Venezuela
On the northern side of the plaza is the Museo Nueva Cádiz, named after the first Spanish town in South America, which was established around 1500 on Isla…
Must-see attractions in South America
Reserva Biológica de Montecano
Venezuela
This small wooded area, only 16 sq km, is the only remaining lowland forest on the Península de Paraguaná. Amazingly, it provides a habitat for 62% of the…
Hacienda La Victoria/Museo de Café
Venezuela
Just outside of Mérida and accessible by buseta is the Hacienda La Victoria/Museo de Café, an old coffee plantation in the town of Santa Cruz de Moro. It…
Venezuela
Venezuela’s longest and most magnificent cave is 12km from Caripe on the road toward the coast. Alexander von Humboldt, the eminent scientist, penetrated…
Venezuela
The 160-hectare Parque La Llovizna is on the eastern side of the Río Caroní. It has 26 wooded islands carved by thin water channels and linked by 36…
Venezuela
Casa Ramos Sucre is dedicated to a local poet, José Antonio Ramos Sucre, born here in 1890. Sucre’s poetry was well ahead of his time, and it was only in…
Basílica Catedral de Nuestra Señora de Coromoto
Venezuela
The most important religious monument is the Basílica Catedral de Nuestra Señora de Coromoto. It was constructed from 1710 to 1742, but the 1782…
Isla del Sol
From Cha’llapampa Village, the Chincana route runs parallel to the beach, climbing gently along an ancient route to the isthmus at Santiago Pampa (also…
Parque Nacional Laguna de la Restinga
Venezuela
This national park covers the lagoon and a large mass of mangroves riddled with narrow, labyrinthine channels at its western end. This is a habitat for…
Venezuela
Commonly called 'El Valle' (the Valley), this small town is Margarita's spiritual capital, home to the island's patroness, the miraculous Virgen del Valle…
Santuario Nacional de Nuestra Señora de Coromoto
Venezuela
The Santuario Nacional marks the holy site where the Virgen de Coromoto allegedly appeared in 1652. A cross was placed here after the event, and was later…
Caracas
The Museum of Colonial Art is considered one of the finest museums of its kind in Latin America. Housed in an elegant country mansion known as Quinta de…
Santuario de Madre María de San José
Venezuela
This saintly sanctuary, one block east of Plaza Girardot, is the most revered city site. Choroní-born Madre María (1875–1967) was beatified by papal…
Venezuela
In the barred pavilion on the plaza between the two churches, Iglesia de San Francisco and Iglesia de San Clemente, is the Cruz de San Clemente. This is…
Venezuela
A collaborative effort of photographers, graphic designers, biologists and scientists promoting ecotourism in Venezuela. Through its image bank,…
Complejo Cultural Teresa Carreño
Caracas
Rising like a gigantic concrete bunker across the street from Parque Central (and linked to it by a footbridge), the Complejo Cultural Teresa Carreño is a…
Venezuela
This is the only aeronautical museum in the country and well worth a look. There are about 40 aircraft on display, including four helicopters. Many are…
Flor de Venezuela aka Flor de Hannover
Venezuela
This was the nation’s contribution to the World Expo in Hannover, Germany in 2000. Created by local architect Fruto Vivas, the three-story glass-and-iron…
Venezuela
The mid-18th-century Convento de San Francisco no longer serves its original purpose as a convent. In 1825, Venezuela’s first college was opened here…
Venezuela
The small Museo Campesino Tiscachic has quite an interesting exhibition of crafts – mostly woodcarving, pottery and basketry – fashioned by local artisans…
Venezuela
A short walk north from the center is this museum, which is dedicated to Maracaibo-born General Rafael Urdaneta, the city’s greatest independence hero…
Venezuela
This sprawling salt-extraction site is run by Sacosal and includes three areas: the salinas naturales (natural salt lagoon; referred to as Unidad 1),…
Venezuela
Opposite the church in Guanare is a splendid two-story colonial mansion, one of the few buildings remaining from the Spanish period. It’s now home to the…
Iglesia de San José de Tucupita
Venezuela
The oldest building in town is the charmingly rickety-looking Iglesia de San José de Tucupita, the Capuchin mission church constructed in 1930. It…
Museo de Arte Alberto Henríquez
Venezuela
Situated diagonally opposite the Museo de Arte de Coro, in a great historic mansion, the Museo de Arte Alberto Henríquez has modern art – shows change…
Castillo de San Antonio de la Eminencia
Venezuela
The grandest and best-restored colonial structure in town is the coral-rock Castillo de San Antonio de la Eminencia, with good views over the city and…
Venezuela
Crowning the hill just north of town is the Fortín de la Galera. These days little remains of the colonial fort (destroyed by the Spanish royalist army in…
Venezuela
The colorful Teatro Municipal dates from 1880 and is a replica of one in Havana, Cuba. It’s a beautiful theater with 617 seats, two balconies and a huge…
Venezuela
This is a pre-Hispanic cemetery which was accidentally discovered in 1965. Numerous tombs and more than 26,000 pottery pieces have been excavated from…
Museo de Arte Contemporáneo Francisco Narváez
Venezuela
Porlamar’s only real tourist sight, very enjoyable and in a large, modern building in the town center. On the ground floor is an interesting collection of…
Isla del Sol
The small Cha'llapampa Museum contains artifacts excavated in 1992 from Marka Pampa, referred to by locals as La Ciudad Submergida (Sunken City). Among…
Museo de Arte Colonial y Costumbrista San Francisco de Asís
Venezuela
This museum has a bizarre, 30,000-piece private collection of old objects, including kerosene lamps, hospital beds, jukeboxes, crucifixes, chamber pots,…
Venezuela
Work on this monumental cathedral began in 1800, based on the plans of the 17th-century cathedral of Toledo in Spain, but it wasn’t completed until 1958,…
Venezuela
On the 100m-high hill to the south of the city sits this fort built in the 1760s to secure commercial operations. Reputedly the last colonial fort built…
Venezuela
The Casa de los Diablos Danzantes, one block down from the plaza, shelters a small museum with a collection of papier-mâché devil masks and photos from…
Venezuela
Standing in front of the airport terminal is the restored airplane of gold-seeker Jimmie Angel, who landed atop what was eventually named Salto Ángel …
Venezuela
The oldest building in Plaza Bolívar is the stylish Ateneo del Táchira, built in 1907 as the Sociedad Salón de Lectura. Today it hosts a cultural center…
Venezuela
Escape the heat with a stroll in the 52-hectare Parque Cachamay, a shady canopy of tropical trees dotted with blue morpho butterflies and scampering…
Venezuela
The Capilla del Calvario has a beautiful facade, a fine example of local baroque. Its simple interior features an interesting main retable, plus two side…
Venezuela
This recently remodeled plaza, in front of the cable-car station in the heart of Mérida, is a popular local place to hang out in the shade of the trees…
