Cuernavaca is a city and area of about 1 million inhabitants, 45 minutes from Mexico City by freeway, two from Acapulco, which is built on a gentle slope. Temperatures north of town are more moderate and are near forests, south of town is significantly warmer and in plains with canyons ("barrancas"). It's temperate in climate, rainy season is June - October (usually rains a couple of hours in the afternoon or at night) and in winter it's very pleasant. Aztec rulers vacationed here, followed by conqueror Hern�n Cort�s and many others. It has been known as "the land of Eternal Spring" for many centuries because of its mild weather.

JDiver misspent his childhood here and still visits on occasion; when he left it had 40,000 inhabitants.

Cuernavaca is an ancient city, capital of the Tlahuica people, who speak Nahuatl. The city's name is actually "Cuauhnahuac", which means "by the trees" (for the pine forests in the city's north side). It has nothing to do with cows or horns, and the name used today is a Hispanization of the original name.

Cuernavaca is 87 km / 54 miles (city center to city center) south of Mexico City via a highway over the sierra, which reaches an altitude of 2,805 m/ 9,805 ft MSL. Cuernavaca is on a slope, so though its mean elevation (center of town) is 1,510 m (4,950 ft) it's significantly warmer at the south end and cooler at the north end.

Here is a good road log of Highway 95D, the toll highway to Cuernavaca.

Road log Cuernavaca - Taxco here (some toll four lane, some two lane mountainous road part of the way, also goes by Xochicalco Toltec ruin and Grutas de Cacahuamilpa cave complex - after tool booth at Km 74, marked from downtown Mexico City);
road log to Acapulco (toll, four lanes) here.

What to see:

From downtown out:

The square - is actually three sections, the wide concrete and not picturesque "Zocalo" with the infamous municipal palace (took ~15 years to build because the Morelos state treasurer absconded with some of the tax payments), the now-semiround "Jard�n Morelos" (Morelos Garden) immediate adjacent to the southeast holds the Tourism Department and has the Hern�n Cortes' summer palace to its immediate east - it was constructed in 1526, rebuilt in the early 1530s and used as a prison and for other state government functions, including the department of motor vehicles and traffic police, through 1969.

Today the Palace contains the regional historical and archaeological Museo Regional Cuauhnahuac and some murals by Diego Rivera documenting Morelos and its conquest by the Spaniards (on the second floor). On a clear day, the eastern balconies have very nice views of the volcanoes Popocatepetl (in particular) and Ixtaccihuatl, snow-covered year 'round. Definitely worth a couple of hours. Vendors with carts on the adjacent platform overlooking the hill at the crafts market offer some crafts and usual tourist trinkets - be careful the "silver" isn't marked (or just plain is) "Alpaca" also know as nickel silver or "German silver".

The the northwest is the "Jard�n Juarez" (Juarez garden), a lovely tree-shaded park with a kiosk where bands play and people wander about enjoying the evening. The shopping areas and some restaurants are in this vicinity, but the poshest hotels are definitely not.

Proceed west on Hidalgo, which dips down and back up, you will pass "the street", as it was called by the wealthy retired American expats who live don Calle Netzahualcoyotl. Just down the street is the eclectic Robert Brady Museum, with everything from Tamayo, Kahlo and Covarrubias to African, European, Indian, Mexican archaeological pieces filling 18 rooms. Well worth seeing.

Proceeding further west on Hidalgo (two blocks form the Z�calo) is the cathedral, built as a church-fortress by Cort�s, what was a Franciscan monastery, as well as the Chapel of the Third Order (more interesting IMO than the cathedral itself, with fine examples of Baroque and Churriguresque art and altars). Across Morelos still west is the luxuriant Jard�n Borda, built by Jos� de la Borda, who was the silver mining magnate of nearby Taxco. A walk in the relaxing and beautiful gardens is pleasant indeed, with its artificial lake. This property became the Emperor Maximilian's weekend home, and today offers lodging, offices, nightclub and restaurant and a nice museum. Next door is yet another church, built by de la Borda.

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Camino Real Sumiya: This property is not IN Cuernavaca, it is some distance out of town on the route to Cuautla, and was Woolworth heiress Barbara Hutton's house - designed by Japanese architects and made with a lot of imported Japanese materials. It is a luxury hotel in an area that is basically devoid of much vegetation and offers the traveler nothing in the immediate vicinity to do or places to eat other than what the hotel offers, as the nearby areas vary extremely from upscale residential to poor or industrial. It can get warmer than downtown Cuernavaca, requires some time in traffic to get to downtown, and has a conference center; on clear days, the snowcapped volcanoes Popocatepetl and Ixtaccihuatl are visible to the east. Good place to relax, older property (Hutton had it built in 1959 so expect some age to show in the infrastructure). http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/mexic...al..com/sumiya


Hotel Casa Tamayo: Kind of in a Tuscan-Mexican style this property is in Acapantizingo, perhaps thirty minutes from the center of town, in an old area with lots of trees, upscale houses and near the old "casa chica" Emperor Maximilian kept for his Indian mistress on his weekends from Mexico City and the Chapultep�c Palace.

