Plan your trip to Venezuela

Venezuela lies in South America on the Caribbean Sea north of Colombia and Brazil. Mostly hot and humid, the land stretches from the Andes Mountains and Maracaibo Lowlands in the northwest through central plains to the Guiana Highlands in the southeast. In 1522, the first permanent Spanish settlement in South America, Nuevo Toledo, was established in what would become Venezuela, though the area was overlooked in favor of those producing gold and silver. Independence was achieved in 1821 under the leadership of Simón Bolívar, first along with what would become Colombia, Panama and Ecuador in the Republic of Gran Colombia, then in 1830 as its own sovereign country.

One of the major draws for most visitors in Venezuela is Angel Falls in the Guiana Highlands, the world’s highest waterfall. Situated in Canaima National Park, the falls send water plummeting uninterrupted over 2,600 feet. While many travelers simply pass through the capital of Caracas on their way to other destinations, the city does offer some sights of its own. Cable car rides to the top of Mount Avila provide panoramic views of the city. Parque Los Chorros has the only natural waterfall in a capital city park and the Galeria de Arte Nacional offers more than 4,000 pieces of Venezuelan art.