playa or progreso?

[olblueyes]

i live overseas and have been an expat for many years. i plan on moving somewhere in the yucatan. my spanish is good and i also speak italian. i've been to many places in mexico among them cancun. didn't like it. i have never been to playa del carmen. but, i gotta tell ya, from what i've seen from EXTENSIVE internet research and expat forums it seems extremely westernized, touristy. and really not that inexpensive. from 'huge condo projects' to 'all inclusive resorts',to $15 margaritas at senor frogs sounds like miami just only 4 stories high.it seems that the merida/progreso area would be suited more for me to experience a more realistic mexico. i'm coming there in nov. to see it all for myself but could use any feedback as i will be there only a week. mil gracias, olblueyes (viejos ojos azules)

[roni]

Merida/Progreso

Give it a good go.

[prbst]

What research have you done? Merida is the old capital in middle of the Yucatan penisula, a beautiful colonial city, and Progreso is on the north west coast of the yucatan penisula, very far away from each other!

[Pizzaman]

In playa it's up to you , you old spend 150 us$ for not so good dinner

Or 9 us$ for a great dinner ( that s or 2)

I have never been to Progreso

But Playa is for me

Old luck in making your decision

[roni]

Originally Posted by prbst

What research have you done? Merida is the old capital in middle of the Yucatan penisula, a beautiful colonial city, and Progreso is on the north west coast of the yucatan penisula, very far away from each other!

Progreso is 45 minutes from Merida

You have bad information

Go look at a map

[olblueyes]

Originally Posted by roni

Progreso is 45 minutes from Merida

You have bad information

Go look at a map

mr.54,000 posts- let me rephrase for people like you. the "merida to progreso" area
déjeme reformular para gente como tú. la "Mérida para el progreso" área

45 minutes is FAR AWAY? adventuresome huh?

[olblueyes]

[quote=prbst;1911402]What research have you done? Merida is the old capital in middle of the Yucatan penisula, a beautiful colonial city, and Progreso is on the north west coast of the yucatan penisula, very far away from each other![/qu

how about the merida to progreso area? does that sound better to ya? research. let's see. i've been to cancun. that's about 45 minutes away from pdc? or "very far away" as you put it. it was by far the most touristy t-shirt factory kinda place i've been to in years. i've been all over OTHER parts of mexico. i've been on the internet for months looking at all aspects of life (and costs). but, you can do only so much on the net. and now i'd like to hear from some locals. constructive information please. información constructiva, por favor. muchisimo gracias

[james]

el área

muchisimas gracias

[roni]

Originally Posted by olblueyes

mr.54,000 posts- let me rephrase for people like you. the "merida to progreso" area
déjeme reformular para gente como tú. la "Mérida para el progreso" área

45 minutes is FAR AWAY? adventuresome huh?

I was responding to a post from another poster, who seemed to think that Progreso was far away from Merida.

So stop being rude to someone who is correcting inaccurate information.

[beam-eye]

Sounds like you may not be getting quite the info you asked for. Here's my two cents worth, for what it's worth (...about 2 cents). First, we know what you're not looking for (Cancun), but since we don't know exactly what you are looking for, it's hard to describe whatever "advantages" might accrue from being in one place vs. the other. (Cancun is "out" for almost everybody - which is why we live in Playa and just go there for shopping Costco and Home Depot.)

Merida is a much bigger and hotter (climate) city than Playa del Carmen ("Playa"), and has a fairly large ex-pat population, lots of pretty areas, etc. It's about 3-4 hours from Playa by car on the "autopista" or 4-5 hours by good, clean, modern bus (ADO, Autobuses de Orient, under $30 USD round-trip). I know several folks who live in Merida and come to Playa for the cooler breezes every 2-3 weeks - apparently no big deal if you're mobile - and many folks here who go to Merida for a week-end shopping, vacation, or a "visit to colonial Mexico" spree. Try the Yucalandia.Wordpress.com forum for Merida info, and the Trip reports on this forum (Playa.info) for Merida.

Progresso is close to Merida (north about 45 min depending on your ride), but the northern edge of the Yucatan (i.e., north coast) is generally more windy than the gentle trade winds in Playa (and sometimes unpleasantly more windy - everybody knows Chicago is "the windy city" - where do those winds end up after howling down through the great plains all the way through Texas? They end up on the north coast of the Yucatan, including Progresso, after crossing the Gulf of Mexico).

The soft puffy Atlantic trades, on the other hand (the breezes that Columbus glided over on) hit the West Indies and then move on to the east coast of the Yucatan, i.e., here in Playa, so Playa's weather is dependably more pleasant than Merida or Progresso.

Playa is trendy, too, but nothing like Cancun - unlike Cancun, the whole town of Playa is generally pleasant, all low-rise buildings, and the trendy touristy areas are far more human-scale oriented (more like Europe) - you can get almost anywhere quickly by walking (and taxis are clean and inexpensive - 20-30 pesos; in-town busses are almost clean and quite cheap and take you anywhere for 5 pesos; and Playa, for all its trendiness, is very livable, unlike Cancun with its dirty taxis and busses, crowded streets, and choking traffic). There are lots of Italians and Italian restaurants in Playa, so you can give your Italian a good workout. (No need to write your posts here in Spanish, though). There may even be an Italian forum about Playa.

You can walk around downtown in Merida, too, but getting downtown is a bitch, with lots of bumper-to-bumper noisy smoky traffic - we bitch about traffic in playa, but it's nothing like central Merida, which is far worse than Cancun.

