How to travel from Cuernavaca to Mexico City? What to see in Cuernavaca?

Question

I'm going to be in Cuernavaca for a week. I'd like to see Mexico City, too. Can I get specifics on the bus station in Cuernavaca and the round-trip cost? Is going for just a day going to be worth it? I think I would be nervous to stay in a hostel in D.F.

Also, any suggestions for must-see sites in Cuernavaca, or other nearby places?

Answer 1

The bus rides have already been explained. The trip should only last 1 hour since both cities are close to eachother.

You can travel to most of downtown Mexico City easily from the subway station next to the bus terminal you'd end up in. As for walking too much north of the Zocalo ending up in dangerous neighborhoods, yes and no. Yes, Tepito is very close from the Zocalo and chances are you might end up there by accident (it indeed happened to me once) and chances are you won't even notice you entered Tepito because in the daytime it's an outdoor market that doesn't stand out from all the other outdoor markets in the downtown area. However, chances are nobody will mug you (be aware of pickpockets though) since Tepito is rather safe during the day. NEVER go to Tepito after dark, they will mug you and strip you naked (they steal anything to give you an idea) and if you're lucky will leave the place alive and not raped.

Chances are you won't be interested in walking in downtown Mexico City during the night anyways so you'll probably be fine in that sense.

Don't go to Iztapalapa unless you either really have to or know a local who can take you in there safely. It's a famously dangerous place where people get murdered very often. I've actually been there at night and made it out unharmed (guess they didn't find the old car of my parents to be worth stealing).

Ciudad Neza is also dangerous at night. Never been there myself since I live in the other side of the city.

The touristy sites that tourists like seeing for a 1 day trip to Mexico City were already mentioned. I don't think 1 day will give you enough time to see the Teoatihuacan pyramids (unless you decide to skip the Anthropology museum which doesn't have that much on display anyways).

I highly reccomend you to ride on the Turibús. For only 20 dollars you get a safe and fast trip to the downtown touristy spots. Go to the subway stattion named AUDITORIO which is in the orange line, the Turibuses are bright red and have 2 floors. You'll easily spot them or at least a line of tourists that await for the next bus.

For curiosity sake to see something slightly different but in the neighborhood (plus it's cheap so it's indeed a win/win situation at the expense of 30 minutes of your time), you are allowed to go to the top floor of the Torre Latinoamericana which could give you an experience like being on top of the Empire State building. They have telescopes and you'll be able to see a lot of places with them if the air quality that day is good.

The telescopes are so good that I could actually see the supermarket that's just a few blocks from my house from there and my neighborhood is rather far off from downtown. The Torre Latinoamericana was built in the late 1950's and it was the tallest building in Latin America for several decades. It survived the 1985 earthquake (albeit many windows were shattered to pieces) just to show how resistant the building is. It also has an aquarium which has a world record of the aquarium built in the highest floor of a building in the world. Since I visited the Tower at nighttime the aquarium was closed.

The Torre Latinoamericana is hard to miss since it's right in front of the Bellas Artes building (which is both a subway station of that same name and a building in the route of the Turibus, you can't miss it).

For the curiosity factor, also in that same area are two other interesting places to go: La Alameda park and the first Sanborns franchise restaurant ever built which is nicknamed "los azulejos" (the tiles in spanish because the building is covered in typical mexican tiles, hard to miss). The Sanborns has a giftshop like any other Sanborns and a rather large restaurant. I personally reccomend Las Enchiladas Suizas with the red sauce if you wish to eat there to blend in with us chilangos. This Sanborns is just a block away from Bellas Artes.

The Alameda park is on to the left of Bellas Artes and it's a very funny place indeed. It's the place where maids go out on dates with their construction worker boyfriends on weekends (just look for the hilarious hairdos haha). It's an easily reachable place from downtown without the touristy feel since tourists generally don't go there. They sell pretty good corn on a stick too.

Hrmmm.. Dunno what else you'd like to see from that area of downtown Mexico City. In the subway station PINO SUAREZ which is next to the Zocalo station you can see an Aztec building dedicated to the god Éecatl (god of wing), but with the exception of the destroyed Templo Mayor pyramids next to the Zocalo, there aren't many other pyramid artifacts in the downtown area.

