The tallest waterfall on Earth, an archipelago of hundreds of white-sand cays, flat-topped mountains among the oldest rock on the planet and a delta where people live on the water. All in a country that very few travellers visit, and that, for you, is the good part.
Venezuela is one of the most varied countries in South America and one of the least visited. There are no queues, no tour buses and no viewpoints where everyone takes the same photo. These are the places worth the trip, grouped by what you will find rather than by what you are supposed to see.
| Place | What it is | When to go |
|---|---|---|
| Canaima and Angel Falls | The tallest waterfall in the world, 979 m | June to November |
| Los Roques | Hundreds of white-sand cays in the Caribbean | All year |
| Mount Roraima | A six-day trek to the top of a tepui | December to April |
| The Llanos | Wildlife safari: capybaras, caimans, anacondas | December to April |
| Mérida and the Andes | One of the highest cable cars in the world and the páramo | All year |
| Orinoco Delta | Warao communities living on the water | All year |
| Morrocoy | Cays and mangroves ten minutes from the coast | All year |
| Choroní | Cloud forest running down to the Caribbean | All year |
| Margarita Island | The big island: kite, beaches and colonial forts | All year; windier January to August |
| Paria Peninsula | Mountains dropping into the sea, and cacao | All year |
| La Tortuga | An island with no residents and no electricity | All year |
What you will not see anywhere else
Canaima and Angel Falls. 979 metres of falling water and no road to get there. You fly in, travel upriver by dugout canoe and finish on foot. The water falls from so high that much of it turns to mist before it reaches the ground. To go up the river it needs to be high, so here the season matters more than anywhere else.
Mount Roraima. Six days of trekking to a plateau of rock some two billion years old, at 2,810 metres. It is the mountain that inspired Conan Doyle's The Lost World, and the summit looks like another planet. It is not technical, but it is demanding and there are rivers to wade, which is why it is climbed in the dry season.
The Orinoco Delta. Channels travelled by canoe to Warao communities who have lived on the water, in stilt houses, for thousands of years. It is not a village staged for tourists: it is a place where life goes on as it always has.
The Caribbean almost nobody has seen
Los Roques. A national park of white-sand cays forty minutes by small plane from Caracas. It is the destination we are asked for most and the one that surprises people who already know the Caribbean: here the beaches are empty for real.
Morrocoy. Cays and mangroves ten minutes by boat from the coast. It is the accessible Caribbean: you get there by road and sleep on the mainland.
La Tortuga. An island with no residents, no hotels and no electricity. There is nothing here, and that is exactly the plan.
Margarita Island. The big island: El Yaque for kite and windsurf, La Restinga lagoon by boat, the sunsets of Juan Griego and the colonial forts.
Choroní. The cloud forest of Henri Pittier National Park runs from the mountains straight down to the Caribbean. A fishing port, beaches reached by boat and the cacao of Chuao, among the finest in the world.
The Paria Peninsula. The far east of the country: mountains that drop into the sea, coves only reachable by boat and cacao haciendas.
Mountains and wildlife
Mérida and the Andes. The Mukumbarí cable car climbs to 4,765 metres, making it one of the highest and longest in the world, facing Pico Bolívar, the highest peak in the country at 4,978 metres. Above it, the páramo of frailejones. This is Venezuela with cold weather, the last thing anyone expects.
The Llanos. South America's safari: capybaras, caimans, anacondas and hundreds of bird species a few metres away. In the dry season the water recedes and the animals gather around the remaining pools, so you see them without searching.
How many places fit in one trip
The temptation is to see everything. In practice, a two-week trip fits three destinations, four at most, and it works better combining different things, such as a tepui and an island, or wildlife and mountains, rather than three beaches in a row.
One thing to know before planning: not everything can be combined in any month. Angel Falls needs high water and Roraima needs the dry season, so they rarely fit in the same trip. Angel Falls and Los Roques, on the other hand, are the combination we are asked for most.
Before you decide
If all this leaves you with one question in the back of your mind, we answer it plainly in is Venezuela safe? And if you already know where you want to go, internal flights, permits, accredited local guides and lodging are what we organise for you, with someone in Venezuela available 24 hours a day. Write to us on WhatsApp and tell us what you have in mind.
