Introducing Venezuela
Travel Alert: The UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office recommends against all travel to some areas and against all non-essential travel to others, please check with your relevant national government.
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While other South American countries are romanticized for the tango, Machu Picchu or Carnaval, Venezuela’s international reputation swirls around oil, the brash political style of President Hugo Chávez and the occasional international beauty pageant winner. However, there is so much more to Venezuela than these typical headlining issues. As a matter of fact, Venezuela is a country of staggering variety and remains a land that is greatly undervisited by international travelers.
The country claims Andean peaks; the longest stretch of Caribbean coastline to be found in any single nation; tranquil offshore islands set amid turquoise seas; wetlands teeming with caimans, capybaras, piranhas and anacondas; the steamy Amazon; and rolling savanna punctuated by flat-topped mountains called tepuis. The world’s highest waterfall, Angel Falls (Salto Ángel), plummets 979m from the top of a tepui in Parque Nacional Canaima. Those seeking adventure will find hiking, snorkeling, scuba diving, kitesurfing, windsurfing, paragliding and more. Even better, most of these attractions lie within a one-day bus trip or a short flight from each other. Those interested in culture can revel in the pulsating salsa clubs of the nation’s capital, Caracas, explore various regional festivals, look for arts and crafts in the bucolic towns of the interior, or check out some of the world’s best up-and-coming baseball players hit a few innings in a local stadium. Chávez himself, and his socialist ‘Bolivarian Revolution’ have become a national attraction and have started to draw spectators, aspiring documentarians and volunteers to the country.
Ready to go?
These tours & activities make it easy:
- Journey by river to the base of the Angel Falls
- Experience the Andes with a 15-day adventure in the Sierra Merida
Last updated: Jan 22, 2013
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Venezuela
Things to do
- All things to do (243)
- Activities (14)
- Entertainment (56)
- Restaurants (75)
- Shopping (34)
- Sights (62)
- Tours (2)
Make it happen
Our Top Picks For Venezuela
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1 Coro
Venezuela's colonial past endures in the gorgeous architecture of this coastal town
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2 Mérida State
A top area for outdoor adventure in South America, everything from trekking to mountain biking to whitewater rafting to paragliding is at one's fingertips
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3 Parque Nacional Henri Pittier
The country's first national park is still one of the best, with stunning beaches and excellent bird-watching opportunities
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4 Los Llanos
These grassy wetlands are Venezuela's prime wildlife-watching territory, teeming with giant anacondas, birds and caimans
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5 Amazonas
Explore some of the Amazon's least visited stretches in Venezuela's wild south
Fast Facts about Venezuela
- GDP growth rate (2006)
GDP growth rate (2006) : 8.8%
- Inflation (2006)
Inflation (2006) : 15.8%
- Unemployment (2006)
Unemployment (2006) : 8.9%
- Area
916, 050 sq km
- Population growth rate
1.9%
- Number of Miss Worlds won by Venezuelans
5
- Adult literacy
93%