The highway south from Nuevo Progreso leads to the larger border town of Rio Bravo, about 10 miles away, from which you can go east to Matamoros or west to Reynosa. Rio Bravo is the center of a large farming area and has a growing industrial section with several maquiladora plants. From Weslaco: Take FM 1015 south, leads to bridge.

Up the river, just across Falcon Lake from the Texas town of Zapata, is Guerrero Viejo, or "Old Guerrero," an eerie ghost town where fishermen live amid impressive 19th century sandstone ruins. Founded in 1750 as Villa de Revilla de San Ignacio de Loyola, it was flooded in 1953 by the creation of Falcon Dam. Before the dam was completed, new homes were built for the city’s residents in Nuevo Guerrero, about 20 miles downstream, and the old city was evacuated. It was flooded when the lake filled and stayed under water for several decades. Low rainfall in the Rio Grande watershed in recent years has caused the ruined city to emerge from the water, its crumbling walls and the shells of its old sandstone buildings temporarily on dry ground. The site has become a popular tourist destination, each week drawing busloads of Winter Texans to explore its streets that, in 1880, bustled with some 12,000 people. An old church reveals itself in various stages, depending on the elevation of the lake, sometimes drawing pedestrians, other times inviting only scuba divers. From Falcon Dam: Take Mexico Highway 2 north toward Nuevo Laredo 20 miles. Turn right on the dirt road at the Guerrero Viejo sign. Don’t forget to close the 3 gates. Travel time: Two hours.

Ciudad Victoria is the capital city of Tamaulipas and is surrounded by breath-taking mountains. A beautiful, clean city of 300,000, it has many excellent hotels and is home to several universities, museums and cultural centers. Near Cd. Victoria are the ruins of Tula, the latest archeological find in northern Mexico. Ruins include several temples and fascinating remains of the Huasteca culture. These are smaller than the famed archeological sites deep in the interior of Mexico, but they are the closest ruins to the Texas border of the early Mexican civilizations. From Reynosa: Take Mexico Highway 97 south. From Matamoros: Take Mexico Highway 101 south. Travel time: Six hours.

South of Cd. Victoria on the gulf coast is the port city of Tampico (pop. 900,000). Three hundred miles due south of Brownsville, it sits on a bay formed by the confluence of the Panuco, Tamessi and Guayalejo rivers; and the abundance of estuaries and lagoons makes it a hot spot for fishing and sea food. Tampico is a beautiful, thriving city with excellent hotel and resort accommodations. The area has three ports and a bustling economy. Recently restored buildings around its downtown plaza are reminiscent of old New Orleans. Built in the 1800s when commerce thrived between the two port cities, their recently completed restoration is the result of government and business cooperation. From Cd. Victoria: Take Highway 80 south. Travel time from Brownsville: Nine hours.

All the above cities and towns are in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas, which extends in a sliver along the river from above Nuevo Laredo to the Gulf of Mexico before cutting south for 300 miles into the Mexican interior. But if you’ve made it all the way to the Valley, you’d be remiss not to take full advantage of Mexico’s interior offerings that are just a few more hours away.

Three hours southwest of Roma lies Monterrey, Mexico’s third-largest city and capital of the state of Nuevo Leon. Even though Monterrey is considered in the "frontera," the Mexican counterpart to the Valley, it has a distinctly different flavor, more indicative of Mexico’s interior. The most obvious difference is that it is at the foot of the scenic mountains of Mexico’s Sierra Madre Oriental range. It is considered Mexico’s most industrialized city and offers travelers world-class hotels and restaurants. Monterrey’s CINTERMEX is the largest business and trade convention center in Latin America. See the Governor’s Palace, the Bishop’s Palace and Dulces Nombres Chapel dating from 1603, and take a tour at a local blown-glass factory and silver workshop. The Museum of Monterrey boasts a valuable collection of 20th century art and the Museum of Modern Art offers no less than 14 exhibition halls to wander through. One of Monterrey’s biggest tourist draws is spectacular Horsetail Falls ("Cola del Caballo") located 18 miles west of the city. Go horse- or burro-back riding up to the falls. Also outside the city are Huasteca Canyon, Garcia Caverns, La Boca Dam and Chipinque Mesa. From Reynosa: Take Mexico Highway 40 directly there. From Roma: Take Mexico Highway 54 directly there. Travel time: Three hours