Museo Vivo


This interactive collection of live and mounted insects and other creepy crawlies is a giggly delight. You can join a continual circuit tour where you can cradle a tarantula, shoulder a snake, eat a meal worm and sniff at Mexican plants. Kids and adults are encouraged to rethink attitudes to nature – in Spanish, though interactive elements are universal.

From the zócalo, take Morelos south for nine blocks. From the criadero (trout farm), head to the main road Miguel Negrete, then two blocks west.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby attractions

1. Augustinian Convent

0.65 MILES

A well-restored 16th-century convent, fronted by a tranquil tree-lined yard, faces the zócalo. Impressive frescoes fashioned from herb- and flower-based…

2. Aztec Temples

0.73 MILES

An invigorating 358-step hike up the mountainside above Malinalco takes you to one of the country’s few reasonably well-preserved temples (even surviving…

3. Ixtapan Parque Acuático

13.29 MILES

This sprawling outdoor water park mixes curative thermal-water pools with waterfalls, water slides, a wave pool and a miniature railway.

4. Xochicalco

16.72 MILES

Atop a desolate plateau with views for miles around, Xochicalco is an impressive and relatively easy day trip from Cuernavaca that shouldn’t be missed. It…

5. Jardín Borda

17.09 MILES

This extravagant property, inspired by Versailles (though with mere park-like results), features gardens formally laid out in a series of terraces with…

7. Catedral de Cuernavaca

17.18 MILES

Cuernavaca’s cathedral, Templo de la Asunción de María is plain and solid with an unembellished facade. It stands in a large high-walled recinto (compound…

8. Museo de Arte Sacro

17.2 MILES

In the main cathedral of Cuernavaca is the small Museo de Arte Sacro, a museum (opened in 2018) displaying 92 pieces of religious paintings, ornaments and…