Cut off from the rest of Mexico for many years because of the difficulty in communicating by train and highway, the Yucatecans became somewhat independent, having more contact with European and US Gulf Coast cities and life-styles.

Splendid regional dishes and traditional music and dances local to this region are found in restaurants, theatres and shops housed in palatial mansions along Paseo de Montejo - a boulevard fashioned after Paris' Champs Elysée.

Progreso, Merida's port city, is only 30 kilometers north. Being centrally located, Merida is a practical hub to explore all of the splendors of the Yucatan Peninsula.