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◆ Country guide · Northern South America

Venezuela, tepuis and Caribbean coast

The tallest waterfall on earth, a lightning storm that runs most nights of the year, and flat-topped mountains older than the Andes beside them. Venezuela holds some of the continent’s great landscapes behind some of its hardest logistics, and a trip here is planned around both.

28.6M

People

979 m

Angel Falls

UNESCO sites

Region

Arepa

Hallaca

Cachapa

Best months

Jan · Mar · Sep

Ideal length

10–14 days

Budget / day

$60–160

Language

Spanish

Getting around

Domestic flights

When to visit Venezuela

Two seasons that want opposite things: the coast is dry when the falls are thin.

Full month guide →

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Best: January and March on the coast and in the Llanos, September for Angel Falls without the crowds Peak: Carnival in February, Semana Santa in April, August, and the fortnight either side of Christmas Good: the shoulder months, wetter towards the south and cheaper everywhere Wettest: June, when the Llanos roads flood and the coast stays under cloud

Quick answer · where to go in Venezuela

Most visitors land at Maiquetía below Caracas, then choose among four trips. The Gran Sabana: Canaima for Angel Falls by light aircraft, and the six-day walk up Roraima. The Andes around Mérida, with the cable car to 4,765 metres. The Caribbean coast and the reefs of Los Roques. The Llanos for capybara, caiman and anaconda. The falls peak June to November, the coast December to April. Read your government's advisory first: it decides where your insurance holds.

Jump toMap Fun fact Stereotypes Famous faces Food FAQ

Fun fact

One number worth knowing

Guinness World Records recognises the mouth of the Catatumbo river, where it meets Lake Maracaibo, as the place with the highest concentration of lightning on earth: roughly 250 flashes per square kilometre a year, on up to 300 nights, in storms that can run for nine hours at a stretch.

Stereotypes, sorted out

The clichés you have heard, what is actually true, and how to behave once you land.

"Venezuela is closed to visitors."

The realityIt is not closed, and open does not mean safe. Flights reach Maiquetía from Madrid, Istanbul, Bogotá and Panama City, and specialists run Canaima, Roraima and Los Roques every year. Several governments advise against some or all travel, insurance is hard to place and consular help is thin or absent.

"The whole country is equally dangerous."

The realityRisk is intensely local. The Colombian border states, the mining areas south of the Orinoco and the worst city districts are in another category from Mérida, Los Roques or a lodge in Apure, so advisories split the country by state. Nowhere is risk-free. Ask which places, at which times, with whom.

"Angel Falls is a day trip."

The realityIt is a small expedition. No road: a light aircraft to Canaima, hours by motorised canoe up the Carrao and Churun rivers, a walk to the Laime viewpoint, and usually a night in hammocks under the falls. Three days is normal. The river needs water, so a dry-season visit may get only an overflight.

"Everything runs on oil money."

The realityIt ran on oil money. Venezuela holds the largest proven crude reserves of any country, and production still collapsed in the 2010s, taking the currency and public services with it. Visitors meet the aftermath: a dollar economy, unreliable power and water, quiet tourist sites, and millions abroad.

The arepa is ColombianEvery woman a beauty queenBaseball is a US importJust more of Colombia's AndesCaracas is nothing but riskJust like The Lost World

How to get it right

Greet before you ask. Buenos días comes first, then the question. Skipping it reads as rude in a way that carries across the whole country.
Talk politics carefully. Venezuelans discuss it constantly among themselves; a visitor volunteering an opinion, especially about the government, puts the person listening in a position they did not ask for.
Carry cash, in small notes and in dollars, and do not flash it. Splitting it between pockets and a bag is standard practice.
Take local advice on neighbourhoods and hours at face value. When a driver says not to walk a street after dark, that is information.
Photograph people only after asking, and not at all around military installations, checkpoints or the mining areas. Cameras attract attention you do not want.
Eat the arepa with your hands and the pabellón with the plantain, and let someone show you the order. Food is the fastest way into a conversation here.

Famous Venezuelan faces

The names behind Venezuelan politics, art, music, sport and science. Pick a field.

Simón Bolívar

Born in Caracas in 1783, liberator of six future nations, and the name on the currency.

María Corina Machado

Opposition leader awarded the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize for her work on democratic rights.

