Venture south of the border from San Diego to explore the Mexican border city of Tijuana in a safe and engaging way. Tijuana can be somewhat daunting for tourists, but a local guide shows you around, from historic landmarks like the Tijuana Arch and Avenida Revolucion to shopping hotspots like the El Popo market, where you can pick up handmade Mexican souvenirs.

Connect with the history and culture of Tijuana on a walking tour
Get assistance with border crossing and customs
Great way to visit Mexico even with limited time in San Diego
Includes stops for shopping and drinks along the way

What's Included

Local Guide

Food or Drinks
Local Guide Tip
Extra Personal Expenses

Meeting and Pickup

Meeting point

727 E San Ysidro Blvd, San Diego, CA 92173, USA
Front Doors Of McDonald's at the San Ysidro Transit Center

Start time

01:00 PM

End point

Retorno Sentri
Rtno Sentri, Cuauhtemoc, 22010 Tijuana, B.C., Mexico
We leave you on the Mexico Side of the Border near the entrance of US border customs

What To Expect

Tijuana Arch (Pass By)

El Popo Market (Pass By)

Pasaje Rodriguez (Pass By)

Avenida Revolucion (Pass By)

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Not wheelchair accessible
Near public transportation
Infants must sit on laps
Not recommended for travelers with back problems

Not recommended for pregnant travelers
No heart problems or other serious medical conditions
Travelers should have a strong physical fitness level
Please have your passport for this tour.
This tour/activity will have a maximum of 12 travelers

Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

For a full refund, you must cancel at least 24 hours before the experience’s start time.
If you cancel less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time, the amount you paid will not be refunded.
Any changes made less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time will not be accepted.

Cut-off times are based on the experience’s local time.
This experience requires good weather. If it’s canceled due to poor weather, you’ll be offered a different date or a full refund.

Traveler Photos

Reviews

5.0

225 reviews

Total review count and overall rating based on Viator and Tripadvisor reviews

Reviews by Viator travelers.

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Showing 1-10 of 225 reviews

Good day

Pauline_S, Apr 2024

Food and drink was great, tour guide was brilliant. It was a great day. Only problem was the 2 hour queue to get back across the border.

Our tour guide is super...

Cerise_C, Apr 2024

Our tour guide is super friendly. He gave us some useful tips to travel to Tijuana. We enjoyed it a lot!

Do not miss this tour. You get to see a beautiful country in one day . Tijuana is beautiful. The host was great . Highl!

Kim_G, Apr 2024

Tadeo was the best host we have had in all our tours in any city. He is very knowledgeable on the history and culture of Tijuana and other parts of Mexico. He made sure everyone was happy and understood. The different sites were amazing . Thanks for the great tour !!

Border Tours rescued us!

Avin_U, Apr 2024

We accidentally drove into Tijuana instead of walking over the border. Our anxiety level was through the roof! Thankfully Border Tours was right there to rescue us, sending none other than the famous Tadeo! We got a tour guide, certified local, history major, and standup comedian all in one! Thank you Tadeo for the incredible time, for showing us where to eat and shop, and for rescuing us in Tijuana! Greetings from the Philippines and LA :)

Such a fun history lesson!

Bianca_L, Mar 2024

This walking tour was soooo much fun and I was able to learn a lot about the history of Tijuana. Tadeo went above and beyond as our tour guide and ensured we got the most out of our time there! To start off you will have to cross the border yourself but it was super quick and easy. I recommend ubering to the McDonald’s and from there on you walk straight and are able to cross. We met Tadeo near the border in Tijuana and from there walked a lot of the downtown area, saw a church, the arch, enjoyed delicious quesadillas, did a tequila tasting, he bought us a beer, and we had time for shopping! I felt 100% safe throughout this entire trip and Tadeo was very informative and sweet to us all. I appreciate him taking the time to answer any questions we had and making sure we all had a great tour. The only thing I would be aware of is crossing back into the US from Mexico. Be prepared to wait because it was a Saturday and we got in line around 5:55pm and didn’t cross over into the US until about 8pm so it was a long journey but the churros helped hold us over in line. Overall I recommend doing this tour if visiting Tijuana!

Don’t do it!

Lianna_S, Feb 2024

This trip has false advertising. The ad says to meet in front of a McDonalds. Prior to that, the night before I received an email where I’d be contacted via What’s App for trip details. Meet time was 1pm. It was 1:20pm when I saw a missed call, international number that was on the email. I called and was told by the guide to cross the border and then he’d meet us there. I said the directions were to meet at McDonalds. He said no, I’d have to cross the border, then meet him. I had no idea what this person looks like. It was very sketchy and I did not feel safe. Ended up not going and fighting to get a refund.

