Wuppertal is best known for its Schwebebahn, a suspended monorail built in 1901 that still runs along the Wupper river through the centre of town. Riding it is one of the more unusual public transport experiences in Europe — the carriages hang from an elevated steel frame, swinging gently over the river and the streets below.
Beyond the monorail, Wuppertal is a sprawling industrial city in the Bergisches Land hills east of Düsseldorf. The Von der Heydt Museum has a strong collection of 19th and 20th-century art, and the Botanischer Garten on the hillside above Barmen is a pleasant escape. The Engels-Haus in Barmen is the birthplace of Friedrich Engels — a small museum in an unexpected location that gives real context to the city's industrial history. The city's hilly terrain gives it a character quite different from the flat Rhineland cities nearby.