With a population approaching 1.5 million, Tijuana is the seventh-largest city in Mexico. It’s also one of Mexico’s youngest cities, established as a line of defense against American freebooters like William Walker following the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848.

During the U.S. Prohibition era, when Americans flocked south to the city’s casinos, cantinas, and bordellos, Tijuana developed a bawdy, rough-and-tumble reputation. That image persists in the minds of many gringos, though the city has long since changed.

Today’s Tijuana is a rapidly modernizing, bicultural city, where skyscrapers and shopping malls have replaced yesterday’s shantytowns, and discos outnumber cantinas.

A nearby industrial zone supports more than 500 maquiladoras, or in-bond plants, where international companies such as Sony, Kodak, and Mattel manufacture export products. Tijuana’s colleges and universities attract students from all over the peninsula as well as northwestern Mexico.

For some visitors, “TJ” is merely a gateway to Baja, while for others it’s a destination in its own right. Like the rest of Baja, Tijuana enjoys duty-free status; hence one of its main attractions is shopping—everything from Casas Grandes pottery to Tequila Sauza to Louis Vuitton luggage is available at discount prices. Bullfights are no longer the only cultural attraction; the Tijuana Cultural Center and other city venues host symphonies, theater, art exhibits, and other events, thus firmly establishing Tijuana as the cultural heart of northern Baja.

And yes, you can still don a glittering sombrero and have your photo taken sitting atop a zebra-striped burro, in front of a cloth canvas painted with famous Aztec royals.

Getting There

By Air: Abelardo L. Rodríguez International Airport (TIJ, tel. 664/607-8200) is in Mesa de Otay, about 10 kilometers northeast of Tijuana’s city center. The following airlines fly to and from Tijuana: Aeroméxico (Plaza Río Tijuana 12-A1, Paseo de los Héroes, tel. 664/638-8444 or 800/021-4010, U.S. tel. 800/237-6639), Mexicana (Edificio Fontana, Diego Rivera 1511 at Av. Paseo de los Héroes, tel. 664/634-6566, airport tel. 664/682-4184 or 800/509-8960, U.S./Canada tel. 800/ 531-7921), Aero California (Plaza Río Tijuana C-20, Paseo de los Héroes, tel. 664/684-2876, U.S. tel. 800/237-6225), and Aviacsa (Blvd. Sánchez Taboada 4499, Plaza Guadalupe 6, tel. 664/622-5024, airport tel. 664/683-8202 or 800/711-6733, U.S. tel. 888/528-4227).

By Bus: Several intercity bus lines operate out of Tijuana. The main terminal for Mexico-based lines is the Central de Autobuses de Tijuana (also known as the Central Camionera), about five kilometers east of the city on Lázaro Cárdenas at Blvd. Arroyo Alamar (tel. 664/621-2982). The modern structure contains a restaurant, lonchería, telephone office, immigration office, and money changer.

Transportes Norte de Sonora (TNS) and Autotransportes de Baja California (ABC) run buses eastward to Mexicali (US$9–12, nine times daily) and to various points on the Mexican mainland. Transportes de Pacífico and Chihuahuenses offer more extensive services to the mainland. ABC (tel. 664/621-2668) runs deluxe ejecutivo and regular non-air-conditioned buses to Ensenada San Felipe.

Southward, Autotransportes Águila runs buses to El Rosario, Santa Rosalía, and La Paz.

The U.S.-based Greyhound buses from San Diego and Los Angeles terminate at the downtown Tres Estrellas de Oro terminal (Av. México and Av. Madero, tel. 664/ 688-0082). Call 800/231-2222 in the United States for more information.

By Car: A taxi from the U.S.–Mexico border crossing to anywhere in central Tijuana costs a flat US$5. You can charter a Tijuana taxi all the way to Rosarito for US$35 (one-way) or to Ensenada for US$100.

The red tape for driving into Baja is minimal. No vehicle permits of any kind are required, no matter how long you stay in Baja, unless you plan to cross to the mainland by road (via San Luis Río Colorado) or ferry (Santa Rosalía or La Paz).

You will want to arrange for Mexican Auto Insurance if you are planning on driving in Mexico since Mexican law requires drivers to have proof of financial liability for any property damage or bodily injury they cause to other parties in an accident.