Drive up Route 3 through the desert to Tecate, perhaps Mexico’s most pleasant border town. Spend the day touring the Tecate brewery, with lunch and a free tasting in its pleasant beer garden. If you’re not thirsty, drive 58km (36 miles) to El Vallecito for a look at its ancient cave paintings. If you’ve come from the U.S., you’ll save time crossing back here; to return to Tijuana, take Route 2 for 35km (22 miles) west. North of the Valle de Guadalupe, Tecate is Northern Baja’s other border town, Tijuana’s opposite in so many ways. It’s quiet, it’s peaceful, there’s not much to do and that’s just what’s so appealing about it. And should you need even more relaxation, nothing beats the flat-lining pulse of San Felipe’s beaches. While munching a shrimp taco and sipping a cool Tecate beer, perhaps you’ll agree that Northern Baja isn’t so bad after all.

Tecate is just 45km (30 miles) east of Tijuana and San Diego, but it’s a world away from Tijuana’s urban sprawl. This provincial border town is Baja’s oldest, and before the Tecate brewery opened the taps in 1943, it was a dusty agricultural supply stop and not much more. Since then, a small city has grown up around the sleepy main square, but the center of town still has an old-fashioned, dusty feel, and the taco stands and occasional mariachi band on Parque Hidalgo are as lively as it gets. That’s a large part of its appeal and local tourism authorities are just starting to capitalize on it, with a small but growing series of food, beer, wine, and music events. North of the border, you’ll take California Hwy. 94 for 66km (41 miles) to Hwy. 188 south to the crossing; south of the border, Tecate lies right at the intersection of highways 2 and 3. It’s a 30- to 45-minute drive from Tijuana, 2 hours from Ensenada. Many visitors from the U.S. side of the border opt to park and walk.

The old Ferrocarril Tijuana-Tecate train linking the two border towns has been reincarnated as a tourist attraction, with daylong Saturday outings including a 2-hour train ride each way in double-decker cars and a mariachi performance in Tecate. Tickets and schedules are at the train stations in Tijuana (Av. Ferrocarril 1) and Tecate (Defensores de Baja California 53 next to the Cervecería Tecate). Another rail option is the antique rail cars that ran from San Diego. Tecate’s tourism office is across from the park on Callejon Libertad. The center of town life is at Parque Hidalgo, five blocks south of the border on Cárdenas; it’s a pleasant square lined with restaurants and taco stands, which double as Tecate’s only nightlife. South of the square, Benito Juárez is the town’s main drag, leading east and west to highways 2 and 3. Up-to-date information on bars, restaurants, and activities.

This town number-one attraction is the Cervecería Tecate, brewers of the beer that’s made the town famous throughout Mexico and California. Founded in 1943, it makes for an interesting tour for beer nuts and their friends afterwards, enjoy a free beer in the beer garden. It’s at Hidgalo and Obregón, the biggest building in town. Tours run Monday to Friday 9am to noon and 3 to 5pm and Saturday 10am to noon; call a day in advance to make sure there’s someone to show you around, and leave jewelry and sandals at home. For further attractions, you’ll have to head out of town, to the 500-year-old cave paintings at El Vallecito, near la Rumorosa 10km (6 miles) out of town along the highway to Mexcali. Although the paintings aren’t as old or as vast as those in the Sierra de San Francisco or Guadalupe, they provide one clue that demonstrates a sophisticated understanding of timekeeping: A painting known as El Diablito is positioned so that every year on December 21, the winter solstice, it’s illuminated by a ray of sunlight. To get to El Vallecito, take Hwy. 2 to the Vallecitos exit. There are guides and maps for a mile-long self-guided tour. In August, the Cocinarte food festival brings a gastronomic focus to town; in September, it’s beer time, with the Festival de la Cerveza. The first weekend of October is Tecate’s all-in-one patronage festival, a beer-drinking mariachi-playing birthday party for the town. This is not a foodie town, and most of the culinary action is at the taco stands that line the central Plaza Hidalgo. Tecate is known locally for excellent bakeries.

