VacationSelector
The yellow Palacio Canton on Paseo de Montejo, Merida
MeridaThe yellow Palacio Canton on Paseo de Montejo
La Concha beach and Monte Urgull, San Sebastian
San SebastianLa Concha beach and Monte Urgull

Photos: Merida by Mariposa2723, CC BY 4.0, cropped; San Sebastian by Guérin Nicolas, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped.

Merida or San Sebastian?

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
  • culture and sights
  • shopping

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

Choose San Sebastian for

  • getting around
  • nature and the outdoors
  • beaches

What lies behind each score is written up on San Sebastian’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, San Sebastian 68: San Sebastian leads by 18 points.
Food & drink. Merida 72, San Sebastian 88: San Sebastian leads by 16 points.
Culture & sights. Merida 64, San Sebastian 52: Merida leads by 12 points.
Nightlife. Merida 42, San Sebastian 44: San Sebastian leads by 2 points.
Nature & outdoors. Merida 48, San Sebastian 72: San Sebastian leads by 24 points.
Day trips. Merida and San Sebastian are level on 80.
Good for families. Merida 50, San Sebastian 66: San Sebastian leads by 16 points.
Getting around. Merida 45, San Sebastian 80: San Sebastian leads by 35 points.
Shopping & style. Merida 50, San Sebastian 40: Merida leads by 10 points.
Affordability. Merida 75, San Sebastian 32: Merida leads by 43 points.
Live music & performing arts. Merida 52, San Sebastian 45: Merida leads by 7 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Merida 40, San Sebastian 50: San Sebastian leads by 10 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Merida and San Sebastian.

Your match

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

Merida
56match

Wins on prices and culture and sights with your weighting.

San Sebastian
Best match
60match

Wins on getting around and nature and the outdoors 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

San Sebastian in July

22 °Cdaytime high
16 °Cnight-time low
92 mmrain in the month
7 hsunshine a day
21 °Csea
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200250JFMAMJJASOND
MeridaSan Sebastian

Where the figures come from

San Sebastian's station stands 252 m above the city centre, so the centre is likely a little warmer than the figures say.

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Merida: 1991-2020 normals, Merida / lic Manuel Crecencio (5.1 km from centre). San Sebastian: 1991-2020 normals, San Sebastian / Igueldo (6.1 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureMeridaSan Sebastian
Official languageSpanish, Nahuatl, Yucatec MayaSpanish
CurrencyMexican Peso (MXN)Euro (EUR)
SocketsAB127 V, 60 HzCF230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC-6UTC+1, UTC+2 in summer
Emergency number911112
Elevation12 m6 m
Main airportManuel Crescencio Rejón International Airport (MID)5 km from centre22 non-stop destinationsSan Sebastián Airport (EAS)16 km from centre11 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year9 days13 days

By the numbers

MeasureMeridaSan Sebastian
City population892,363189,866
People per km²1,0103,118
Museums within 10 km514
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km03
Swim season, months above 21 °C12 months2 months

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Merida or San Sebastian 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. Tourism statistics from Eurostat, © European Union, reused under CC BY 4.0. 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.