The city is at 5300 feet. Travelers need to be sure and drink plenty of water during their first days in Cuernavaca in order to prevent dehydration and to help their body's adjustment. However, bottled water is readily available and inexpensive. Major brands of bottled water include Electropura, Cosmopura, and Delosangeles. Cuernavaca is a safe city where people are able to walk the streets without fear.
Resort towns are nothing new to Mexico.
Back when Cortes and his men arrived, they learned how the Aztecs escaped Mexico City's winter chill by spending the colder months in a town about 40 miles south, over the mountains. To Spanish ears, it sounded something like Cow's Horn, or Cuerno de Vaca. And that's how Cuernavaca got its name. People have been going there to escape the hustle of the capital ever since. When his adventuring days were over, Cortes chose Cuernavaca as the place to spend his old age.