Monterrey, the capital of Nuevo León, was founded in 1596 and is a vibrant cosmopolitan city. It sits in the foothills of the Sierra Madre Oriental, and is linked to Mexico City and Saltillo by a major road and railway. Nearby Saltillo is the capital city of Coahuila. It is home to the excellent Museo del Desierto, with a large collection of dinosaur fossils and extensive exhibition of pleistocene megafauna. 150km west is Parras de la Fuente, whose Casa Madero winery, the oldest in the Americas, was founded in 1597.
Torreón is in the Coahuila state of northern Mexico, adjacent to the neighbouring city of Gómez Palacio in neighbouring Durango state. The settlement began as a centre for ranching, but has since developed into a busy city with a thriving cultural and culinary scene, several museums and a planetarium.