Gustavo Dudamel

El Sistema conductor, LA Philharmonic chief since 2009 and named to lead New York's.

Rómulo Gallegos

Novelist of Doña Bárbara (1929), and president in 1948 after the first free election.

Carolina Herrera

Caracas-born designer who launched her New York label in 1980.

Luis Aparicio

Maracaibo shortstop, Hall of Fame 1984, who made the position a Venezuelan speciality.

Baruj Benacerraf

Caracas-born immunologist, Nobel Prize in 1980 for how genes govern the immune response.

Andrés Bello

Caracas-born grammarian who shaped Latin American Spanish and wrote Chile's civil code.

Carlos Cruz-Diez

Kinetic artist whose colour floor at Maiquetía is the first Venezuelan art visitors meet.

Jesús Rafael Soto

Kinetic sculptor from Ciudad Bolívar whose Penetrables are forests of rods you walk into.

Armando Reverón

Painter of Macuto whose white-period canvases are Venezuela's best-known modern works.

Carlos Raúl Villanueva

Architect of Caracas's Ciudad Universitaria, a modernist campus UNESCO listed in 2000.

Édgar Ramírez

Actor from San Cristóbal, Emmy-nominated for the title role in Carlos.

José Antonio Abreu

Founded El Sistema in 1975, the public youth orchestras that taught hundreds of thousands.

Simón Díaz

Folklorist of the tonada llanera. His Caballo Viejo is the root of Bamboleo.

Miguel Cabrera

Triple Crown in 2012, the first in 45 years, with over 3,000 hits and 500 home runs.

José Altuve

Second baseman from Maracay, American League MVP and multiple batting champion.

Pastor Maldonado

The only Venezuelan to win a Formula One grand prix, at Barcelona in 2012

Teresa Carreño

Pianist touring at eight, who played for Lincoln at the White House in 1863.

Francisco de Miranda

The precursor: fought in two revolutions, designed the flag, led the 1811 republic.

Antonio José de Sucre

Bolívar's ablest general, victor at Ayacucho and first president of Bolivia.

Óscar D'León

El Sonero del Mundo, the Caracas salsa singer who took Venezuelan salsa to Cuba.

Humberto Fernández-Morán

Inventor of the diamond knife that made thin-section electron microscopy routine.

Must-try Venezuelan food

Maize, black beans, cane sugar and one of the world's great cacaos. Pick a category.

Arepa

Griddled maize cake, split and filled. Order a reina pepiada or a dominó.

Hallaca

Christmas parcels of maize dough and meat stew, boiled in plantain leaves by the hundred.

Cachapa

Sweet corn pancake folded over soft queso de mano. A Caracas to Maracay roadside classic.

Asado negro

Beef round browned in caramelised sugar until nearly black, then braised slowly.

Casabe

Flat, dry cassava bread baked the old way. Standard upriver and in the Gran Sabana.

Tequeños

Cheese batons wrapped in pastry and fried. No Venezuelan party goes without.

Empanadas

Maize dough, deep fried, filled with cheese, shredded beef or, on the east coast, cazón.

Mandoca

Fried ring of plantain and maize sweetened with papelón, eaten with cheese in Maracaibo.

Quesillo

Venezuelan caramel custard, denser than flan and full of small holes.

Pabellón criollo

Shredded beef, black beans, rice and fried plantain. Add a fried egg and it is a caballo.

Perico

Eggs scrambled with tomato, onion and sweet pepper. The standard breakfast arepa filling.

Pargo frito

Whole fried red snapper with tostones. Lunch on any beach from Choroní to Mochima.

Cazón

Small shark stewed with sweet pepper and onion, the classic coastal empanada filling.

Dulce de lechosa

Green papaya slow-cooked in cane sugar with cloves, served cold at Christmas.

Golfeado

Sweet dough wheel rolled with papelón and aniseed, topped with white cheese while warm.

Chocolate de Chuao

Prized cacao from Chuao, a village west of Choroní reached only by boat.

Papelón con limón

Raw cane sugar in water with lime, over ice. The everyday soft drink.

Chicha

Thick, sweet rice drink dusted with cinnamon, sold from carts outside schools.

Ron venezolano

Denomination-of-origin rum. Tropical ageing makes a bottle taste older than its years.