You could spend the 20 minutes by subway going to the Tlatelolco subway station from the Zocalo area (albeit I warn you, that subway line is always infested with people, expect to be packed in there like a sardine in smothering heat >_<). It has interesting pyramids, interesting socially based apartments architecture of the 1970's and it was the place of the famous 1968 student slaughter which has a large sentimental value to mexicans. Sadly the famous Tree of the Sad Night no longer exists.

Another interesting quick subway trip (on the same hideous subway line I just mentioned) can take you to the HOSPITAL GENERAL station. That hospital was fully destroyed in the 1985 earthquake, what's there now was built afterwards. Since it's not a tourist spot, you can't even enter the hospital without a medical appointment, but there's some shops outside of it that sell really nice indian clothing on weekdays.

The next subway station CENTRO MEDICO is in front of the hospital Siglo XXI, another major public hospital heavily affected by the earthquake but it wasn't destroyed, most of the building is unchanged and you can at least enter the main plaza and take a look around. It has some wicked cool statues and murals.

I wouldn't bother suggesting you anywhere else to go because this is probably all you'd be able to see of Mexico City in 1 day. Even suggesting you to go to the Chapultepec castle might take too much time. And forget about visiting the CU university campus because you just won't have the time sadly.

Don't worry about using the subway, it's the cheapest in the world. 2 pesos as a flat fee for any distance isn't too bad considering some stations are always infested with people at any given hour.

Can't say much about worthy tourist spots of Cuernavaca because the times I went there were to relax and swim in the pool, never for actual tourism. Not much to do there anyways, you'll see it's a very small city.

Answer 2

its easy take a taxi to the bus station in  LA SELVA, the bus line name is PULMAN DE MORELOS. and if my memory does not betray me it cost around 6 dlls, and theres a bus to Mex City every 15 min, i don´t think they sell you the round trip though,

Once in the bus Station in Mexico City (TERMINAL DE CAMIONES DEL SUR TAXQUEÑA) you can take the subway(metro) to move around the city cost only  20 cents or 2 pesos for every ride.  you can go Zocalo in Downtown visit Templo Mayor, the cathedral and other museums,

Tip.- In Mexico city try not to go north or east of the main square in Down town, since if you walk long enough you'll end up in some of the worst and dangerous neiborhoods in the city.

After that you can get into the subway again and travel to the Chapultepec station, and ask for the antropology museum, the Castillo de Chapultepec. Walk on Reforma Ave to get to this places.

Also there is a two stores bus call Turibus, you can take that right infront of the Auditorio Nacional, close to some high rise hotels.....

In Cuernavaca visit Palacio de Cortes, Jardin Borda, Sumiya,  the corious market just beside Palacio de Cortés, try to take a small trip to Tepoztlan, and enjoy the beautiful weather in the many houses with great gardens and swiming pools in there.

Hostels one in Mex city is just behind the cathedral, you can see it from the main square.

Hostels in Cuernavaca i don´t know

Answer 3

In addition to the very good information above, you can also visit Tepoztlan. It is a nice little town about a 30 min ride from Cuernavaca. On Saturdays and Sundays there is an open market along the main street, lots of crafts and interesting things! There is a museum and some ancient ruins on top of the Tepozteco mountain (1 hour hike to the top).

You can take a direct bus at the Mercado, in downtown Cuernavaca, or along Zapata avenue. But it takes a long time to reach Tepoztlan, since it makes a lot of stops along the way. You can also hire a taxi from a Sitio de taxis, and agree on a fee. I guess it would be about 150 pesos one way, so you might want to go with a couple of friends to share costs. You will need someone who speaks Spanish to make the deal.

In Cuernavaca, have a drink in Las Mañanitas restaurant, in a beautiful garden with peacocks! The restaurant is very expensive, but you can have a tequila at the bar for the same  price as any other place.

Sorry not to have hostel information, but look under "learning Spanish in Cuernavaca". Lots of students come here, so there must be decent places to stay.

Enjoy!