10 Best Family Things to Do in Monterrey

Sesame Street Park, or Parque Plaza Sesamo, offers kids the chance to interact with Sesame Street characters, ride rides, and play games. It has many thrill rides, spin rides, games, food, and even a complete water park where kids can rocket down waterslides, splash in fountains, and laugh all day. It operates year-round and hosts celebrity events, regularly hosting sports figures, political candidates, and other famous people. Birthday parties are also held for the famous characters that inhabit the park.

From the Count to Ernie and Bert, Zoe, Abby, and Grover, all your favorites are here. It's just 25 minutes east of downtown Monterrey.

Horno3 (Museu del Acero Horno 3) is a science museum with tons of hands-on interactive exhibits located in a former blast furnace and examines the history of the steel industry. You can learn all about how ore and raw materials are turned into one of the strongest building materials we have. This entire facility is a spectacle, from the smoking rocks at the front door to the open-air elevator offering panoramic views of the cityscape. On Sundays, you can even take an adventure park approach with rappelling and ziplining.

This is the height of fun, excitement, and education. It's also right in the heart of central downtown.

KidZania Monterrey is a place where kids get to play house on a gigantic scale, learning about money and how it's earned while discovering their future careers. This experience starts with the kids getting a check to cash at the bank. They can spend their money on anything from lunch to a spa treatment or shopping. When the money is gone, they can work to earn more. Kids can practice surgery as a doctor or carry packages as a postal carrier. They can even run a restaurant or spa.

They'll get to explore a world of careers and play at being grown-up all day. It's just 20 minutes south of downtown.

The Mexican History Museum offers a look at more than 1,200 artifacts spread over nearly 4,000 square feet of space, exploring Mexican history from prehistoric times to today. This massive museum is counted among the most important institutions in the country. It offers documents, exhibitions, artifacts, and ephemera covering thousands of years of history, including everything from pottery to a full-sized locomotive. The museum also offers multimedia exhibits, speakers, and interactive, hands-on learning that kids love.

The building itself is an architectural wonder and a local landmark. You can take a guided tour or go on a self-guided exploration with search modules that tell you all about the artifacts within. It's 10 minutes south of downtown Monterrey.

Santa Lucia Riverwalk (Paseo Santa Lucía) is a world-class artificial landmark offering miles of human-made river and scenic walkways in the heart of Monterrey. The nearly 1.5-mile walk is a promenade offering incredible landscaping and gorgeous nighttime views of the illuminated river with rolling green space shaded by trees, 24 walking bridges, and 13 fountains as you walk. At the western end, you can enjoy incredible local cuisine at one of the restaurants, and the entire area has free Wi-Fi so you can upload pictures to Instagram as you take them.

The Riverwalk is steps away from other nearby attractions, including shops, museums, and parks. It's ideal for the family to spend a lazy day out.

Bosque Mágico Coca Cola is a classic amusement and theme park with thrill rides, roller coasters, carnival games, and classic eats where you can laugh and play all day. For families with younger kids, you can head for the dedicated kids' area with rides like the Kite Flyer, Magic Cups, Viking Speedboats, Gas Station, AlpineChairs, and Baja Buggy. Family-friendly attractions include Go-Kart Rides and a Carnival area. For those with older kids, you'll enjoy thrill rides and pulse-pounding attractions like roller coasters, including the Zombie Ride corkscrew coaster, the King, and the Kamikaze coaster.

You'll have plenty of options for treats and food, and you can win prizes in classic toss-style games. It's just 21 minutes southeast of downtown.

Planetarium Alfa, or Planetario Alfa, offers a chance to walk through the stars, explore alien worlds, and learn all about our relationship to the rest of the cosmos. This full-sized planetarium is even striking from the outside with its towering cylindrical appearance surrounded by flocks of birds, including peacocks wandering around. Then, when you walk inside, you'll be enmeshed in interactive science exhibits that allow kids as young as 3 years old to get hands-on with space, astronomy, and aeronautics. The planetarium also includes an IMAX theater that showcases fun and interesting documentaries.

Kids love to learn while they're having fun, and this place makes it happen. It's 20 minutes south of the city.

Loroventura is an aviary where you and your kids can get lost among more than 100 species of parrots, both native and exotic, while you tackle outdoor adventure courses. Here you can stroll through dozens of bird pavilions filled with brightly colored birds from all over the world as well as see exotic reptiles, and you walk along the shores of a natural lake. Entertaining live shows teach you all about these creatures, and onsite restaurants and snack shacks ensure you're always full.

You can take a tour, explore on your own, or book the spot for a party. It's all just 13 minutes east of downtown Monterrey.