to Mérida, because accommodation is quite expensive in Izamal. The collectivo station is between calle 50 and 63, in an orange building, you’ll see lots of small vans with Izamal written on the windshield. If you have any doubts about the location of the station, it’s indicated on the maps.me application. Once there, you’ll have to pay a person inside who has a small table, and they’ll give you a token that the driver will collect before leaving.

The city center of Izamal has the particularity of having most of its facades yellow. And it’s just beautiful! Everything is in yellow, even the churches. It gives lots of charm to the city! There are different rumors why it’s painted yellow, some say it’s to scare away mosquitoes, others say it was for the coming of Pope John Paul II, I have no idea… But it could be interesting to dig into the question. Don’t hesitate to stroll through the various streets of the city center. It’s quite simple to spot whether you are in the center or not, the facades are yellow.
The main square is the Parque 5 de Mayo where there are the letters IZAMAL (which weren’t present when we were there). There are plenty of food and drink stalls. But the attraction of this square is the famous Convent of Saint Anthony of Padua (Covento de San Antonio). The architecture of this building is amazing! Open arches on the 3 sides, and yellow painted walls like the whole city center. It’s possible to enter the inner courtyard to admire the main building and its beautiful stained glass windows. It really is the must visit of the city.
Not far from this square, there’s the Plaza Izamal which also has a lot of food stalls. This is also where there is an indoor market with small stalls where you can buy Mexican specialties.
The Parque de Los Remedios is a little square with the yellow Remedios church. We couldn’t get inside but just the outside is very pretty. Another very cute little square is the Parque de Los Canones with the small Chapel of the Holy Cross (Capilla de la Santa Cruz) and cannons. I found all the squares in the city center really pretty.
There’s a nice little museum to discover, the Museo de artesanias which exhibits a lot of handicrafts such as hammocks, jewelry… These are 4 small rooms that you can visit in about thirty minutes.
In Izamal, there are several ruins to visit in the city center. When we were there, Iztamatul was closed, but we could see Kinich Kakmó, which are the largest in the city. The ruins are one of the most important in Mesoamerica, dating between 400 and 600 AD. It’s possible to climb these ruins from a height of 34m to have a breathtaking view of downtown Izamal. To climb on the ruins, it isn’t very easy because it isn’t maintained, so be careful. The ruins haven’t been very well preserved but we get a little idea of what it looked like at the time.
To eat, if you have the budget, there’s the Kinich restaurant. The interior is really beautiful, and you can see part of the kitchen. It’s very good but it’s really not cheap for a Mexican restaurant.

Entrance fee to the Museo de artesanias: 25 pesos
Entrance to the Convent of Saint Anthony of Padua: free
Price of the ruins in Izamal: free

Izamal is a very pretty town! It’s so beautiful to see all these yellow facades! It’s really nice to walk around. If you’re in Mérida, for me this is a must.