Cuautla's main draws are its balnearios — thermal spring bath complexes — and its revolutionary heritage. The springs have drawn visitors since before the Spanish arrived; on weekends the balnearios fill with families escaping Mexico City. During the week you can have a pool nearly to yourself.
The historic center has colonial architecture and monuments to Emiliano Zapata, who was born in the nearby village of Anenecuilco and whose story is bound up with this city more than any other. The 1812 Siege of Cuautla and the 1911 Battle of Cuautla gave the city its official honorific — "La Heroica e Histórica Cuautla" — and you feel that pride in the murals, the monuments, and the museum that documents both events.