VacationSelector
The Turtle Tower in Hoan Kiem Lake, Hanoi
HanoiThe Turtle Tower in Hoan Kiem Lake
The yellow Palacio Canton on Paseo de Montejo, Merida
MeridaThe yellow Palacio Canton on Paseo de Montejo

Photos: Hanoi by xiquinhosilva, CC BY 2.0, cropped; Merida by Mariposa2723, CC BY 4.0, cropped.

Hanoi 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 Hanoi for

  • prices
  • food and drink
  • culture and sights

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

Choose Merida for

  • beaches
  • day trips
  • families

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. Hanoi 6, Merida 50: Merida leads by 44 points.
Food & drink. Hanoi 85, Merida 72: Hanoi leads by 13 points.
Culture & sights. Hanoi 72, Merida 64: Hanoi leads by 8 points.
Nightlife. Hanoi 50, Merida 42: Hanoi leads by 8 points.
Nature & outdoors. Hanoi 52, Merida 48: Hanoi leads by 4 points.
Day trips. Hanoi 58, Merida 80: Merida leads by 22 points.
Good for families. Hanoi 35, Merida 50: Merida leads by 15 points.
Getting around. Hanoi 36, Merida 45: Merida leads by 9 points.
Shopping & style. Hanoi and Merida are level on 50.
Affordability. Hanoi 98, Merida 75: Hanoi leads by 23 points.
Live music & performing arts. Hanoi 40, Merida 52: Merida leads by 12 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Hanoi 46, Merida 40: Hanoi leads by 6 points.
0255075100

What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Hanoi and Merida.

Your match

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

Hanoi
52match

Wins on prices and food and drink with your weighting.

Merida
Best match
56match

Wins on beaches and day trips with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

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

Hanoi in July

34 °Cdaytime high
27 °Cnight-time low
311 mmrain in the month
6 hsunshine a day
No seasea
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

0100200300400JFMAMJJASOND
HanoiMerida

Where the figures come from

Hanoi's sunshine is measured 86 km from the centre, at Phu Lien.

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Hanoi: 1991-2020 normals, Ha Noi (4.4 km from centre). Merida: 1991-2020 normals, Merida / lic Manuel Crecencio (5.1 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureHanoiMerida
Official languageVietnameseSpanish, Nahuatl, Yucatec Maya
CurrencyDong (VND)Mexican Peso (MXN)
SocketsACFG220 V, 50 HzAB127 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+7UTC-6
Emergency numberPolice 113, ambulance 115, fire 114911
Elevation10 m12 m
Main airportNoi Bai International Airport (HAN)22 km from centre91 non-stop destinationsManuel Crescencio Rejón International Airport (MID)5 km from centre22 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year-9 days

By the numbers

MeasureHanoiMerida
City population8,717,600892,363
People per km²2,5951,010
Museums within 10 km145
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km10
Swim season, months above 21 °C-12 months

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Hanoi 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. Airport data from OurAirports (public domain). 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. Sea surface temperature from NOAA OISST v2.1, NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory. Public holidays from Nager.Date (MIT). 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.