VacationSelector
The floating torii of Itsukushima at Miyajima, Hiroshima
HiroshimaThe floating torii of Itsukushima at Miyajima
The yellow Palacio Canton on Paseo de Montejo, Merida
MeridaThe yellow Palacio Canton on Paseo de Montejo

Photos: Hiroshima by Guohua Song, Pexels License; Merida by Mariposa2723, CC BY 4.0, cropped.

Hiroshima 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 Hiroshima for

  • getting around
  • nature and the outdoors
  • families

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

Choose Merida for

  • beaches
  • 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. Hiroshima 30, Merida 50: Merida leads by 20 points.
Food & drink. Hiroshima 66, Merida 72: Merida leads by 6 points.
Culture & sights. Hiroshima 60, Merida 64: Merida leads by 4 points.
Nightlife. Hiroshima 45, Merida 42: Hiroshima leads by 3 points.
Nature & outdoors. Hiroshima 62, Merida 48: Hiroshima leads by 14 points.
Day trips. Hiroshima and Merida are level on 80.
Good for families. Hiroshima 60, Merida 50: Hiroshima leads by 10 points.
Getting around. Hiroshima 74, Merida 45: Hiroshima leads by 29 points.
Shopping & style. Hiroshima 52, Merida 50: Hiroshima leads by 2 points.
Affordability. Hiroshima 58, Merida 75: Merida leads by 17 points.
Live music & performing arts. Hiroshima 38, Merida 52: Merida leads by 14 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Hiroshima 50, Merida 40: Hiroshima leads by 10 points.
0255075100

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

Your match

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

Too close to call, level with your weighting

Hiroshima
56match

Wins on getting around and nature and the outdoors with your weighting.

Merida
56match

Wins on beaches 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.

Hiroshima in July

31 °Cdaytime high
24 °Cnight-time low
299 mmrain in the month
6 hsunshine a day
24 °Csea
14 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

0100200300JFMAMJJASOND
HiroshimaMerida

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Hiroshima: 1991-2020 normals, Hiroshima (1.7 km from centre). Merida: 1991-2020 normals, Merida / lic Manuel Crecencio (5.1 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureHiroshimaMerida
Official languageJapaneseSpanish, Nahuatl, Yucatec Maya
CurrencyYen (JPY)Mexican Peso (MXN)
SocketsAB100 V, 50 and 60 Hz depending on the regionAB127 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideLeftRight
Time zoneUTC+9UTC-6
Emergency numberPolice 110, fire 119911
Elevation3 m12 m
Main airportHiroshima Airport (HIJ)43 km from centre10 non-stop destinationsManuel Crescencio Rejón International Airport (MID)5 km from centre22 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year16 days9 days

By the numbers

MeasureHiroshimaMerida
City population1,198,021892,363
People per km²1,3241,010
Museums within 10 km185
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km20
Swim season, months above 21 °C4 months12 months

Where else could you go?

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

Browse every destination

Sources

Ground elevations sampled from the Mapzen terrain tiles via OpenTopoData, merging SRTM, ASTER, NED, EU-DEM and national 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). Exchange rates via Frankfurter, based on European Central Bank reference rates. 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. 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.