---
type: Place
title: Tijuana
description: The city ranked most dangerous in the world, walked in a day — pharmacies serving American customers, a beach full of families on a Sunday, and the wall where separated families used to meet.
tags: [mexico, tijuana, borders, cartels, pharmacies, beaches, murals, tacos]
coordinates: {lat: 32.5317, lng: -117.0195}
timestamp: 2026-08-05T19:00:00Z
---

# Tijuana

The [Mexican](/countries/mexico.md) city on the
[United States](/countries/united-states.md) border, reached on foot from San
Diego in under ten minutes. Harry arrives with the statistic — **consistently ranked the
most dangerous city in the world, 1,844 murders the previous year** *(from video –
unverified)* — and spends the day finding a normal one.

## The border economy

- **The commute runs in both directions.** Mexicans cross daily to work in San
  Diego; **American citizens live here** because San Diego is among the most
  expensive cities in the US, and cross every day for work or school.
- **Pharmacies serve Americans.** Medicine at roughly **half the US price**, plus
  dental treatment, all along the tourist street.
- **The airport is on the border**, with a **$35** bridge crossing into it, after
  which domestic flights are cheap.
- **More English is spoken here than in the rest of Mexico**, because it is a
  border city.

## Safety, as explained by people who live there

- **The cartels want the territory, not the tourists.** The taxi driver's account:
  Tijuana is valuable for moving drugs into the US, so organisations from across
  Mexico compete for it, and the violence is between them.
- **Petty crime is close to non-existent**, which is what makes the "most dangerous
  city" label misleading for a visitor.
- **A military convoy** goes down the main tourist street while he films, which he
  offers without comment as evidence that this is not the US.
- **The red light district** operates openly in daylight. He films it briefly and
  carefully and moves on.

## Playas de Tijuana

- **Families everywhere on a Sunday**, which is the image he keeps against the
  statistic.
- **Mango with chilli** from a beach seller — sweet then hot, and better than he
  expected.
- **The wall runs into the sea.** Two walls, empty ground, San Diego beyond, and a
  soldier watching with a rifle. He asks for a conversation and is politely refused.
- **The meeting place.** Part of this wall was where families split across the
  border could come to talk and touch hands — including people who will never be
  able to enter the US. He is told it may no longer happen.
- **Murals along the wall**, salt-damaged, including a Free Palestine piece and a
  political cartoon.
- **The bullring** stands nearby, which he understands is no longer used on
  animal-cruelty grounds.

## Eating

**Tacos at 40 pesos, around $2.30**, at a touristy beach restaurant — soft, with
fried corn, and the reason he says he came. He notes it is likely the most he
would pay anywhere in the country.

## Harry's tips

- **Cross on a Sunday** if you can; weekday afternoons run to hours.
- **Talk to the taxi drivers.** Both of them gave him more than any guide would
  have, and one of them gave him life advice.
- **Ask the pharmacies what you'd pay at home first.** The saving is the entire
  reason the street exists.

## Source

- [A Journey Across the US/Mexico Border into Tijuana 🇺🇸 🇲🇽](/videos/F2cspOu3_iQ.md) —
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2cspOu3_iQ