Yucatecan food is its own republic within Mexican cooking — cochinita pibil slow-roasted underground in banana leaves, sopa de lima, habanero salsas that demand respect — and elegant, pastel-coloured Mérida is its capital. Eat at the market stalls of Lucas de Gálvez at breakfast, then day-trip to cenotes and Uxmal's Maya pyramids between meals. On Sundays the Plaza Grande fills with food vendors and dancing. November to February offers merciful temperatures; summer here is molten.
Featured in Ten tropical escapes where the food is half the point · Tropical