VacationSelector
The yellow Palacio Canton on Paseo de Montejo, Merida
MeridaThe yellow Palacio Canton on Paseo de Montejo
The Iguazu Falls in the green jungle, Puerto Iguazu
Puerto IguazuThe Iguazu Falls in the green jungle

Photos: Merida by Mariposa2723, CC BY 4.0, cropped; Puerto Iguazu by Muhammed Ballan, Pexels License.

Merida or Puerto Iguazu?

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

  • culture and sights
  • day trips
  • beaches

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

Choose Puerto Iguazu for

  • nature and the outdoors
  • getting around
  • families

What lies behind each score is written up on Puerto Iguazu’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, Puerto Iguazu 5: Merida leads by 45 points.
Food & drink. Merida 72, Puerto Iguazu 28: Merida leads by 44 points.
Culture & sights. Merida 64, Puerto Iguazu 9: Merida leads by 55 points.
Nightlife. Merida 42, Puerto Iguazu 14: Merida leads by 28 points.
Nature & outdoors. Merida 48, Puerto Iguazu 95: Puerto Iguazu leads by 47 points.
Day trips. Merida 80, Puerto Iguazu 33: Merida leads by 47 points.
Good for families. Merida 50, Puerto Iguazu 55: Puerto Iguazu leads by 5 points.
Getting around. Merida 45, Puerto Iguazu 54: Puerto Iguazu leads by 9 points.
Shopping & style. Merida 50, Puerto Iguazu 17: Merida leads by 33 points.
Affordability. Merida 75, Puerto Iguazu 48: Merida leads by 27 points.
Live music & performing arts. Merida 52, Puerto Iguazu 7: Merida leads by 45 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Merida 40, Puerto Iguazu 34: Merida leads by 6 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Merida and Puerto Iguazu.

Your match

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

Merida
Best match
56match

Wins on culture and sights and day trips with your weighting.

Puerto Iguazu
33match

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

Puerto Iguazu in July

22 °Cdaytime high
11 °Cnight-time low
103 mmrain in the month
5 hsunshine a day
No seasea
11 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200250JFMAMJJASOND
MeridaPuerto Iguazu

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Merida: 1991-2020 normals, Merida / lic Manuel Crecencio (5.1 km from centre). Puerto Iguazu: 1991-2020 normals, Iguazu Aerodrome (17.8 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureMeridaPuerto Iguazu
Official languageSpanish, Nahuatl, Yucatec MayaSpanish
CurrencyMexican Peso (MXN)Argentine Peso (ARS)
SocketsAB127 V, 60 HzCI220 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightLeft
Time zoneUTC-6UTC-3
Emergency number911117 or 911
Elevation12 m162 m
Main airportManuel Crescencio Rejón International Airport (MID)5 km from centre22 non-stop destinationsCataratas Del Iguazú International Airport (IGR)18 km from centre8 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year9 days16 days

By the numbers

MeasureMeridaPuerto Iguazu
City population892,36354,903
People per km²1,010-
Museums within 10 km50
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km01
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 Puerto Iguazu 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.