Tijuana is a city in Baja California, Mexico, just across the border from San Diego, California, United States. The city has grown from a small border town with a salacious reputation during the Prohibition Era in the United States into a large, modern city with a sizable middle class. Its proximity to the United States has made it a very popular tourist destination, especially for day-trippers from San Diego.
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Tijuana has a population of over 1.6 million as of the 2024 census. Tijuana and its U.S. neighbor San Diego form the largest metropolitan area on the U.S.-Mexico border, with a population of 4.5 million. Economically, a growing middle class disposable income has fueled Tijuana's transformation into a modern city with a vibrant culture, a characteristic that has attracted many national and international businesses, which had largely shunned the city before. Aside from the middle class, in Tijuana you can reasonably expect to find areas filled with wealthier people.
Cabs are abundant throughout the city. If you are walking into Tijuana via the San Ysidro border crossing, you will be immediately confronted with a massive array of yellow cabs waiting to take you into downtown. Be sure to negotiate a price before jumping into a cab. You should pay no more than US$5 in normal traffic to get from the border to the downtown area. If you exit the border area by taking a right instead of going straight ahead to the taxi stand, then walk toward town after crossing the street, you will encounter the Taxi Libre taxi stand, which will generally cost half as much as a yellow cab would charge. Throughout the city, cab drivers stand on the sidewalks and solicit custo…
Avenida Revolucion in the Zona Centro - the main tourist area Bullfights - Tijuana has one bullring, which is open during the summer months, and has bullfights most Sundays. It is in the Playas de Tijuana, adjacent to the US border. It is the only seaside bullring in the world. The older and more historic bullring near the city center has been partially demolished by the owner of the property in the past year, citing failed business practices of the bullring. However, there is a strong movement within the city to designate this site a historical monument, rebuild the bullring and have it serve as a municipal arena.
Tijuana is on the ocean, but is not known for its beaches, for boating, or as a seaside resort. However, it is in cabbing distance of Rosarito - the trip will cost US$20, while Mexicoach will bus you there for around US$10. Ensenada is further down the coast but easily accessible by car or bus. Visitors to Rosarito and Ensenada should note that the main road is a toll road, with small sedans and trucks being tolled at M$38-340 or US$2.18-$2.41.
Apart from the abundant, over-priced tourist traps, local cuisine ranges from world-class restaurants to locals-only eateries and street vendors selling tacos. Travellers' diarrhea is more of a risk at the cheaper establishments, but will probably not be a concern. In many sit down restaurants, musicians will wander in and play for tip. A good price for a song is US$1 per musician per song, but most musicians will try to charge US$2 per musician per song. For example, if there are five musicians in a band then a good price is US$5.
Tijuana has a very active craft brewing scene with a number of brewpubs and small artesanal breweries, most located downtown in the Zona Centro and Zona Rio areas. Beer drinkers are well-advised to visit the Cerveceria Tijuana and its brewpub at Blvd. Fundadores 2951. They brew and serve six different Eastern European-style lager beers, and have a reasonably-priced food menu. Their Morena is one of the best with a firm malty flavor.
Tijuana has a reputation for crime. Drug violence has erupted in Tijuana due to an intense crackdown by the Mexican government and Mexican drug cartels turning on each other. However, joint action between the government and the police deleted the Cartel and their leader, and now all that's left is the remnants of an uncontrolled group of renegades. The east side of Tijuana is particularly dangerous and prone to drug violence. Zona Norte can also be very dangerous if you are walking alone. Much of Tijuana's drug violence happens in these two parts of the city. Most of the drug violence is not targeted at tourists, but rather at competing drug cartels as well as Mexican police.
Guide content from Wikivoyage contributors (CC BY-SA) — abridged; the full article has much more.
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In Jul, Tijuana typically sees ~23°C daytime highs and 0 rainy days.
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