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Across the Rio Grande from El Paso, Ciudad Juárez grew up around a Franciscan mission founded in 1659 at the place Spanish travellers called El Paso del Norte, the pass of the north. The old mission still stands in the centre, and four centuries later the city is one of the largest on the US-Mexico border, a place of factories, universities and constant traffic over the international bridges.
The city carries a weight of history. Benito Juárez's republican government took refuge here in the 1860s, which later gave the city its name, and the 1911 capture of Juárez by Madero's rebels was a turning point of the Mexican Revolution. The former customs house where that story is told is now one of the best museums in northern Mexico.
Today the historic centre around the mission and Avenida Juárez mixes markets, cantinas and monuments, while El Chamizal park and the giant red X sculpture mark the border itself. South of the city, the white sand dunes of Samalayuca make a striking half-day trip into the Chihuahuan Desert.
Founded by Franciscans in 1659, this whitewashed adobe church is the oldest building in Ciudad Juárez and the seed from which the city grew. Inside, carved wooden ceiling beams and corbels from the colonial period survive above the nave. The plaza in front is liveliest on Sunday mornings.
Rising right beside the old mission, the twin-towered Cathedral of Our Lady of Guadalupe is the seat of the city's Catholic diocese. Its stone facade and tall bell towers frame the main plaza of the historic centre and are floodlit at night. Step in quietly outside Mass.
This tall column of white marble with bronze figures was unveiled in 1910 to honour Benito Juárez, the president who sheltered his government in the city during the French intervention. It stands in a landscaped plaza in the historic centre; look for the allegorical sculptures at its base.
Locals simply call it La X: a red steel sculpture by the Mexican artist Sebastián, about sixty metres tall, near the border in the Chamizal area. It symbolises the meeting of Indigenous and Spanish cultures, and in 2016 Pope Francis celebrated a vast open-air Mass on the esplanade beside it.
Housed in the brick customs house finished in 1889, the museum known as MUREF shows how the Mexican Revolution played out on the border, including the 1911 capture of Juárez that helped force Porfirio Díaz from power. Photographs, weapons and multimedia rooms fill the restored halls.
A fine arts museum in the PRONAF district, set in a striking modernist building from the 1960s. Rotating exhibitions bring painting, sculpture, photography and installations by Mexican and border artists, often touching on migration and identity. It makes a calm, cool break on a hot afternoon.
The city's interactive science museum is built for curious children, with hands-on exhibits and workshops on science, technology and the natural world of the Chihuahuan Desert. Its name means tumbleweed, the plant that rolls across the region's plains. Plan two to three hours with kids.
This large performing arts centre, crowned by a distinctive orange drum, is the city's main stage for concerts, theatre and dance, from touring productions to local companies. A broad plaza and sculptures surround the building. Check the programme ahead and plan an evening show around your visit.
Open on Avenida Juárez since the 1920s, this long wooden bar served visitors from El Paso through the years of US Prohibition, and it is one of several places that claim to have invented the margarita. The carved bar and old photographs keep the vintage feel. Order the house margarita.
One of the main crossings between Ciudad Juárez and El Paso, this bridge links Avenida Juárez with downtown El Paso and carries a stream of cars and walkers. On foot you cross the concrete channel of the Rio Grande with both downtowns in sight. Carry your passport and expect queues at busy times.
The city's big central park is split into eastern and western sections, with lakes crossed by footbridges, ducks on the water and long paths for walking and jogging under the trees. Families fill it at weekends, and it offers welcome shade and greenery in this desert city. Go early on hot days.
About fifty kilometres south of the city, a sea of pale sand dunes rises abruptly from the Chihuahuan Desert, some of them dozens of metres high. Visitors climb the crests for sunset views or sandboard down the slopes. Bring plenty of water and sun protection, and avoid the midday heat in summer.
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