VacationSelector
The yellow Palacio Canton on Paseo de Montejo, Merida
MeridaThe yellow Palacio Canton on Paseo de Montejo
Hawthorne Bridge and downtown, Portland
PortlandHawthorne Bridge and downtown

Photos: Merida by Mariposa2723, CC BY 4.0, cropped; Portland by Cacophony, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

Merida or Portland?

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

  • prices
  • beaches
  • culture and sights

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

Choose Portland for

  • nature and the outdoors
  • getting around
  • nightlife

What lies behind each score is written up on Portland’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, Portland 20: Merida leads by 30 points.
Food & drink. Merida 72, Portland 68: Merida leads by 4 points.
Culture & sights. Merida 64, Portland 38: Merida leads by 26 points.
Nightlife. Merida 42, Portland 52: Portland leads by 10 points.
Nature & outdoors. Merida 48, Portland 84: Portland leads by 36 points.
Day trips. Merida 80, Portland 58: Merida leads by 22 points.
Good for families. Merida 50, Portland 55: Portland leads by 5 points.
Getting around. Merida 45, Portland 62: Portland leads by 17 points.
Shopping & style. Merida 50, Portland 52: Portland leads by 2 points.
Affordability. Merida 75, Portland 38: Merida leads by 37 points.
Live music & performing arts. Merida 52, Portland 55: Portland leads by 3 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Merida 40, Portland 42: Portland leads by 2 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Merida and Portland.

Your match

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

Merida
Best match
56match

Wins on prices and beaches with your weighting.

Portland
52match

Wins on nature and the outdoors and getting around 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

Portland in July

27 °Cdaytime high
15 °Cnight-time low
13 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
No seasea
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200250JFMAMJJASOND
MeridaPortland

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Merida: 1991-2020 normals, Merida / lic Manuel Crecencio (5.1 km from centre). Portland: 1991-2020 normals, Portland International Airport (9.8 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureMeridaPortland
Official languageSpanish, Nahuatl, Yucatec Maya-
CurrencyMexican Peso (MXN)US Dollar (USD)
SocketsAB127 V, 60 HzAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC-6UTC-8, UTC-7 in summer
Emergency number911911
Elevation12 m152 m
Main airportManuel Crescencio Rejón International Airport (MID)5 km from centre22 non-stop destinationsPortland International Airport (PDX)10 km from centre88 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year9 days12 days

By the numbers

MeasureMeridaPortland
City population892,363652,503
People per km²1,0101,736
Museums within 10 km517
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km00
Swim season, months above 21 °C12 months-

Where else could you go?

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