Sightseeing in Venezuela 2026: Personal Top 10
Published on April 14, 2026
In the spring of 2026, I visited Venezuela after the abduction of President Nicolás Maduro. Despite the events a few months earlier, things were largely calm, life felt safe, and aside from some difficulties with the armed authorities, it was a relatively easy trip.
Since the trip only lasted two weeks, I had to be selective about which attractions to visit. Here I present my top 10 sights in Venezuela, ranging from the socialist barrio 23 de Enero to the Caribbean beaches of Isla Margarita.
1. 23 de Enero
For many people, 23 de Enero in Caracas might not rank among the top sights in Venezuela. For me, however, this barrio is a real gem where you can gain a deep understanding of the political history of recent decades. What you will see: typical barrio houses alongside massive residential blocks built in the 1950s, inspired by the Swiss architect Le Corbusier.
At some point, 23 de Enero became a center of leftism and a political stronghold of the Chávez movement. Even his mausoleum is located between the high-rise buildings in the Cuartel de la Montaña 4F. The site is open Tuesday to Sunday from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. You can access for free, but you will be given a guide to bring you to the sarcophagus. Unfortunately, you cannot take photos inside. Reservations are not required.
Depending on the political situation, it can be relatively calm, allowing you to explore everything at ease. Above the modernist architecture, the murals are particularly impressive, mostly with an anti-imperialist tone. Besides tributes to Chávez, you’ll find large-scale depictions of Che Guevara, Bobby Sands from Northern Ireland, and references to Palestine. This makes 23 de Enero a place that strongly resembles communities like the Bogside in Derry.
➥ Learn more about my visit to Barrio 23 de Enero.
Opening Hours Mausoleum Hugo Chávez: Tue-Sun 09:00-16:00
Entrance: free
Website: https://hugochavez.ve/cuartel-4f-ofrece-visitas-guiadas/
2. Downtown of Caracas with Bellas Artes and Brutalist Architecture
You would expect colonial baroque architecture in the center of a Latin American metropolis. In reality, Caracas is full of brutalism as far as the eye can see. This architectural style in Venezuela traces back directly to Le Corbusier and was mainly introduced by architect Carlos Raúl Villanueva. Like other urban planners in cities such as Casablanca, he used Caracas as a laboratory of modernity, designing, among other things, the university, Plaza Carabobo, and the Museum of Fine Arts (Bellas Artes).
The Bellas Artes complex and its surroundings are a striking piece of architecture in the city center. Villanueva combined brutalist structures with neoclassical elements, such as the columns at the entrance. The museum itself is free to visit and displays modern and contemporary works. If you want something even more cutting-edge, head to the Museum of Contemporary Art (MACC), which features international modern classics and more experimental temporary exhibitions—also free of charge.
The Museum of Contemporary Art is located right next to the Parque Central complex and blends into the brutalist surroundings with its concrete structures. The area is dominated by two skyscrapers accompanied by massive residential blocks with slanted roofs, built in the 1970s - an extremely striking presence in the downtown of Caracas.
If you cross Parque de la Juventud and Parque Carabobo from here, you’ll reach a grid-like network of streets with mostly tall façades. Many display political messages - by March 2026, many of them related to the alleged abduction of President Maduro by the United States.
Food tip: A unique Venezuelan dish is cachapa - a thick corn pancake folded with mano or palmito cheese inside. It can also be additionally filled with slow-roasted pork or beef. My top spot in downtown Caracas is Doña Agapita, where cachapas cost between $8 and $12 (as of March 2026).
Opening Hours Bella Artes: Tue-Sun 10:00-16:00
Entrance: free
Website: https://www.instagram.com/museodebellasartes_ve/
Opening Hours MACC: Thu-Sun 10:00-16:00 Uhr
Entrance: free
Website: https://www.instagram.com/museodeartecontemporaneo_ve/
3. Joropo Music and Dances
By chance, I attended an event in Caracas honoring the recently half-paralyzed singer-songwriter legend Cecilia Todd, considered one of the great figures of traditional Venezuelan music. At age 75, she was carried onto the stage in a wheelchair. Like me, she listened to various joropo performances in the San Carlos Quarter, a former colonial prison.
Joropo is primarily a dance accompanied by a specific set of instruments: mandolins, cuatro guitars, maracas, and harps. Like with the Spanish flamenco in Granada, the songs were traditionally passed down orally and reflect life in rural regions.
The dances are energetic but follow certain patterns. Facial expressions and gestures are particularly striking in partner dancing: the dancers look deeply into each other’s eyes and appear flirty; while the men remain mostly expressionless, the women maintain a broad smile throughout the performance.
In 2025, joropo was added to UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage list; reason enough to seek out such performances when visiting Venezuela.
