Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2018 April 8

= April 8 =

Closest city/border crossing to Mexico from Minneapolis-St Paul
I am trying to figure out the closest place to cross into Mexico from the Minneapolis-St Paul, MN area. I am curious as I have never been and I have a friend visiting from France and I think it would be fun to surprise her with a road trip for a few days. I have a reference question (talk) 20:34, 8 April 2018 (UTC)
 * Closest in terms of miles or hours? There's a town called Langtry that might be the closest as the loon flies, but if it were me I would hop on I-35 and keep going until I get to Laredo. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 20:49, 8 April 2018 (UTC)
 * Google has a site called Google maps you should check out. You can enter a starting point and destination and it will figure out drive times, distances, etc. Since you're essentially talking about a day there and a day back by car, you might as well pick out some place specific you'd like to go. However, all the closest areas - the northern parts of Mexico - are largely under travel advisories due to violence (example) Assuming this question is being asked in good faith, a forty hour plus road trip is a hell of a thing to surprise someone with. If Minneapolis is really that boring, take them to Niagara Falls instead. Matt Deres (talk) 21:11, 8 April 2018 (UTC)
 * Interestingly, Niagara Falls, US has 1 violent crime/90 people/year. The part of town nearest the falls might not be bad for all I know though and official crime statistics exaggerate places with lots of tourists/non-residents. Sagittarian Milky Way (talk) 00:26, 9 April 2018 (UTC)
 * I agree with Matt that you'll probably want to avoid Northern Mexico due to all the travel advisories for the Mexican border states. If you are trying to escape the cold, the Grand Canyon and Disney World are about as far from Minneapolis as the Mexican border. If you do end up going on a trip of this scale, I guarantee your friend will be amazed by how expansive the U.S. is. A "road trip" isn't a common concept in Europe. TheMrP (talk) 21:03, 14 April 2018 (UTC)