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I'll be honest. Monterrey is neither particularly pedestrian-friendly, nor really beautiful outside the tourist zone. Meaning: Barrio Antiguo and the centre and its surroundings. That may sound a bit direct and harsh, but I've never liked beating about the bush. As background knowledge: I was definitely warned in advance. I was told beforehand, including by people from Monterrey, that Monterrey is not friendly for people who like to walk - unless it is close to the Barrio Antiguo - and also that there is not much to see in Monterrey apart from the well-known attractions. As I am a curious person, a bit of an adventurer and also a bit stubborn, I thought to myself ‘let's see’ and was then obviosly proven wrong. Nevertheless, I discovered two places on my walk through the streets that I thought were really cool. To my mind the highway in Monterrey has something special about it and even has a slightly hypnotising effect, and I also thought this train station with the pictures etc to be really cool. So I did find something. Unfortunately, there's not much more. Go or not? Well, what I found was really cool, but it's really difficult to stroll through the streets in Monterrey - simply because of the structure of the city. And you can explore the Barrio Antiguo in 5 minutes. It's full of cafés, hostels and honestly looks pretty similar everywhere. It's pretty, but you'll have seen it after just one walk.

There is a really large ecological and mountainous park in Monterrey called Chipinque. It is an absolute paradise for nature lovers, has really beautiful viewpoints in various places as well as challenging hiking trails and also a lot in store for mountain climbers. And although it is really far out of town, it does form part of Monterrey's skyline. You can get there either by car or, if you don't have one, by bus to a certain point and then on foot. As a little warning: the walk is relatively long, because apart from the stretch to the Chipinque driveway, you also have to climb the winding road to the park, which is really long. And Uber drivers will cancel your journey - I tried it once for the way back - because it's just too far and it's simply not worth it for most Uber drivers. Lastly there were hardly any cars passing me at the time. In other words: it's going to be a long day, mostly on foot, and the first break can easily be taken when you finally arrive at the entrance to Chipinque. As already mentioned, the Chipinque is a really beautiful and great oasis of nature, where you can hike and climb mountains and have viewpoints. There's also a rock slide somewhere - where me and a friend had a lot of fun when we were there - and just a lot of nature, coming down and the feeling of being in another world. An advise for the park: go in good weather. Otherwise you won't enjoy the views - that's what happened to me on my first visit to Chipinque. Go or not? The question of all questions. To be honest, I can't really answer it, because on the one hand Chipinque is really beautiful and has great viewpoints, but at the same time you have to be really dedicated to get there and back, because it's a really long walk to get there and back. To be honest, my feet were aching at the end of both visits and I was really glad when I got back to where a bus was going. So I would say this is something for real nature fans or people who are just really keen 😊 At the same time, I like nature, but I'm not a nature fan and I was still there twice....

The Grutas de García are actually much cooler than I expected - or than I expected them to be. But from the beginning. A good friend of mine, who comes from Monterrey and was still living in Monterrey at the time I first visited, wanted to show me something of Monterrey I hadn’t seen yet and wanted to surprise me. As I'm a super curious person, but had never heard of the Grutas de García, I didn't expect much, but just went for it - my luck, because I probably would have never gone there otherwise. The Grutas de García are quite far out and when you’re there you take a gondola up the mountain to the entrance of the Grutas - the ride up is really cool and offers a great view of the surrounding mountains. Once we got to the top, we went inside and... I had all sorts of things in my head, but the Grutas de García are really big! Like really really big! It's a whole system of caves connected by stairs so you can go up and into other rooms/caves and see everything. Really cool. And then there are stalacmites and stalactites ‘sculptures’ called organ or theatre, many ceiling constructions that are really impressive and in one place - my friend and I had to laugh to much - a stalacmite or stalactite (I always forget which ones grow up) is displayed as a Christmas tree. With lights and a star and everything. The reason why we had to laugh, however, was that the thing did rather look like a penis, than a Christmas tree. It really had something :D And if you're following a guide - I mean why not you might actually be afraid of getting lost in a cave this size - you'll eventually come to a spot on the wall that the guide claims looks like the Virgen Guadalupe (the most sacred figure in Mexico and legit represented everywhere in some way - no matter where you go). I fully respect Mexico's for it’s almost obsession with the Virgen Guadalupe because Mexico is a very religious country. But that spot on the wall... It didn't even remotely represent anything. And well... I really had to hold back my laughter. Especially when the rest of the group stood there and just nodded in agreement. Now jokes aside, go or not? Yes, definitely. I mean, apart from the cool Grutas - and I obviously had really great company in form of my friend - I also found the Grutas de García really worth seeing, really big, very funny at times :D and the view up there of the surrounding mountains is really not to be dismissed either. Therefore absolutely recommendable 😊