4. Tomb of Simón Bolívar and National Pantheon
Simón Bolívar, known as “El Libertador,” freed large parts of Latin America from Spanish colonial rule - that's why many people call him the George Washington of the Spanish-speaking world. He led independence movements in present-day Venezuela, Colombia, Panama, and Ecuador. Subsequently, there is a Bolívar Square in every Venezuelan city, even more so, since Hugo Chávez announced the state to be a Bolívarian Republic.
In Caracas, you can visit both his birthplace and his tomb. The latter is an imposing mausoleum that also serves as a national pantheon for important Venezuelan figures, though Bolívar remains the central focus. He is buried in a bronze sarcophagus in the Church of Santísima Trinidad, connected since 2013 to a vast ceremonial hall.
The complex houses numerous paintings and sculptures related to Bolívar’s life and other historical figures. Alongside Bolívar, people such as writer Cecilio Acosta, indigenous rebel Apacuana, independence officers José Francisco Bermúdez and Camelo Fernández, and former president Rómulo Gallegos are buried there. Hugo Chávez, however, has his own mausoleum in 23 de Enero.
If you want to know more about Simón Bolívar, you can also visit his birth house, which serves as the Museum Casa Natal del Libertador. It's open from Wednesday to Sunday between 9 AM and 4 PM.
Opening Hours Pantheon: Tue-Sun 09:00-16:30
Entrance: free
Website: https://www.instagram.com/panteonymausoleo/
Opening Hours Casa Natal del Libertador: Mi.-So. 09:00-16:00 Uhr
Entrance: free
Website: https://cneh.gob.ve/museo-casa-natal-del-libertador/
5. Maracaibo
Maracaibo was the first place I visited after entering Venezuela via Paraguachón. The country’s second-largest city lies near the Colombian border in the far northwest and is one of its most important oil ports. Most tankers leave Maracaibo via the large lake of the same name.
A great tip is to visit the Barrio Santa Rosa de Agua in Maracaibo, where mainly members of the indigenous Añú group live. They settled here for centuries in stilt houses, which is also what gave the country its name when the Italian explorer Amerigo Vespucci arrived: Venezuela, meaning “Little Venice.”
Today, the barrio is more of a poor area, even though it is gradually being upgraded. The city is increasingly cleaning up and removing plastic waste. On sunny days, terrace restaurants open on the stilts, mostly serving drinks but also food. I have to admit that I avoided fish dishes, mainly because of the pollution of the lake with oil and plastic waste.
Maracaibo itself also offers several other attractions. In the city center, you’ll notice a large number of churches, and the holy figure José Gregorio Hernández, a “doctor of the poor,” has become something of a city icon. It’s also worth visiting the House of Capitulation, which offers an informative tour (in Spanish) about Venezuela’s independence.
Food tip: What makes Maracaibo unique in Venezuela is its cuisine. I especially loved the patacones, which are flattened and fried plantains with a thick layer of meat and cheese in the middle. You can expand this combination almost endlessly if you like.
6. Isla de Margarita
Isla Margarita, along with Los Roques, is considered the holiday island of Venezuela. The island is about 5 hours from the coast by ship and impresses with beautiful sandy beaches as well as azure-blue sea. Those arriving by plane or ferry will first head to Porlamar, the capital. Here, you mainly see shops and military presence. Plaza Bolívar is quite nice, but most tourists continue to other towns.
Pampatar, for example, offers much better options for tourists. The beaches are a bit quieter but still well equipped, with beach bars, jet ski rentals, and boat tour operators. What I personally liked here was the street art—murals on walls and decorated lampposts give the town a cool, slightly hippie vibe.
Apart from Pampatar, you can visit other smaller beach towns such as El Yaque and Boca de Pozo. From here, hiking is also possible. Interesting excursion destinations include the pink salt ponds near Pampatar, the charming inland town of La Asunción, and the mountains of Cerro El Copey.
From Caracas, there are several daily flights to Porlamar. These are relatively inexpensive, starting at around $50 with companies like Laser Airlines or Avior. Checked baggage is usually included. The flight takes about 50 minutes.
Another option for reaching Isla Margarita is the ferry from Puerto la Cruz or Cumaná. There are several providers, such as Gran Cacique, Navibus, and Ahca, offering departures in the morning, afternoon, and even at night. The crossing takes about 5 hours and costs around $30. Paying this price by credit card was a bit of a challenge, and eventually, it didn't work.
7. Gold Mining Towns of Tumeremo and El Dorado
Triggered by a few TikToks, I suddenly had to choose: the Orinoco and gold mining towns, or the enchanting island of Margarita. I initially chose the former, and in the end, managed to visit both. What I had seen on TikTok was people paying in shops or for their coffee with gold. The gold was weighed, sometimes broken into smaller pieces, and accepted as a form of payment.
