Must-See Tourist Attractions in Venezuela

Published on January 17, 2026 and written by Cyril Jarnias

Long reduced to a few clichés about its crisis, Venezuela remains one of Latin America’s most spectacular countries for those interested in vast landscapes, indigenous cultures, and history-laden cities. From Angel Falls to the coastal desert of Coro, from the coral islands of Los Roques to the Andean peaks of Mérida, the country concentrates a diversity of landscapes that is hard to match. By exploring its national parks, deltas, and colonial towns, one discovers a territory where nature and culture are in constant dialogue.

Angel Falls and Canaima National Park

It’s hard to talk about tourism in Venezuela without starting with Angel Falls, the world’s highest waterfall. Nestled in the heart of Canaima National Park, in the Gran Sabana region, this 979-meter-high cascade, with an 807-meter free fall, seems to spring directly from a vertical wall of Auyán-tepui, one of those mysterious table-top plateaus typical of the south of the country.

Angel Falls gets its name from the American pilot Jimmie Angel, who was the first to fly over it in the 1930s. However, the region had long been known to the Pemón, an indigenous people who inhabit these high-altitude savannas and call the waterfall Kerepakupai Merú. This indigenous name is one that some political figures have tried to bring back into prominence, without the international name Angel Falls disappearing altogether.

The final part is done on foot, along a trail of about half an hour to the viewpoint at the foot of the falls. During the rainy season, from June to November, the curtain of water is so powerful that a cloud of mist envelops the valley. In the dry season, from January to April, the waterfall may shrink to a thin stream, but access to the pool for swimming is often easier and the sky clearer for photography.

The Gran Sabana and the Tepuis: Roraima, Kukenán, and Others

Around Angel Falls, Canaima National Park extends over some 30,000 km², an area comparable to Belgium. Two-thirds of this territory is covered by tepuis, these immense sandstone mesas that rise like natural fortresses. Among them, Mount Roraima is arguably the most famous. Located on the border with Brazil and Guyana, it peaks at about 2,600 meters, protected on all sides by 400-meter-high cliffs.

In the 19th century, he discovered a natural ramp allowing him to reach the summit of Roraima without technical climbing, guided by the Pemón. Since then, the hike to its “table” has become a trekking classic, accessible from Santa Elena de Uairén and the community of Paraitepuy.

Everard Im Thurn, British botanist

On the summit platform, the landscape literally evokes a lost world: labyrinths of rocks sculpted by erosion, natural pools nicknamed “jacuzzis”, valleys covered in quartz, dark ponds, geological curiosities like “La Ventana” or “Maverick Rock,” the highest point. The isolation of this environment has fostered the evolution of endemic species: carnivorous plants, ferns, bonnetias, small amphibians like the famous Roraima toad that rolls into a ball to tumble down rocky slopes.

The Gran Sabana as a whole—grassy valleys, waterfalls like Aponwao (Chinak Merú), rivers tinted red by minerals—makes up a sort of showcase of the most spectacular aspects of the Guiana Shield. It is also a sensitive zone, exposed to threats from illegal gold mining and infrastructure projects contested by local communities.

To give an idea of the scale and singularity of this region, we can summarize some key data in a table.

Site / Feature	Main Characteristic	Approximate Key Data
Canaima National Park	2nd largest park in the country, UNESCO-listed	~30,000 km²
Angel Falls	World’s highest waterfall	979 m high, 807 m free fall
Mount Roraima	Iconic tepui, at the triple border	2,600 m altitude, summit ~31 km²
Gran Sabana	Region of savannas and tepuis in the southeast	Included in Canaima, millions of hectares

The Mérida Cable Car and the Venezuelan Andes

At the other end of the country, in the western Andes, another world record attracts travelers: the Mérida Cable Car, also called Mukumbarí. Connecting the university city of Mérida to the heights of Sierra Nevada National Park, it holds the title of the world’s highest cable car, with a terminus at 4,765 meters above sea level at Pico Espejo. It is also one of the longest, with a total route of 12.5 kilometers divided into four successive sections.

From the cabins, you can take in the Mérida valley, the gorges of the Chama River, and neighboring peaks like Pico Bolívar, the country’s highest point at nearly 4,978 meters. Upon arrival, the Pico Espejo station offers panoramic platforms, some dining services, and a small museum on the history of the cable car. The effects of altitude are noticeable: it’s not uncommon to have to walk slowly, as the air is thin.