So, Merida is big and hot and "real" Mexico, Progresso is small, windy, and even more "real" Mexico, and Playa is manageable size, Euro-trendy (but Euro-scale, too, small and human-scale), but the Yucatan for all its size is relatively easily accessible. If you hustle, you can easily get in some (superficial scouting) visits to Merida, Progresso, and Playa (and points south) within a 7 day week - it's tight and demanding (a la "If it's Tuesday, it must be Belgium"), but an experienced traveler can do it (and you sound like an experienced traveler). Suerte! (And give us more info about what you're looking for).

[jbbigden]

beam eye, you are spot on. there is a lot to be said for the all that Playa has to offer.We have been to Merida, Progresso and Europe and Costa Rica etc and nowhere offers all that Playa does.

[roni]

Originally Posted by jbbigden

beam eye, you are spot on. there is a lot to be said for the all that Playa has to offer.We have been to Merida, Progresso and Europe and Costa Rica etc and nowhere offers all that Playa does.

And Playa does not offer a lot of what Merida has. Fortunately, those two cities are not far apart.

[Sol]

Originally Posted by olblueyes

i live overseas and have been an expat for many years. i plan on moving somewhere in the yucatan. my spanish is good and i also speak italian. i've been to many places in mexico among them cancun. didn't like it. i have never been to playa del carmen. but, i gotta tell ya, from what i've seen from EXTENSIVE internet research and expat forums it seems extremely westernized, touristy. and really not that inexpensive. from 'huge condo projects' to 'all inclusive resorts',to $15 margaritas at senor frogs sounds like miami just only 4 stories high.it seems that the merida/progreso area would be suited more for me to experience a more realistic mexico. i'm coming there in nov. to see it all for myself but could use any feedback as i will be there only a week. mil gracias, olblueyes (viejos ojos azules)

If given the choice, I would live in Mérida. I cannot say enough good things about this city. One of the reasons I like it is because it is an area where you can enjoy what you call a "realistic Mexico." I have never been to Progreso, but have heard great things about this place and the surrounds. During weekends, the traffic is crazy, but once you figure out the layout of the city, you'll be able to navigate through it without too much trouble. Mérida is safe, folks are very friendly, there are a lot of things to do, it is close in proximity to some amazing ruins, and you can find some restaurants where the food is inexpensive and delicious!

[prbst]

Originally Posted by roni

Progreso is 45 minutes from Merida

You have bad information

Go look at a map

Was just trying to make a point that Merida and Progreso(One inland, one on the coast, one really old colonial, one not, etc) are not right by each other, it'd be like saying Cancun/Playa del Carmen. Each is so different from each other was the point I was trying to make. It'd be like saying Chicago/Kankakee! Sometimes the difference is not not by miles but by character of the place.

[olblueyes]

Originally Posted by beam-eye

Sounds like you may not be getting quite the info you asked for. Here's my two cents worth, for what it's worth (...about 2 cents). First, we know what you're not looking for (Cancun), but since we don't know exactly what you are looking for, it's hard to describe whatever "advantages" might accrue from being in one place vs. the other. (Cancun is "out" for almost everybody - which is why we live in Playa and just go there for shopping Costco and Home Depot.)

Merida is a much bigger and hotter (climate) city than Playa del Carmen ("Playa"), and has a fairly large ex-pat population, lots of pretty areas, etc. It's about 3-4 hours from Playa by car on the "autopista" or 4-5 hours by good, clean, modern bus (ADO, Autobuses de Orient, under $30 USD round-trip). I know several folks who live in Merida and come to Playa for the cooler breezes every 2-3 weeks - apparently no big deal if you're mobile - and many folks here who go to Merida for a week-end shopping, vacation, or a "visit to colonial Mexico" spree. Try the Yucalandia.Wordpress.com forum for Merida info, and the Trip reports on this forum (Playa.info) for Merida.

Progresso is close to Merida (north about 45 min depending on your ride), but the northern edge of the Yucatan (i.e., north coast) is generally more windy than the gentle trade winds in Playa (and sometimes unpleasantly more windy - everybody knows Chicago is "the windy city" - where do those winds end up after howling down through the great plains all the way through Texas? They end up on the north coast of the Yucatan, including Progresso, after crossing the Gulf of Mexico).

The soft puffy Atlantic trades, on the other hand (the breezes that Columbus glided over on) hit the West Indies and then move on to the east coast of the Yucatan, i.e., here in Playa, so Playa's weather is dependably more pleasant than Merida or Progresso.

Playa is trendy, too, but nothing like Cancun - unlike Cancun, the whole town of Playa is generally pleasant, all low-rise buildings, and the trendy touristy areas are far more human-scale oriented (more like Europe) - you can get almost anywhere quickly by walking (and taxis are clean and inexpensive - 20-30 pesos; in-town busses are almost clean and quite cheap and take you anywhere for 5 pesos; and Playa, for all its trendiness, is very livable, unlike Cancun with its dirty taxis and busses, crowded streets, and choking traffic). There are lots of Italians and Italian restaurants in Playa, so you can give your Italian a good workout. (No need to write your posts here in Spanish, though). There may even be an Italian forum about Playa.

You can walk around downtown in Merida, too, but getting downtown is a bitch, with lots of bumper-to-bumper noisy smoky traffic - we bitch about traffic in playa, but it's nothing like central Merida, which is far worse than Cancun.

So, Merida is big and hot and "real" Mexico, Progresso is small, windy, and even more "real" Mexico, and Playa is manageable size, Euro-trendy (but Euro-scale, too, small and human-scale), but the Yucatan for all its size is relatively easily accessible. If you hustle, you can easily get in some (superficial scouting) visits to Merida, Progresso, and Playa (and points south) within a 7 day week - it's tight and demanding (a la "If it's Tuesday, it must be Belgium"), but an experienced traveler can do it (and you sound like an experienced traveler). Suerte! (And give us more info about what you're looking for).

thank you mr. beam-eye. spot on. now that's a response.