Hotel Hacienda de Cort�s:


Hotel Jacarandas: Located east of town (can take 20 minutes to get to town on a fairly congested street), started by the ex-maitre d'hotel of Las Ma�anitas, Rub�. This one is about half the size of Las Ma�anitas, and is built on what used to be a large home with smaller properties for guests and renters.


Hotel Las Ma�anitas: Very close to the center of town, a fifteen minute walk or short taxi ride, Las Ma�anitas is basically spread out over a couple of blocks of garden. It is listed as part of Relais et Chateaux.

This property was originally opened up as a small, intimate restaurant by Oregon-born banker Robert "Bob" Krause, and is now owned and run by his widow and son.



Hotel Misi�n Cuernavaca (ex-Maximiliano y Carlota) - mid-priced. This 77 room place is quite near the Habsburg foisted-on-Mexico Emperor Maximilan's weekend home, in shady Acapantzingo, east of Cuernavaca and 20 - 30 minutes from the center of town. Part is built on the grounds of an old hacienda, and the infrastructure seems to occasionally have problems.

Hotel Misi�n del Sol:


Villas Colibr�:


Link to article focusing on a few top notch hotels and restaurants in and around Cuernavaca.











IN PROGRESS

Hey, JDiver or anyone else:

Requesting suggestions/recommendations for which neighborhoods in Cuernavaca I should be searching for an AirBnB over Xmas. I am taking the extended family (14 of us) to Cuernavaca for a few days and am looking for large houses to rent but I have no idea in which neighborhoods we should look. I prefer the nicer/nicest colonias.

Thanks,

There are lots of places you could rent or AirBnB, but I’ll suggest closer to town for fewer complications and easier access to where Christmas and other activities will be accessible. The closer parts of Galeana, Netzahualcoyotl (best, many Americans refer to it as “the street”), Humboldt, etc.

Another area a bit farther from downtown is Vista Hermosa, near the old train station and pyramid of Teopanzolco. Broad vistas, larger homes with gardens and many with pools.

Avenida Las Quintas. Acapantzingo (originally a small town of its own, now part of Cuernavaca).

Farther out Lomas de Atzingo, Rancho Tetela for larger homes with gardens and views over the city to the volcanoes.

I’ll ask family as well, as my contacts for real estate, rentals etc. are entirely too old.

Thanks, we will research those. And if you have more suggestions please do pass them on. Apparently my mexican family all seem to be running on hawaiian time for making reservations just a week or so from the peak tourist season.... ah well, its nothing more tequila ice cream cant handle.

Cuernavaca (even including Acapantzingo) I see has several listings on VRBO (link). I’ve not used them, but have friends that have and others who list their properties on VRBO.

Thanks JDiver. Looked around many of the neighborhoods you mentioned and ended up renting a 5b/3ba house for the whole family in Oaxtepec a few blocks from Lomas de Cocoyoc from Airbnb. It was located on a hillside which gave a great view of all the fireworks going off on NYE. We were pretty well situated with food, drink and games so didn't venture out much - just enjoyed the pool and a lot of family time. Great views of the 17,800ft el Popo volcano.

We did go to Six Flags waterpark early on NYE which was fantastic timing because the park was virtually empty and lines were no more than 10 minutes for all the rides; we got to do each one at least 3 times. I suspect that would not be possible on a normal day. TIP: purchase tickets online in advance and save more than 50% OR, they often offer a special discount for bringing in either an unopened or empty 300ml coca cola product with top. The online offer was not valid the day of NYE so we walked to the OXXO across the street, purchased $9us of cokes, brought them back to the ticket office and saved $54us on tickets for the family.

Although the temperature was about 26C/80F we were quite surprised to experience snow falling from the sky, black snow at that! At first I thought it was from el Popo but it was not actively spewing any ash. Turns out it is ash from the burning of sugar cane crops. a fun talking point for the children in our family.

One thing I am learning about Airbnb - the host was very nice but the website is very much like a dating app - the place is not as good-looking in person as its photos on the website. Look at photos very carefully and expect things to be not less than they appear. But that was okay - it was good to be out of the relative "cold" of Toluca and in the warmth of Cuernavaca for 5 days with family and I always bring a bit more patience and a lowered expectation of quality when traveling away from a major western metro/suburban area. Its the time with family that counts most.

We will definitely be going back - beautiful countryside and not far from Mexico (City).