Last Updated on May 20, 2020 by PowersToTravel
Mérida, Yucatan, Mexico is a large city in the northwestern corner of the Yucatan. Famous for its picturesque colonial town center, both times we visited we took horse carriage rides around the cobblestone streets of ancient cathedrals, monuments and lovely colonial mansions.
But what is not commonly known is that Mérida is inundated by Walmarts, and in the Yucatan that also means Diet Dr. Pepper!
Mérida is encircled by a superhighway ring road, the Periférico, Rt 180. Many people simple cross the Periférico on their way into the colonial center. Others travel the eastern side of the loop up to the road north to Progreso, a seaside town popular with ex-pats.
We, however, got to know the Periférico intimately in our quest for Diet Dr. Pepper.
Let’s step back to 2014 when we wandered the entire Yucatan peninsula over a 16-day Xmas vacation. Near Cancun we quickly learned that Walmart carries Diet Dr. Pepper. However, after having filled up as we raced by Cancun, as we approached Mérida we were not uninterested in repeating with Mérida’s Diet Dr. Pepper. As luck would have it, the very first Walmart that we stopped at, the Walmart Polígono filled us to the brim.
Fast forward to 2018, we spent two entire weeks in an awesome apartment in Chelem (north to Progreso, then west to Chelem). Click here for our experience there. Knowing that Mérida boasted a Walmart, Greg was content to spend the two weeks at the beach.
Does Mérida have a Walmart? Mérida has six Walmarts. I think over the course of two weeks we visited each one of them. That doesn’t mean we were out to them six different days. Just because Walmart carries Diet Dr. Pepper doesn’t mean it is always on the shelf. And my Spanish didn’t extend to the word “warehouse”, or “out back”. “Do you have any more out back?” I just couldn’t manage that in Spanish when the appointed shelf was empty. So, having struck out at one Walmart, we just headed to the next and the next…
I’ve added a map to the this post to show the locations. It would be just as easy to go to Google maps, search for Mérida, then search for Nearby Walmart. That’s what I did.
You can do the same for Cancun, and for Playa Del Carmen. We know. It’s best to focus on the Superstores.
Enjoy Mexico!