As one local jokingly proclaimed, 'Tecate is known for three things: bread, tacos and Tecate.' While there's a bit more to Tecate than that, he's right. The town is bursting with outstanding taquerias, the local panaderia (bakery) is famous, and everyone knows about the beer. This is where Tecate is brewed. The town itself exudes a wonderfully Mexican atmosphere, thanks to its zocalo (central plaza), which is filled with trees, cowboys and strolling musicians who sell songs to the people lounging around the outdoor tables and benches. In short, it's well worth a visit. History Tecate's origins derive from an 1831 land grant to a Peruvian named Juan Bandini (who became the mayor of San Diego immediately before the US takeover of Alta California), but the establishment of early businesses and the development of agriculture in the 1880s really put the town on the map. The surrounding countryside yielded both grains and fruit crops such as grapes and olives. After 1919 the railroad linked Tecate with Tijuana and Arizona (US). Completion of Mexico 2, the final link on the Tijuana-Mexico City highway, was a further boost to the economy. Tecate's onetime whiskey factory, a major employer, folded with the repeal of US Prohibition. Businessman Alberto Aldrete's malt factory, founded in 1928, expanded into a major brewery by 1944 but soon went bankrupt. Acquired later by a Mexican conglomerate, it became the Cerveceria Cuauhtemoc Moctezuma (Tecate Brewery) and now produces Tecate and Carta Blanca, Sol and XX beers. Maquiladoras, however, are now the major employers; the largest is Schlage Locks, employing over 3000 people. Since its opening in 1986, the Universidad Autonoma de Baja California's extension center has enhanced the town's cultural environment.

Orientation Tecate is about 551cm (34 miles) east of Tijuana and 145km (90 miles) west of Mexicali. Mexico 2 - the east-west route linking Tijuana and Mexicali divides into Av Benito Juarez to the north and Av Hidalgo, two blocks south, as it enters town. Av Juarez runs past Parque Hidalgo, the main town square and the bus terminal, while Av Hidalgo runs past the Tecate brewery. Lazaro Cardenas runs north from Av Hidalgo up to the border crossing. Ortiz Rubio runs south one block east of Cardenas and then becomes Mexico 3 to Ensenada (105km). The joy of Tecate is hanging out in Parque Hidalgo (cnr Av Juarez & Cardenas), the main plaza, where cowboy-hatted old-timers play checkers on cement tables, children run around with balloons, and mariachi bands stroll bench to bench selling songs of love and death. The park is anchored by a band gazebo and ringed by well-tended gardens and café tables. Unlike in most Mexican cities, Tecate's main church, the Iglesia Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe (Cardenas & Av Hidalgo) is not on the plaza but one block south. The Institute de Culture de Baja California, on the southern side of Parque Hidalgo, has art exhibits, films and other cultural events. It's a source of local pride and well worth a peek. The Universidad Autonoma's Centro de Extension (Ortiz Rubio), just south of the bridge over the Rio Tecate, hosts occasional traveling exhibitions of bajacalifornian art. Tecate's other main landmark, the Tecate Brewery offers tours by reservation only, preferably for at least 10 people. The brewery, Tecate's largest building, produces some of Mexico's best-known beers, including Carta Blanca, XX, Bohemia and the town's namesake, Tecate. The Jardin Cerveza (beer garden) is open to the public, and you should definitely stroll in for your free beer. The garden doses to the public for com-munity events, so call ahead if this is your main reason for visiting Tecate.

Behind the brewery, the 1915 Estacion Ferrocarril Tijuana-Tecate (train station; Via de Ferrocarril near Carranza) served the San Diego & Arizona Railway that ran along and across the border for more than 60 years. It's been refurbished, but the inside is closed to the public. Festivals & Events while less extroverted than Tijuana and Ensenada, Tecate holds several festivals that draw locals from throughout the region. Those listed below are in addition to regular Mexican holidays. Double-check with the tourist offices, as event dates sometimes change. Nacional de Bicicleta de Montana Late June. National Mountain-Biking Championships. Feria Tecate en Marcha Mid-July, sometimes in September. Agricultural fair celebrated with parades and rodeos. Takes place in Parque Adolfo Lopez Mateos. Romeria de Verano Early August. Popular local summer festival in Parque Hidalgo, including food stalls, artisanal goods and regional music and dance. Fundacion de Tecate Early October. Two-week celebration of Tecate's anniversary. Dia de Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe December 12. Tecate's Festival of Our Lady of Guadalupe is one of the peninsula's most interesting celebrations of this holiday, with groups from all over Baja coming to display their costumes and to dance. Posadas de Tecate Throughout December. Annual pre-Christmas parades. Eating Think taquerias Tecate's full of them, and they're all different. Most are open from late morning until late at night. On weekends, a beer and a bowl of chips at the plaza's outdoor tables is mandatory. Tecate isn't just a great beer, it's a fun town too. Of all the Frontera towns, Tecate is the closest to a mainland Mexican village, and it's pretty laid back tourist-related crime is uncommon. A nice outdoor market at the corner of Juarez and Hidalgo has fresh fruit, shoes, clothes, pottery and aguas (water 'nice drinks) of all varieties. Is 55km east of Tijuana by Hwy 2, the east-west route linking Tijuana and Mexicali. The border crossing (6am-10pm) is less congested than either Tijuana or Mesa de Otay.