Roman Theatre Tourist Office

The Roman Theatre tourist office is on Plaza de Margarita Xirgú, next to the ticket office for the theatre and amphitheatre, the monument that almost everyone visits first. It is Mérida's main office: here they give you the city map, the day's opening times for each monument and information on guided tours, and explain how the joint ticket of the Consorcio de la Ciudad Monumental works. It is run by the city council.

Opening times and contact

The Junta de Extremadura listing gives the winter hours (1 October to 31 March) as Monday to Friday 9:00 to 18:30, and Saturday and Sunday 9:00 to 14:00 and 16:30 to 18:30; in summer, Monday to Friday until 20:30, and at weekends 10:00 to 14:00 and 17:30 to 20:30. The municipal tourism website simplifies the winter hours to 9:00 to 18:30 every day and warns that times may change at short notice. If you are going to arrive late in the day, call 924 330 722 or write to [email protected] first.

The city has two other offices: the one at the Puerta de la Villa, at Calle Santa Eulalia 62 (924 380 191), open in winter from 9:00 to 14:00, which is handy if you enter the centre by the Plaza de España; and the one at the MAM, on Calle Cabo Verde (924 380 194), open 10:00 to 14:00 and 17:00 to 20:00.

Tickets and guided tours

The ticket office for the Roman theatre and amphitheatre is on the square: you can buy just those two monuments or the joint ticket, which also includes the Alcazaba, the Roman circus and the other Consorcio sites. The National Museum of Roman Art, directly opposite, is separate.

The Consorcio runs one-hour guided tours of the theatre and amphitheatre every day, for groups of 13 to 45 people, and night tours on Fridays and Saturdays for groups of at least 20, which do not run in the summer months. They are bought online at consorciomerida.sacatuentrada.es. The municipal website publishes prices that do not agree with each other, so confirm them at the office. Children under 12 go in free. If you prefer a tour of the whole city with an official guide, the office will give you the contact details of companies such as Activa, which runs every day with no minimum number of people; you can find the listing at Mérida in full.

Getting there

From the Plaza de España you can walk through the streets of the centre, with no big climbs. If you come by car, the supervised Roman Theatre car park, next to the office, also has spaces for coaches and motorhomes. From the train station it is about 800 metres; from the bus station, across the Guadiana, about 20 minutes on foot.

Tips

In July and August, during the Classical Theatre Festival, the theatre is taken up at night by the performances, and by day there may be staging set up on the stage: ask at the office how the visit looks that day. In summer, go in first thing and leave the museum and the monuments with shade for the afternoon.