Things to do in Monterrey

Landmark · Centro

One of the largest public squares in the world, with the Faro del Comercio laser beacon at one end and the surviving colonial grid beside it.

Local tip: The plaza is brutal at midday and excellent after eight. Walk it in the evening, then cut into the Barrio Antiguo's low nineteenth-century streets — the only part of central Monterrey that survived the twentieth century's demolition habit.

Culture · East of Centro

A decommissioned steelworks turned into a vast park, with blast furnaces left standing and a canal walk linking it to the Macroplaza.

Local tip: Horno 3 — the preserved blast furnace — is the best thing in it, and the Santa Lucía canal boats connect the park to the centre in about half an hour. Come at dusk in summer; the park has almost no shade.

Nightlife · Centro

Monterrey's oldest streets, and where the bars, live music and late nights concentrate at weekends.

Local tip: It is a weekend district — Thursday to Saturday it is packed and midweek it is nearly empty. Regios eat late and go out later; arriving at nine means having the place to yourself.

Neighborhood · San Pedro, south-west

The municipality with the highest GDP per head in Latin America: towers, restaurants, a linear park and a mountain wall behind it.

Local tip: The Calzada del Valle's tree-lined running path is the closest thing Monterrey has to a public living room and it is genuinely lovely at six in the morning. Everything else in San Pedro assumes you have a car.

Food · Centro

The old central market, and the traditional place to eat cabrito, machaca and northern Mexican food that predates the industrial city.

Local tip: Order cabrito by the cut rather than by the plate — pierna is the safe choice, riñonada is the one regios argue about. Go at lunchtime; the market winds down early.

Nature · Santa Catarina, 25 min west

A canyon of vertical limestone walls inside the Cumbres de Monterrey national park, twenty minutes from the office towers.

Local tip: World-class sport climbing sits immediately behind a suburban housing estate, and most people who live in Monterrey have never gone in. Go early, take far more water than seems sensible, and check whether the access road is open after heavy rain.