VacationSelector
Yellow colonial houses in the walled city, Cartagena
CartagenaYellow colonial houses in the walled city
The yellow Palacio Canton on Paseo de Montejo, Merida
MeridaThe yellow Palacio Canton on Paseo de Montejo

Photos: Cartagena by Dr. Thomas Liptak, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Merida by Mariposa2723, CC BY 4.0, cropped.

Cartagena or Merida?

Our verdict in twelve categories, each scored against the same fixed benchmark cities, and the climate month by month, so you can choose for your trip.

Choose Cartagena for

  • nightlife
  • beaches
  • getting around

What lies behind each score is written up on Cartagena’s own page.

Choose Merida for

  • day trips
  • prices
  • live music and the arts

What lies behind each score is written up on Merida’s own page.

Scoreboard

Twelve categories on one fixed scale from 0 to 100. The shaded stretch is the gap between the two.

Beaches & swimming. Cartagena 70, Merida 50: Cartagena leads by 20 points.
Food & drink. Cartagena 62, Merida 72: Merida leads by 10 points.
Culture & sights. Cartagena 68, Merida 64: Cartagena leads by 4 points.
Nightlife. Cartagena 70, Merida 42: Cartagena leads by 28 points.
Nature & outdoors. Cartagena 46, Merida 48: Merida leads by 2 points.
Day trips. Cartagena 33, Merida 80: Merida leads by 47 points.
Good for families. Cartagena 40, Merida 50: Merida leads by 10 points.
Getting around. Cartagena 54, Merida 45: Cartagena leads by 9 points.
Shopping & style. Cartagena 48, Merida 50: Merida leads by 2 points.
Affordability. Cartagena 60, Merida 75: Merida leads by 15 points.
Live music & performing arts. Cartagena 40, Merida 52: Merida leads by 12 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Cartagena and Merida are level on 40.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Cartagena and Merida.

Your match

Pick a travel style or drag the sliders, and both match scores follow your weighting.

Cartagena
53match

Wins on nightlife and beaches with your weighting.

Merida
Best match
56match

Wins on day trips and prices with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

Pick your month. The climate figures are measured averages, not a forecast.

Cartagena in July

31 °Cdaytime high
26 °Cnight-time low
124 mmrain in the month
7 hsunshine a day
30 °Csea
13 hdaylight a day

Merida in July

35 °Cdaytime high
23 °Cnight-time low
148 mmrain in the month
9 hsunshine a day
27 °Csea
13 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200250JFMAMJJASOND
CartagenaMerida

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Cartagena: 1991-2020 normals, Cartagena / Rafael Nunez (3.1 km from centre). Merida: 1991-2020 normals, Merida / lic Manuel Crecencio (5.1 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureCartagenaMerida
Official languageSpanishSpanish, Nahuatl, Yucatec Maya
CurrencyColombian Peso (COP)Mexican Peso (MXN)
SocketsAB110 V, 60 HzAB127 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC-5UTC-6
Emergency number123911
Elevation2 m12 m
Main airportRafael Nuñez International Airport (CTG)2 km from centre26 non-stop destinationsManuel Crescencio Rejón International Airport (MID)5 km from centre22 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year19 days9 days

By the numbers

MeasureCartagenaMerida
City population914,552892,363
People per km²1,5991,010
Museums within 10 km25
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km10
Swim season, months above 21 °C12 months12 months

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Cartagena or Merida somewhere new.

Browse every destination

Sources

Structured data from Wikidata (CC0). Weather data by Meteostat. Meteorological data provided by NOAA, DWD and others. Rainfall where no rain gauge is within 25 km is from the TerraClimate 1991-2020 climatology (Abatzoglou et al. 2018, Scientific Data), read at the city. Sea surface temperature from NOAA OISST v2.1, NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory. Airport data from OurAirports (public domain). Public holidays from Nager.Date (MIT). Non-stop route lists from the "Airlines and destinations" tables on English Wikipedia airport articles, by Wikipedia contributors, reused under CC BY-SA 4.0. Currency from the ISO 4217 register maintained by SIX, cross-checked against country data from GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). Price level from World Bank open data (PPP conversion factor for private consumption and official exchange rate), CC BY 4.0. Time zones from GeoNames (CC BY 4.0); clock offsets computed from the IANA time zone database. Exchange rates via Frankfurter, based on European Central Bank reference rates. Daylight hours computed from each destination's latitude using the NOAA solar position algorithm.

Category scores are our editorial verdict under rubric v3, each placed against the same fixed benchmark cities; the climate figures are measured. How the scores are set. Snapshot generated 2026-10-31. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.