The Cerro del Chupón is a hike that I remember very well for two reasons. Firstly, my shoes have never been so muddy and dirty after a hike as when I went up the Cerro del Chupón and secondly, despite everything, I would really recommend going up to anyone. Like the view is really beautiful and there is like a cool rock formation up there that you can take great photos with. They are a bit like the trademark of Cerro el Chupón. The ascent to the Cerro del Chupón is not necessarily close to the Barrio Antiguo or the centre of Monterrey. However, as there was another view (Copete del Águila in park Chipinque) that I due to circumstances couldn’t go to see, I had been looking for other opportunities to hike up somewhere and have a similarly great view. When I arrived at the ascent, I not only first had to enter a private property - or at least climb through the fence right next to a house - which made me feel like an intrudor, but I also very quickly came across earthy and really slippery and muddy ground on the way up. Like even though I didn't think much of it before, it had rained the fay before. So I guess a could’ve anticipated that. Of course I tried to minimise the damage, because as a backpacker you don't always have a lot of good footwear with you, but no chance. My shoes were muddy and ready for the washing machine within a couple of meters. Apart from that, I only made very slow progress because it was really slippery and - I'll be honest - I wasn't sure in that moment whether I would push through because... a) it's exhausting and possibly all the way to the top? And b) is the view really worth it? Luckily for me, it got a lot better shortly afterwards and the majority of the path that followed led mainly through dense, wild green forest and over only a few muddy parts Once I reached the „top“ - eg the point where it didn‘t go any further up, but simply continued straight on towards the viewpoint - things got interesting because... I don't think I've ever walked along such an overgrown hiking trail before. And not that the path wasn't clearly walkable, but the bushes were so high and so dense that you couldn't see the path at the bottom, only feel it. My legs really smooched a lot of grasses and bushes that day. Once the path was really no longer visible at all, I just kept going because I'd already come too far to give up now :D Eventually, I fought my way through and actually arrived at the point where the special rock formation is and you have a view of Monterrey. And what can I say? The somewhat adventurous climb, during which I almost turned back more than once, was well worth it. Because the view was really great, the rock formation a special ad-on and I was really happy to have achieved this view. So Happy Kat 😊 And on the way back, I knew that it was possible to find my way through and that I would arrive safely, so it was only half as bad. Except for the slippery part. Slippery downhill can be even worse than uphill... My shoes looked like.... Go or not? Funnily enough, I would highly recommend the Cerro del Chupón. The hike is a bit of an adventure - at least under the conditions I had at the time - but! It was really worth it! And the view was really beautiful! I don't regret a second of the trip and was very glad that I didn't turn back, but continued to the top. And if you look at the photos: the view and everything is cooler than it might look on the photos 😊 😉

Monterrey has a slightly different structure to other cities. There are a lot of mountains and mountainous nature parks in and around Monterrey, which automatically means there are relatively many views. I was curious though and wanted to know if there was a viewpoint in Monterrey without having to hike and sweat. There is. Mirador del Obispado. And there's even a cute yellow cathedral on the way up. The viewpoint itself is like a really big circular platform that you get to via a kind of path with what I assume are flagpoles. The view from the platform is, as appropriate for Monterrey, out to all sides because Monterrey is built the way it is. You can see mountains on several sides, skyscrapers on some and just houses on others. The thing I remember most vividly is that at some point I asked myself whether I was going crazy or imagining it, because I could hear voices in the background and music in between - even though I was up there alone for a while. As this really triggered me and it was sometimes louder and sometimes quieter, I eventually followed the sound and discovered the speakers blaring out Mexican music and the story of the Obispado. You don't know how relieved I was when I discovered these speakers.... Go or not? The viewpoint is admittedly a bit further from the centre, but I still think the viewpoint is worth it if you're in Monterrey. Especially if you don't like hiking. Because for everything else with a view you have to climb a mountain.

The square of the palace and the palace itself in Monterrey are at the end of a kind of elongated tourist zone, which is right next to the Barrio Antiguo. You start more or less in the centre at the Fuente de Neptuno, then walk through an adjoining park and come out at the Palace Square with a proud Mexican flag in the middle and the palace already waiting for you in the background. Of course, you can sit down and relax in the square and enjoy the view, because it certainly is beautiful. There's not too much to see in the palace, but as I love buildings with arches, I was still happy to have been inside. 😊 Go or not? Monterrey is generally not very easy to get to know by foot. However, this square and the palace are so close to the Casco Viejo - where pretty much everyone who comes to Monterrey for sightseeing stays - that it would be a waste not to go. Apart from that, this area is also one of Monterrey's most beautiful ones.