Know before you go

The essentials for planning a Venezuela trip, advisories first.

Currency

Bolívar (VES), with US dollars in daily use

Prices are in bolívares, but cash US dollars settle hotels, tours and restaurants. Foreign cards rarely work, so carry clean, small notes and keep them safe. Ask your operator how to pay first.

Language

Spanish

Spanish is official, and English is rare outside the tour trade and Caracas business districts. More than 30 indigenous languages are official locally, Pemón among them. Bring a phrasebook.

Calling code

+58

Mobile coverage is good in the cities and patchy to absent in the Llanos, the Gran Sabana and Los Roques. Buy a local SIM in Caracas if you need data, and assume there is none at Canaima.

Power

120V, 60Hz, type A and B plugs

US plugs and voltage, so North American chargers work and European ones need an adapter. Blackouts are common: keep a power bank and a head torch in your day bag.

Emergency

911

911 for police, fire and ambulance, with response varying by state. Private city clinics, paid up front, handle anything serious. Evacuation insurance is essential; check it holds against advisories.

Travel advisories

Read yours before you book

Among the severest anywhere. The US has held Level 4, Do Not Travel, since 2019 and gives no consular help there. The UK advises against travel to parts. Advice shifts by state, so check yours.

Visas

Visa-free for many nationalities, not for all

Most EU, UK, Canadian and Australian visitors arriving by air get 90 days visa-free, extendable once. US citizens need a consular visa first. All need six months' validity, an onward ticket and funds.

Getting around

Domestic flights, charters and a hired driver

Most itineraries fly between regions, and Canaima and Los Roques are light-aircraft only. Avoid buses after dark. An operator or hired driver beats a rental car, given fuel supply and checkpoints.

Tipping

10 percent, often already on the bill

Restaurants usually add 10 percent service, and a little cash on top is normal. Tip guides, boat crews and Roraima porters separately, in cash.

Venezuela travel FAQ

Is it safe to travel to Venezuela?+

It carries some of the severest travel advice any government issues, and that is the starting point. The United States has held Venezuela at Level 4, Do Not Travel, since 2019 and cannot provide consular assistance inside the country; the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office advises against travel to parts of it and revises that regularly, most often around the Colombian border and the states south of the Orinoco. Risk is also intensely local: the border areas, the mining regions and the worst districts of the big cities are in a different category from Los Roques, Mérida or a lodge in Apure. Read the current text of your own government's advisory before you book anything, check whether your insurance stays valid if you travel against it, and go with an established operator. Do not improvise.

Do you need a visa for Venezuela?+

It depends on your passport. Citizens of most EU countries, the UK, Canada and Australia arriving by air are admitted without a visa for up to 90 days, extendable once. US citizens are not covered by that waiver and need a visa arranged in advance through a Venezuelan consulate, which is complicated by the state of relations between the two governments. Everyone needs at least six months of passport validity, an onward or return ticket and proof of funds. Confirm with a consulate before booking, because the list has changed more than once.

When is the best time to visit Venezuela?+

January to April for the coast, the islands and the Llanos, when it is dry and the wildlife concentrates around what water is left. June to November for Angel Falls, because the river run to the base needs the water and the falls themselves are a thread in a dry year. September is the closest thing to a compromise: the falls are still heavy, the August rush has gone and rates come down. Carnival in February and Semana Santa in April are the busiest domestic weeks of the year, and the fortnight either side of Christmas is the third.

How do you get to Angel Falls?+

By air and then by river, and no other way. Light aircraft fly into Canaima from Ciudad Bolívar, Puerto Ordaz and occasionally Caracas, and the camps around the lagoon are where every trip starts. From there it is several hours by motorised canoe up the Carrao and Churun rivers, then a walk of about an hour to the Laime viewpoint, usually with a night in hammocks at a camp beneath the falls. Three days is the standard trip. The canoe run needs enough water to be passable, so from roughly January to May you may see the falls only on the overflight.

What currency should you take to Venezuela?+

US dollars in cash, in small denominations, alongside whatever bolívares you pick up locally. The country settles in both, foreign cards are accepted in very few places, and international transfers are awkward, so most visitors arrive with the cash for the trip and keep it split between a bag and a pocket. Agree with your operator in advance what it wants to be paid in and whether that payment happens before you fly.

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