Just a three-hour drive from the Texas border, Monterrey is a wealthy, developed city in the northeastern part of Mexico. It is the countries’ ninth largest city and one of Mexico’s richest – home to many domestic and international businesses.

Here are 5 of the top things to do in Monterrey.

1) Walk the Paseo de Santa Lucia:

This artificial 2.5km river located in the centre of the city is an absolute ‘must do’! Finished in 2007, and introduced as a celebration of the Mexican War of Independence, the Paseo de Santa Lucia connects the Macroplaza with Fundidora Park – numbers 2 and 3 on my list!

You can choose to walk the 2.5km or take a short boat-ride for $60 pesos ($4 cad) each way.

2) Visit the Macroplaza and the surrounding museums:

Created in the early 1980s, the Macroplaza is now the 7th largest plaza in the world! It contains a number of monuments, the government palace, and is surrounded by three museums.

El fuente de Neptuno

After walking the plaza, make sure to spend a few hours checking out the three nearby museums. The Metropolitan Museum, the Museum of Mexican History and the Museum of the Northwest are all within a 2-minute walk of each other. Costing just $40 pesos total (about $3 cad), you’ll want to spend a few hours browsing through the different locations, while at the same time, getting out of the scorching Mexican sun!

3) Check out Parque Fundidora:

On the grounds of a former steel company, this urban park located at the end of the Paseo Santa Lucia is a nice, albeit a little strange, place to spend an afternoon.

It’s not everyday you’ll see an old industrial site in the same area as a spacious, sprawling park. Consisting of walking paths, playgrounds and many cultural buildings, Parque Fundidora is well worth spending some time in – if only to experience the oddity of industrial buildings intermingled with a park!

4) Visit the Cerro del Obispado

This famously elevated hill provides an excellent viewpoint overlooking the entire city. It’s a good spot to relax and get a feel just how big Monterrey really is.

This area also is home to the biggest monumental Mexican flag. However, apparently flags aren’t raised on windy days, so I missed out on the opportunity to see that.

A little lower on the hill sits the Palacio del Obispado, one of Monterrey’s oldest buildings. It now contains a museum that isn’t really worth your time checking out.

5) Spend some time at the Alfa Planetarium

Containing a science museum, IMAX theatre, astronomical observatory and a variety of ever-changing exhibits, the Alfa Planetarium is super interactive and good for the whole family!

It costs $120 pesos (about $8 cad) for entry into the museum and IMAX and you’ll want to plan on spending 2-4 hours here (potentially more if you have kids).

Overall

Monterrey is a nice city and I would recommend checking it out for 2 to 3 days. There are also a number of good hiking spots nearby, so you could spend up to a week around the city. It is pricier than other cities in Mexico and it feels somewhat ‘Americanized’. While I didn’t love it, I can’t deny that it is a pretty city that is worth exploring!

Gracias por leer!