Mexico City's wealthy have escaped to Cuernavaca for centuries, drawn by a climate so mild it earned the nickname the city of eternal spring. Hernán Cortés built himself a palace here after the conquest, Emperor Maximilian kept a summer retreat in the Jardín Borda, and today the hills are full of walled villas, gardens and swimming pools. The city, with more than three hundred thousand people, lies at about fifteen hundred metres on the southern slopes of the volcanic mountains, roughly an hour from the capital.
The Palace of Cortés, a fortress-like building from the sixteenth century, now houses a museum, and its walls carry murals by Diego Rivera depicting the history of Morelos, from the conquest to the revolution. Nearby, the cathedral, originally a Franciscan convent from the same century, is part of the UNESCO-listed group of early monasteries on the slopes of Popocatépetl. The Jardín Borda, with its fountains and terraces, is a peaceful place to escape the heat. Morelos was also the home of Emiliano Zapata, the revolutionary leader whose cry of land and liberty still resonates here.
For riders, Cuernavaca is both a destination and an obstacle. The city itself is congested, with steep, narrow streets, heavy traffic and plenty of topes, and getting through it can be slow and tiring. But the roads around it are excellent. The old free road to Mexico City, Federal Highway 95, climbs north through pine forests past Tres Marías in a long series of curves, and on weekends it fills with motorcyclists from the capital. To the east, roads lead to Tepoztlán and the monastery towns, and to the south they descend toward the warm lowlands of Morelos and the lakes and caves near Taxco.
Cuernavaca has every service: fuel, motorcycle shops, restaurants and hotels at all prices. The local food is good, and the markets are full of tropical fruits. The climate is pleasant all year, warm by day and cool at night, with a rainy season from June to October. Avoid arriving or leaving on a Sunday evening, when the traffic back to Mexico City can be brutal, and keep an eye on the weather in the mountains, where fog and rain can roll in quickly.