Hi there,
We visited Cuernavaca from Mexico City since it is relatively close. We went by subway to the Taxqueña Station and there we took the bus that reaches Cuernavaca in less than two hours. We travel on the first-class ADO buses which are wonderful.
We began the tour of the parks that are near the bus station.
Cuernavaca, known as “the city of eternal spring“, is the capital of the state of Morelos in Mexico and is surrounded by the Tepozteco mountain, south of Mexico City.
Inside a walled monastery from the 16th century, is the Cathedral of Cuernavaca. In addition, the monastery has a mural that represents the first saint of Mexico. It is one of the oldest cathedrals in the country. Originally it was erected as the Convent of the Assumption. In addition, it is part of the group of convents under the name “First monasteries of the 16th century on the slopes of Popocatépetl” and was declared a World Heritage Site by Unesco in 1994.
We follow the road to the Zócalo that is in front of the Government Palace. It is spacious and like all plazas in Mexico, you can see the locals relaxing. When I visited, there were several sculptures by local artists. The strange thing is that there was no Day of the Dead decoration.
The Government Palace, inaugurated in 1967, is a viceroyalty Baroque-style building whose stone walls stand out for the red hue given by the tezontle, a volcanic rock that abounds on the slopes of the mountains and Mexican volcanoes, such as the Popocatépetl and Iztaccíhuatl.
On the other side of the Government Palace is the Palace of Hernán Cortés, which is now the Regional Museum of Cuauhnáhuac. It was the old house of the Spanish conquistador and has functioned as a history museum since it concentrates inside the richest and most complex historical legacy of the state of Morelos. It is decorated with murals by the Mexican artist Diego Rivera.
When we visited, it had just opened after the earthquake, only two small rooms were accessible, and the complex was undergoing maintenance.
Touring Cuernavaca is pleasant and gives you the feeling of a cozy little town, especially if you come from Mexico City.
We entered several museums that were free and then we had lunch in a restaurant near the Zócalo where the meal cost 47 pesos per person.
Then we went to the Borda Garden and the entrance cost 30 pesos per person.
José de la Borda was an 18th century Spanish-Frenchman who became the richest man in New Spain thanks to the exploitation of the precious metal mines in Taxco and Zacatecas. He ordered the construction of a rest complex in Cuernavaca, which included a stately mansion, large gardens and even a private church, despite the proximity of the cathedral. In the 19th century, the Emperor Maximilian took it as his summer resort. Currently it is a beautiful garden that has the botanical merit of having housed the first mango trees that were planted in Mexico.
It is a beautiful place of those in which you want to live. When I visited, many of the fountains were empty and under maintenance. There was an interesting exhibition on the life of Emperor Maximilian and his wife Carlota.
We also pass through the Jardín Juárez, one of the most recommended things since it is the oldest in the city (1866). The small square is famous for a kiosk that is “related” to the famous Eiffel Tower, as both designs came from the drawing board of the architect Gustave Eiffel. There are many smoothies stands there.
Our last stop was the Chapultepec Ecological Park and the entrance costs 10 pesos per person. It has almost tercentennial trees and a river (not natural) that runs through the entire park. One of its attractions is the lagoon, but when I visited it was closed for maintenance. I didn’t like this place because it had a zoo.
The only interesting thing is that it was all full of golden silk spiders and red and blue dragonflies.
Cuernavaca is a nice place worth a quick visit from Mexico City. There are many things to do around as well, one of them is the Náhualt archaeological site, but I did not visit it because in Mexico I have already seen many larger ruins.
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