What's a good Mexican Border town to visit? Nogales, Agua Prieta, Nuevo Laredo?

Question

My friend has never been out of the country and I thought a cool trip would be to spend a couple of nights in a US border town and a couple of nights or day trips in a Mexican town.

I have heard negatixe things about Juarez and Tijuana though.

Answer 1

Do not, I repeat, do not spend time in any border town.  It would not be "cool" and could be "trouble"

Answer 2

I live in Laredo, and would most certainly not recommend Nuevo Laredo. It used to be a little paradise, but went chaotic the last couple of years due to a big drug war. Now it's dirty and dangerous.

Went to Reynosa (McAllen) once, that will be the only time. Very dirty and poor.

I've also visited Piedra Negras, the boarder town to Eagle Pass, it was pretty nice and calm. Cute plaza and authentic bars with good margaritas and friendly people.

If you have the chance I would recommend taking your friend further south in Mexco. Monterrey is an industrial city, but has some very nice features. I loved it. Two major soccer teams, baseball, bull fighing (hate it myself, but ...), lots of concerts, super food, and very good night life.

Hope this could help.

Answer 3

people say afwul things about border cities, they are not that bad i live in juarez right now the army is everywhere, nothing has happened since they arrived, by your requests i have no idea on what to suggest border cities are not that much arquitectural, try to search them on google images and pick the one you think its best

Answer 4

Stay away from all of those places. The MX military has moved into the large border cities to help fight the dopers. There are running gun battles in all of your large border towns and the violence is bleeding over into the US side.  There was a gun battle in the Target in Laredo last year. If it's that bad on the US side think how it is on the Mexican side.

Answer 5

I've been through both Nogales and Nuevo Laredo, and the time it took to drive through them was more than enough.  There may be nice areas, but everything that I saw was very poor and dangerous looking.  As others have said, the border towns have become a battleground for the drug runners and the police/military, and I would not recommend spending very much time in them.

Another thing to keep in mind is the amount of time it takes to cross back into the US.  It took close to 2 hours crossing into Laredo when I was there, and and Nogales was probably at least 3 the last time I was there.  You aren't going to be able to take a quick day trip across and have enough time in a single day.  I would recommend driving a few hours south and spending time in a decent Mexican city, it will be worth the extra drive time.  Hermosillo is only 3 or 4 hrs south of Nogales, and Monterrey is a good option south of Laredo.

Answer 6

all right if you want to come to mexico and you want you to like it don't go to border towns, go farther south, there are some beatiful places in baja(tijuana is not one of them) but you can go to pretty much any town arround the gulf of cortes, and it is nice. i'm mexican and i even hate border towns, they are not like mexico, they are the border

Answer 7

Umm...none of these towns are really that great.  Nogales is just small and has the problem with "coyotes" (people smugglers).  Agua prieta is just a small town.  Nuevo Laredo is a big "NO, NO!"  This town is considered very dangerous by most Mexicans and is notorious for drugtrafficking.  DO NOT go there!

Nevertheless, I would not suggest Ciudad Juarez to you either.  It's not that it is so dangerous...just kind of boring.  Actually, your best bet is Tijuana.  Yes, it can be dangerous but it does cater to the average American.  

If you go, follow this advice:

(1) Don't go on side streets and in alleys.

(2) Be wary of random people trying to sell you things.

(3) Don't always directly look at people in the eyes as you pass them on the street...as you wouldn't in LA or NY.

(4) Be careful of where you get drunk at night and always try to go in a group of people.

(5) Don't try to buy weed!  Don't!  And don't try to smuggle it back to the U.S.

(6) Drink only bottled water and don't eat in restaurants that look dirty.

Good luck and have fun!