The combination of height and distance makes the Mukumbarí a sort of condensed version of the Venezuelan Andes accessible in a few hours. You go from the urban atmosphere of Mérida to the snowy ridges of Sierra Nevada National Park effortlessly, making it one of the country’s most spectacular and well-organized tourist sites.

To place this cable car in relation to other major sites, we can compare some figures.

Attraction	Type	Approximate Maximum Altitude / Distance
Mérida Cable Car	Andean cable car	4,765 m at Pico Espejo, 12.5 km journey
Pico Bolívar	Highest summit	~4,978 m altitude
Pico Naiguatá (Cerro El Ávila)	Summit above Caracas	~2,765 m altitude

Around Mérida, other sites complete the picture: Sierra Nevada National Park itself, the Sierra de La Culata, the Llano del Hato astronomical observatory, the city’s markets, and its botanical garden. But for a first visit, the ascent to Pico Espejo remains the unmissable experience.

Los Roques: The Picture-Perfect Caribbean Archipelago

A radical change of scenery with the Los Roques archipelago, north of Caracas. Here, no mountains or tepuis, but a constellation of islands, islets, and sandbanks set on a vast turquoise lagoon. This ensemble of more than 300 emerged formations is encircled by two long reef barriers that form a sort of giant atoll, protected as a national park since the 1970s.

The inhabited heart of the archipelago is the island of Gran Roque. You almost always arrive by small plane from the capital or other coastal cities: the airstrip, recently expanded, is just a few minutes’ walk from the village. With its sandy streets, its low houses transformed into charming posadas, and its lighthouse perched on a 130-meter hill, Gran Roque serves as a base for daily excursions to other islets.

Los Roques has long been renowned for the quality of its reefs, among the best preserved in the Caribbean: about sixty coral species have been identified, more than 280 fish species, a great variety of sponges, mollusks, and crustaceans. The Thalassia seagrass beds serve as nurseries for young fish and sea turtles. Four species of threatened turtles also come here regularly to lay eggs: green turtle, loggerhead, hawksbill, and leatherback, especially on Dos Mosquises Island, which also houses a dedicated research and conservation center.

To grasp the ecological importance of this string of islands, some values are telling.

Natural Feature	Order of Magnitude / Characteristic
Number of islands / islets	~350 formations (islands, cays, sandbanks)
Land area	~40.6 km²
Marine park area	Approximately 220,000 ha (nearly 900 km²)
Central lagoon	~400 km² of shallow waters
Coral species	~60 to 70 recorded
Bird species	~90 species, including ~50 North American migrants

Touristically, Los Roques operates according to a particular model: the vast majority of visitors stay in the posadas of Gran Roque, often on a full-board basis, and organize sea trips, borrowing of masks and snorkels, or rental of diving and kitesurfing equipment with their hosts. A few sailboats also offer cruises with overnight stays on board. Camping is possible but very regulated and marginal.

Protected since the 1970s, the archipelago is subject to strict regulations regarding fishing and visitation. A limited number of professional fishermen are allowed, some iconic species like the conch are subject to moratoriums, and the most sensitive areas are reserved for scientific research. Despite pressures (coral bleaching, lack of surveillance resources), the whole is still considered one of the last relatively intact major reef systems in the Caribbean.

Morrocoy: Mangroves, Beaches, and Birds of the Central Coast

On the mainland coast, a few hours’ drive west of Caracas, Morrocoy offers a more accessible but just as photogenic version of the beach-coral reef combination. This national park, located in Falcón State, covers approximately 320 km² of land and sea in the Gulf of Triste. It encompasses low hills, coastal lagoons, extensive mangroves, seagrass beds, and a myriad of cays.

One of Morrocoy’s great assets is the mosaic of mangroves bordering its channels. These amphibious forests harbor a remarkable avifauna: flamingos, roseate spoonbills, scarlet ibises, herons, pelicans, frigatebirds, parrots, etc. This ensemble has earned the park the label of an Important Bird Area. Underwater, coral reefs and seagrass beds host tropical fish, crustaceans, sea turtles, and sometimes even manatees and dolphins, although the latter are more elusive.

