VacationSelector
The yellow Palacio Canton on Paseo de Montejo, Merida
MeridaThe yellow Palacio Canton on Paseo de Montejo
Shitennō-ji temple, Osaka
OsakaShitennō-ji temple

Photos: Merida by Mariposa2723, CC BY 4.0, cropped; Osaka by Sarmat Batagov, Pexels License.

Merida or Osaka?

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 Merida for

  • beaches
  • prices
  • culture and sights

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

Choose Osaka for

  • getting around
  • nightlife
  • families

What lies behind each score is written up on Osaka’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. Merida 50, Osaka 34: Merida leads by 16 points.
Food & drink. Merida 72, Osaka 91: Osaka leads by 19 points.
Culture & sights. Merida 64, Osaka 63: Merida leads by 1 points.
Nightlife. Merida 42, Osaka 80: Osaka leads by 38 points.
Nature & outdoors. Merida 48, Osaka 58: Osaka leads by 10 points.
Day trips. Merida 80, Osaka 97: Osaka leads by 17 points.
Good for families. Merida 50, Osaka 88: Osaka leads by 38 points.
Getting around. Merida 45, Osaka 90: Osaka leads by 45 points.
Shopping & style. Merida 50, Osaka 80: Osaka leads by 30 points.
Affordability. Merida 75, Osaka 60: Merida leads by 15 points.
Live music & performing arts. Merida 52, Osaka 66: Osaka leads by 14 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Merida 40, Osaka 66: Osaka leads by 26 points.
0255075100

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

Your match

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

Merida
56match

Wins on beaches and prices with your weighting.

Osaka
Best match
73match

Wins on getting around and nightlife with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

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

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

Osaka in July

32 °Cdaytime high
25 °Cnight-time low
175 mmrain in the month
6 hsunshine a day
25 °Csea
14 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200250JFMAMJJASOND
MeridaOsaka

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Merida: 1991-2020 normals, Merida / lic Manuel Crecencio (5.1 km from centre). Osaka: 1991-2020 normals, Osaka (1.8 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureMeridaOsaka
Official languageSpanish, Nahuatl, Yucatec MayaJapanese
CurrencyMexican Peso (MXN)Yen (JPY)
SocketsAB127 V, 60 HzAB100 V, 50 and 60 Hz depending on the region
Driving sideRightLeft
Time zoneUTC-6UTC+9
Emergency number911Police 110, fire 119
Elevation12 m20 m
Main airportManuel Crescencio Rejón International Airport (MID)5 km from centre22 non-stop destinationsKansai International Airport (KIX)38 km from centre62 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year9 days16 days

By the numbers

MeasureMeridaOsaka
City population892,3632,751,862
People per km²1,01012,340
Museums within 10 km544
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km06
Swim season, months above 21 °C12 months5 months

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Merida or Osaka 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). 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.