Could that really work? I wanted to try it myself and, due to the long distance, quickly booked a flight with Avior to Ciudad Guayana. From there, it was another 6-hour bus ride to Tumeremo. The best-known gold mining town, El Dorado, lies another 90 minutes deeper into the jungle.
Once I arrived, the search began. To my surprise, nothing in Tumeremo’s supermarkets was priced in gold, and I couldn’t find any scales either. At some point, I asked some of the gold dealers (recognizable by the “Compro Oro” signs). However, they weren’t willing to give me any gold flakes, and my plan seemed increasingly unlikely to fulfill.
Still, I managed to talk to a few shop owners, who at least partially confirmed that people do pay with gold here. To actually witness this, I was told I should hang around the butcher shops, as they are known for such transactions: "Offering meat, buying gold!” was even written in front of one store. The same applied to a few barbers.
In the end, I didn’t get to see this unusual method of payment myself. My tip would be to travel directly to El Dorado, stay overnight, and connect with hotel owners for more information. Some gold shops may also be helpful. As for me, I hitchhiked back to Ciudad Guayana that same evening; another 6 h journey home on an almost empty bus.
Getting There: from Ciudad Guayana, 5-6 h by bus or 4-5 h by car
Price: 15 USD bus, 40 USD Carro por Puesto (shared taxi)
Departure: Terminal Puerto Ordaz oder San Felipe
8. Colonia Tovar
Unfortunately, I found out about Colonia Tovar a bit too late. This German emigrant community, located at the foothills of the Andes, is only about 90 minutes from Caracas and therefore easy to reach. The ancestors of today’s residents arrived in the 19th century from the Black Forest, which is a bit unusual compared to other migration movements from Germany at the time. It was more common for Northern protestants to leave their homeland behind.
The origin of Colonia Tovar lies mainly in Kaiserstuhl in Southern Germany. Once they arrived in the New World, the settlers wanted to recreate their homeland and built traditional half-timbered houses. To this day, Alemannic traditions play an important role, including Fastnacht (carnival) with wooden masks, a custom you wouldn’t expect in Venezuela at all.
Music also plays an important role in Colonia Tovar. Many older residents still play the accordion. Over the centuries, Black Forest folk music has blended with local elements, especially maracas, creating a very unconventional mix.
Much of the culture today is performed rather than lived. Hardly any younger people still speak Alemannic German with a Spanish twist. Nevertheless, the German roots are actively promoted. Even in shops far away from the colony, you can find certain butter cookies labeled with the Tovar seal.
9. Salto Ángel
The highest waterfall in the world, almost one kilometer tall, is something you normally wouldn't want to miss. The problem is that Salto Ángel lies deep in the jungle and is difficult to reach, making it an expensive experience. The cheapest option I heard of was around $500, probably without flights but including a boat trip to the natural wonder.
The best deals are package tours that include accommodation and meals. For unforgettable views, a helicopter flight over the waterfalls is said to be a must if you have the budget.
After careful consideration, I decided it wasn’t really worth it for me. Of course, Salto Ángel is impressive, but I’ve already seen so many spectacular things in my life - from the tombs of Al'Ula in Saudi Arabia and the Fairy Meadows in the Pakistani Himalayas to the historic sites of Xi’an in China - that I felt I could skip it this time.
That said, if you have the budget or can find a good deal, you should definitely go for it.
10. Los Roques
The Los Roques archipelago is another highlight that requires a bit more money. The islands are located farther away from the mainland and can therefore only be reached by plane (or sailboat); there is no ferry connection.
What you’ll find there is a spectacular Caribbean world, not least with colorful coral reefs. Conditions for snorkeling and diving are said to be comparable to those in Ecuador’s Galápagos Islands. At the same time, the archipelago is now fairly well developed in terms of infrastructure, with numerous hotels, restaurants, and tour operators.
Alternative: A cheaper option for snorkeling in Venezuela is Tortuga Island, which lies closer to the mainland. The catch (or advantage) is that there are no accommodations, meaning you are completely immersed in nature. That means camping overnight and, hopefully, being ready for the underwater world the next morning.
How is the Situation in Venezuela in 2026?
Overall, the situation in Venezuela has been relatively stable in spring 2026, mainly because crime rates have decreased significantly over the years and, due to strong pressure from the United States, open repression is less likely.
However, you should still be cautious when dealing with authorities. Anti-drug units, SEBIN (intelligence service), the National Guard, and regular police may target travelers, search luggage and phones, and ultimately demand bribes, as I experienced while hitchhiking in Venezuela.
How Can I enter Venezuela in 2026?
The easiest way to enter Venezuela is via Caracas airport, although land borders are generally open as well. It is advisable to carry documents that appear well-planned and clearly demonstrate the purpose of your stay (tourism). When I arrived, I had printed hotel reservations for every day and outbound flight tickets from the country. Especially the first hotel booking covering at least four days should be in printed form.
