Juarez Travel Guide

Cuidad Juarez is Mexico’s fifth largest city of about 1.7 million people. Bridges over the Rio Grande River connects Juarez, Mexico with its sister-city El Paso, Texas. Together, they create almost one metropolis destination that shares a close historical bond. In the 16th century, Spanish explorer Juan de Oñate led colonists to the south bank of the Rio Grande which was originally named “El Paso de Norte” which expanded to the north bank of the river. After the Mexican American War and the signing of the Hidalgo Treaty of Guadalupe, the area was split into two cities with Juarez (south bank) belonging to Mexico and El Paso (north bank) belonging to the United States.

Juarez is a colorful, festive city of Old Mexico charm that beckons travelers to inexpensive marketplace shopping, active nightlife, great restaurants, fine hotels and modern conveniences. Here you’ll discover historical museums, old Spanish missions that have stood for hundreds of years and endless attractions like bull fights, rodeos, dog races, golf, polo grounds and old city markets – Mexican style.

When you visit El Paso, you get the bonus destination of Juarez as well where with few guidelines, Canadian and U.S. citizens can freely cross the bridge between the two cities. You can park your car in downtown El Paso and walk across the Santa Fe Bridge and end-up on Avenida Juarez a street of notable history, restaurants, marketplaces and nightlife recreation. Or you can catch one of the El Paso Trolley Company’s “Border Jumper” trolleys and enjoy a tour to Juarez and back to El Paso. The trolleys run frequently and continuously within its operating hours fro the El Paso Civic Center with stops along the way.

The people of Juarez are friendly and welcome tourists with open-arms. It’s a fun place where you can enjoy the Old Mexico charm and shopping for handcrafted goods and jewelry at incredibly inexpensive prices. Here you can barter for the best available price on everything from leather goods to jewelry and even black onyx chess sets.

Nightlife is abundant and the authorities want visitors to have a great time. Do not get wildly drunk. Disorderly conduct and altercations are dealt with in a more strict fashion in Mexico than in the United States. And by all means, do not even consider taking guns, ammunition or drugs into Mexico. If you get caught, getting a release from jail can become a nightmare experience. The rules are simple. Enjoy the attractions of Juarez, behave yourself in a civil manner and respect the laws of the city and Mexico.