Matamoros

A Gateway bridge morning with Plaza Hidalgo, the cathedral and Casamata

Matamoros is usually seen in a morning on foot from Brownsville. Walk across the Gateway International Bridge soon after breakfast, before the heat and the queues, then follow Avenida Álvaro Obregón, lined with pharmacies, curio shops and dentists' offices aimed at Texan shoppers, into the old centre around Plaza Hidalgo.

Mid-morning. Plaza Hidalgo is the civic heart, framed by the Presidencia Municipal, the Casino Matamorense social club and the cathedral of Nuestra Señora del Refugio, completed in 1831. Step inside for a few quiet minutes, then walk a few blocks to see the Teatro de la Reforma, the city's grand old stage.

Late morning. Take a sitio taxi to the Museo Casamata. The squat brick fortress was part of the defences built in the 19th century and became a museum in 1970. Its rooms move from pre-Hispanic figurines through Independence and the Revolution, and oddities include the iron coffin that once held General Antonio Canales and the cool tunnels under the walls, the source of plenty of local ghost stories. Check opening hours before you go, as they are short.

Lunch. Head back toward the bridge for a long lunch at a taquería or restaurant on Álvaro Obregón. If there is an exhibition on, the Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Tamaulipas, which opened in 2002 in a 1960s building by Mario Pani, shows Mexican and international art.

Afternoon. Walk back across the bridge before the late-afternoon rush.

Carne asada, flour tortillas and Laguna Madre shrimp

Matamoros eats like the ranching north, where beef rules and flour tortillas are as common as corn. Carne asada, thin beef grilled over mesquite or charcoal, comes with grilled onions, roasted chillies and guacamole, weekend family gatherings centre on a backyard grill, and Laguna Madre shrimp bring the coast to the table.

Carne a la tampiqueña, from the Tamaulipas port of Tampico, is the state's restaurant classic: a strip of grilled steak served with an enchilada, beans, rajas of chilli and guacamole on one plate. Frijoles charros, pinto beans simmered with bacon, chorizo and chilli, come on the side of almost every northern meal. Breakfasts lean on machacado con huevo, shredded dried beef scrambled with eggs, wrapped in a warm flour tortilla.

The Gulf is close, so seafood is fresh. The shallow Laguna Madre lagoon to the south supplies shrimp, crab and oysters, and at Playa Bagdad palapa restaurants serve fried fish, cócteles de camarón in tall glasses and ceviche tostadas. Inland, look for jaibas rellenas, crab shells stuffed with spiced crab meat, a Tamaulipas speciality.

Day visitors usually eat close to the Gateway bridge, where the taquerías along Álvaro Obregón do tacos de bistec and trompo. Wash it down with a cold beer from Monterrey, a few hours up the road.

Playa Bagdad, the 1846 battlefields and the Charro Days calendar

November to March is the time to visit Matamoros, with January highs around 22 C, nights near 12 C and pleasant walking weather. Summers are long and humid at 34 to 35 C, and September, the wettest month at about 97 mm, brings Gulf storms and the occasional hurricane.

February is the high point. Charro Days, a two-nation fiesta started in Brownsville in the 1930s, and Matamoros's matching celebrations bring parades, folk dancing, charro costumes and the Sombrero Festival to both banks of the river. It is the one time of year when crossing feels like a single town having a party.

Playa Bagdad, also called Playa Lauro Villar, is a long Gulf beach about 27 km east, near the mouth of the Rio Grande. During the US Civil War the settlement here grew into a busy port for cotton running past the Union blockade, before storms and the river wiped it away. Today it hosts fishing tournaments and, during Holy Week, concerts, sports events and crowds of families from Nuevo León. Jet skis, surfing and off-road driving are all allowed on the sand.

History buffs can cross back to Brownsville for the Palo Alto Battlefield, where the first major battle of the Mexican-American War was fought in May 1846, now a US national historical park.