Experience the best of Cuernavaca

Cuernavaca lies in the state of Morelos, about 57 km south of Mexico City, at roughly 1,500 metres, which gives it a spring-like climate all year and its nickname. Its main square and the neighbouring Jardín Juárez are shaded by trees, with cafés and shops around them. The Palace of Cortés, begun in the 1520s by the conquistador, is now a museum with murals by Diego Rivera on the history of Morelos. The fortress-like cathedral is a sixteenth-century Franciscan building.

The Borda Garden, a terraced eighteenth-century garden with ponds and fountains built by the son of a Taxco silver magnate, was later a summer retreat of Emperor Maximilian. Teopanzolco, a Tlahuica pyramid site, sits within the city, and Xochicalco, a hilltop city with a temple of the Feathered Serpent, lies to the south-west of the city. Tepoztlán, below a cliff-top pyramid, is a short drive east, and Taxco, the silver town, is farther south-west.

Morelos cooking includes cecina, thin dried beef from Yecapixtla, green mole, tamales and fresh fruit from the markets. Days are warm and nights cool, with little change through the year. The dry months from November to April are the most comfortable, while June to October brings afternoon showers. For centuries the city has been a weekend retreat for people from the capital.