# Questions About Merida



## RusticBohemian (Feb 10, 2015)

Hi. 

I'm considering an aprox 3-month trip to Merida. My work is location independent, and I hear Merida it's tropical, cheap, friendly, and beautiful, so I'd like to check it out. 

I have some questions I'm hoping a resident might be able to answer:

1) Will I be able to find a furnished apartment to rent for 1, 2, or 3 months, or will they demand a 6 or 12 month lease?

2) Can I find an apartment costing less than $400/month that is within walking distance to the core sections of the city? In particular I want to be able to easily get to a market where I can buy produce, a park, and a coffee shop with internet access. 

3) Is the internet fast enough and reliable enough to for me to be able to run my online business?

4) Is it easy to bike around the city? Can I easily acquire a bike locally, or should I bring one?

5) Would it be a good idea to drive down (I'm currently in Texas) so I can have a car/bike, or will I be able to do well enough on foot and/or with an bike acquired there?

Thanks!

-Andrew


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

RusticBohemian said:


> Hi.
> 
> I'm considering an aprox 3-month trip to Merida. My work is location independent, and I hear Merida it's tropical, cheap, friendly, and beautiful, so I'd like to check it out.
> 
> ...


1. Anything is possible, it will be more difficult to find a short term rental.
2. $400 usd is currently $6000 msn pesos. You should be able to find an apartment for that amount in the city center, if you are not too fussy.
3. Yes
4. Yes and yes. Bikes are easy to buy in Mexico. Especially, if you don't need the latest super-light, carbon fiber frame. Be careful. There are few bike lanes, and cars pay attention to neither bikes nor pedestrians.
5. If you live in the center of Merida, a car is unnecessary, there are shops and a mercado for food, all within easy walking distance.


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## Hound Dog (Jan 18, 2009)

Well, Andrew,while we don´t reside in Merida, having chosen cool Highland Chiapas instead after our search for an alternative residence all over that región a few years ago. The reason, in the final analysis, that we chose a highland climate over Merida´s tropical climate had strictly to do with Merida´s difficult exeedingly hot, humid and long-lasting summers which for us as former Alabama Gulf Coast residents experienced in interminable hot and humid summers, was a bit much, we might have chosen Merida, an attractive city with many cultural attractions and an interesting history (to say nothing of some of my favorite foods in Mexico) but opted for a moderate highland climate instead. 

We* spent much time exploring that city with, initially, an eye toward purchasing a home there so my comments are base on more than conjecture. *

_QUOTE=RusticBohemian;6394945]Hi. 

I'm considering an aprox 3-month trip to Merida. My work is location independent, and I hear Merida it's tropical, cheap, friendly, and beautiful, so I'd like to check it out. 

*Merida would be a fine place to accept a three month work assignment even in the broiling summer sun. I can´tthink of a better city in Mexico in which to work and play for a short-term assignment. By all means, not only check it out but do this - you will have no regrets.* 

I have some questions I'm hoping a resident might be able to answer:

1) Will I be able to find a furnished apartment to rent for 1, 2, or 3 months, or will they demand a 6 or 12 month lease?

*If you go there and pound the pavement you will have no problem finding short-term rentals in fully furnished accomodations. To me, the key is to go there rather than shop over the internet. *

2) Can I find an apartment costing less than $400/month that is within walking distance to the core sections of the city? In particular I want to be able to easily get to a market where I can buy produce, a park, and a coffee shop with internet access. 

I* think you will find an apartment in that price range in central Merida where accomodations range from luxurious to spartan in exclusive, middle-income and more modest barrios. The city´s major market is located adjacent to one of those modest barrios and is near the city´s large and attractine principal park/plaza. Internet cafes in that neighborhood should proliferate and be easy to find. *


3) Is the internet fast enough and reliable enough to for me to be able to run my online business?

I* don´t know your business but my experience with the internet at local internet cafes was more than adequate for conducting most businesses.*

4) Is it easy to bike around the city? Can I easily acquire a bike locally, or should I bring one?

*The city is as flat as a pancake and easily negotiable on foot, by bike or using taxis, mini-cabs or public transportation. I never tried to rent a bike there but can´t imagine that would be a problem*. 

5) Would it be a good idea to drive down (I'm currently in Texas) so I can have a car/bike, or will I be able to do well enough on foot and/or with an bike acquired there?

*It´s a long drive but I would drive down if I were you if you think you would like to explore the surounding región which offers much of historic interest and some fine beaches on the nearby Gulf. However, if you reside in the historic center near the principal plaza and palacio municipal, you don´t really need a car to get around that part of the city that is most inticing and of historical interest. In my opinión, you must concéntrate on residing in or very near the historic center as, otherwise. the city is spread out and much of the outlying residential área is remote from the action in centro and somewhat dull at that. You may find parking in the historic center to be problematic if you take a car and flying down from Texas should be easy enough. After all, if your finances are adequate, you can rent a car for occasional forays into the countryside or to the Gulf beaches. *

Thanks!

-Andrew[/QUOTE]_


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## RusticBohemian (Feb 10, 2015)

Thank you for the helpful replies, Hound Dog and TundraGreen.


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## citlali (Mar 4, 2013)

Short terms rental are available but I would imagine that you will have more choice and a better price in the summer than in the winter and if you go in the high season when snowbirds go you should try to go a little early to have more of a choice if you arrive in the midde of the season the better deas will be gone.


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## bluenoser55 (Feb 2, 2009)

If you go to the Merida TripAdvisor forum, recently there was a long thread about this subject.
I suggest you pose the question on that forum as well.


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