Great Day with Victor.

Geoffrey_T, Jan 2024

Victor made the day fun and informative. We walked to from the boarder station to Revolution Ave. He took us a great little restaurant, we went through several markets. The cool thing was we never had a lot of pressure to buy things. Victor was good at navigating us through the clouds of vendors. He also took a lot of time at the History Museum and gave us a better understanding of the history of the city. We really enjoyed the day.

Great Tour!

VALDIS_B, Jan 2024

Had an excellent tour of Tijuana all due to our tour guide Humberto. We saw a lot, learned a lot and had a great time. He was very informative, gracious and patient with us.

History and Culture Tour

Jerome_B, Jan 2024

We loved this walking tour through Tijuana. Our tour guide, Humberto, was knowledgeable on the history and facts about Tijuana making it a very worth while experience! Definitely recommend if you want to check out Tijuana but don’t know where to start!

Border Tours

nicole_w, Jan 2024

Our trip across border was an amazing experience! Victor immersed us in the history and culture of Tijuana. The people of Tijuana are so welcoming as well. I would definitely do another tour over the border. Victor explained the whole process of crossing border and went out of his way to make sure we returned over the border safely.

Great experience

Daniel_K, Dec 2023

Had a great tour with Humberto! Thanks to previous reviews, we were prepared to walk through the US to Mexico border and meet our tour on the Mexico side. Learned about the layout and history of Tijuana, ate yummy tacos and churros and were able to shop for a bit. Took a $1/person van ride back to the border and had a 2 hour wait in line to cross back through.

Fantastic taster of Tijuana with Marisol!

Zahra_L, Dec 2023

This was a great wee trip over the border. I was emailed by Border Tours who provided me with their number to WhatsApp with them. They were really reliable & responsive! The walk across the border both to arrive & return was very simple too as Border Tours had given me great instructions. Getting to meet Marisol was awesome & a pleasure, she is really knowledgeable & fun ☺️ We tried some Mexican caramel, tequila & more! Muchas gracias Border Tours & Marisol for making my first adventure into Mexico a really easy & exciting one 😄

Our First Tijuana Trip

Francisco_R, Dec 2023

The gentleman the tour guide was very nice and acknowledged. I will recommend to all my friends and families Great experience

very nice trip in a friendly atmosphere!

Rand_N, Nov 2023

we visited nice places. the guide was very kind and patient. was nice group of people and everybody was too friendly. would highly recommend !

Great authentic experience in San Diego Mexican Twin city

Fabian_G, Nov 2023

We had a tour with Victor - very friendly, very responsive for questions upfront (meeting point…), but first and foremost, a great and knowledgeable tour guide! We learnt so much about the evolvement of Tijuana and the every-day-life as twin city to San Diego. The tour was beyond our expectations! We had authentic quesadillas and a tequila tasting. In the end, Victor even queued with us on the way back to US and told us even more stories and details about Mexico. I would redo the tour every time with him!

Great tour

Carmen_B, Nov 2023

I went by myself but I was so grateful for the people I met! We had a good time together and our guide Tadeo was so nice! Going back to the United States was a bit tricky as it was already dark and there was quite a line! So I was really glad I wasn't by myself at that time. I highly recommend this tour!

Good experience

Low_S, Nov 2023

Guide Alexander was informative and give us good local experience at the downtown area. Just a little disappointed that we were instructed to cross over to the Mexico side on our own half an hour before the meeting time. I was prepared for it but it was not according to the the description of the tour. Nevertheless, all went smoothly and the immigration back to US side was quite fast.

Wonderful

Helen_Z, Nov 2023

Victor you were wonderful. Really made us feel safe. Thank you so much have a friend coming next week she asked to refer your information

Our tour guide Tadeo was...

Jane_P, Oct 2023

Our tour guide Tadeo was so passionate and knowledgeable about his culture and city! We managed to fit so much into a short amount of time and really enjoyed our trip!

A Tijuana Experience

Janis_W, Oct 2023

Alexander was a great guide. The last minute meeting point from US to Mexico caused us some anxiety as the instructions were not clear, the link led us a distance in the wrong direction. After a phone call from Alexander we met him which was under the INFORMATION SIGN (blue and white) turn right after going through the big turn turnstiles. Enjoyed the experience.

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