Merida is a very beautiful and clean city. We were there with a group two years ago. The town is clean and the people are friendly. The town square has family dancing all day on Sundays. Each evening the town has a preformance by the local children. We will go back. It is not a big tourest trap.
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I don’t think it’s in Merida but it should be really close by. Visit Chichen-Itza. I’ve been there, they’re Mayan ruins and it is beautiful. I hope you have a great trip!

http://www.chichenitza.com/

http://visitmexico.com/wb/Visitmexico/Visi_Merida

This is a promoted website in Mexico for tourists. It’ll give you basic information about Merida or any other destination in Mexico
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Below are two great websites on the area, yucatan today and yucatan living.

For shopping high end shopping there is the Mall at Alta Brisas or Galerías Mérida (links below)
Or there’s the Market in the square with hand crafts and such every Sunday. Same place someone else mentioned the dancing. There is also a daily market a little east of the main square near the Museum of the City. Plus lots of shops downtown.

For hotels; I live here so I haven’t stayed in many but the Hotel Luz En Yucatan always gets good write ups. I add a couple of more options for you there too. But the Yucatan today site will have lots more options (links below)

If you your stay does happen to be over a weekend then the Paseo de Montejo is closed to cars on Sunday mornings for families to enjoy. You can rent a bike for about $1.50 US an hour and that’s a great way to see the cities most impressive street and mansions.

Lots to see and do in the area:
Mayan ruins, tons of them but the most important/impressive are Uxmal and the Ruta Pucc there’s 4 sites all within about 20 km of each other. Hard to see them all in one day but you could see two or three if ruins are your thing.

Haciendas, wildlife (Celestun for flamingos), cenotes, there are cultural events almost everyday.

On your drive over or back consider checking out Itzamal. Kind of a neat town, called the city of 3 cultures.
References :
http://www.yucatanliving.com/
http://yucatantoday.com/

Shopping:
http://www.plazaaltabrisa.com/
http://www.galeriasmerida.com.mx/

Hotels:
http://www.luzenyucatan.com/
http://www.casadelbalam.com/
http://www.xcanatun.com/ (10 minutes north of the city but super swanky, and very pricey)

Hacienda tour:
http://www.haciendatour.com/

Hi,Merida is a great city to visit, and near there are nice Mayan sites to visit such as Mayapan,Uxmal,Dzibilchaltun,Celestun and much more,but 2 nigths is a short time,you should contact some one to help you with your itinerary and drive you around,try with my source.
References :
http://www.transportationscancun.com