We can summarize the main differences between the country’s two major marine parks as follows:

Criterion	Los Roques	Morrocoy
Main Access	Light aircraft (Caracas → Gran Roque)	Road (Caracas → Tucacas / Chichiriviche)
Type of Visitors	More selective, focused on stays in posadas	More mass tourism, strong national clientele
Main Environment	Open offshore atoll, deep reefs	Coastal bay, lagoons, mangroves, cays
Dominant Accommodation	Posadas, sailboats	Hotels, posadas, rentals, day trips
Environmental Pressures	Fishing and resource management	Urbanization, pollution, overcrowding

For travelers, Morrocoy represents a more flexible option in terms of budget and logistics, while still allowing you to enjoy surprisingly beautiful beaches and observe rich wildlife, especially during boat rides at sunrise or sunset in the mangrove channels.

The Orinoco Delta: Immersion with the Warao

In the east of the country, where the Orinoco, one of South America’s largest rivers, flows into the Atlantic, extends an amphibious world of more than 30,000 km² made of river branches, channels, swamps, and flooded forests: the Orinoco Delta, also called Delta Amacuro. This aquatic labyrinth, larger than Belgium, is home to the Warao people, whose name literally means “canoe people.”

Tourism in the delta has developed in a very limited way, around a few isolated lodges accessible by boat from embarkation points like San José de Buja or inland towns like Maturín. Structures like Orinoco Eco Camp or Orinoco Delta Lodge have been designed to incorporate some Warao architectural codes (palafitos, leaf roofs, hammocks), while offering a minimum of comfort: beds with mosquito nets, common areas, showers, sometimes electricity to charge camera batteries.

The delta is one of the places where you feel most strongly the Amazonian dimension of Venezuela: dense jungle, abundant insects, changeable weather, a sense of being at the end of the world. It is also a fragile ecosystem, subject to pressures: animal and timber trafficking, increasing poverty of local populations, effects of the national crisis. Medical NGOs, like Doctors Without Borders, have carried out health programs there, a sign of the difficulties in accessing care.

For travelers willing to accept a certain degree of rusticity, the Orinoco Delta nonetheless offers an experience hard to reproduce elsewhere: that of a stay in the midst of almost intact nature, sharing a few days of the daily life of a people who have, to this day, adapted their way of life to an extreme environment.

Mochima National Park: Between Mountains and the Caribbean Sea

Still in the east of the country, but further north, Mochima National Park forms a long strip of protected coastline between Puerto La Cruz and Cumaná, over nearly 50 kilometers of coast. Created in the 1970s, this marine park covers nearly 95,000 hectares, including 32 islands and a portion of the coastal mountain range that literally falls into the sea.

The villages of Santa Fe or Mochima often serve as starting bases, with simple posadas, fish restaurants, and the possibility of renting boats for the day. Excursions combine swimming, dolphin watching (especially near Isla de Plata), exploration of sea caves like Cueva del Pirata, stops at iconic beaches like Playa Colorada, recognizable by its reddish-tinged sand, or Playa Blanca, very popular with families.

As elsewhere, park management faces challenges: presence of villages within the boundaries, infrastructure projects like roads or gas pipelines, limited resources for surveillance. Yet, for many travelers, Mochima remains the very image of an accessible “little Caribbean paradise”: relaxed atmosphere, welcoming inhabitants, favorable weather much of the year, opportunities to combine beach, hiking, and discovery of local culture.

Coro and Its Port: Colonial Heritage on the Edge of the Desert

Venezuela is not just its natural landscapes. On the coast of Falcón State, the city of Coro and its port of La Vela constitute one of the country’s most important heritage ensembles. Founded in 1527 as Santa Ana de Coro, the city is the second oldest in Venezuela, after Cumaná. It was successively the bridgehead for German ambitions in South America, the first capital of the Captaincy General of Venezuela, and the seat of the first bishopric on the South American continent.

Listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1993, Coro and its port owe their exceptional value to a remarkably preserved urban fabric of earthen architecture. Houses in bahareque (a mix of mud, wood, and bamboo), rammed earth walls, adobe bricks, wooden frameworks: the palette of construction techniques reflects a skillful blend of local, Spanish (notably Mudejar), and Dutch influences, the latter arriving from the neighboring islands of Curaçao and Aruba.

The historical dimension is not limited to the colonial period. It was from La Vela that the expedition of Francisco de Miranda departed in 1806, carrying the tricolor flag that would become the model for the flags of Venezuela, Colombia, and Ecuador. It was also around Coro that slave rebellion movements were born and, later, the Federal War, which deeply marked the country’s political history.

Coro also illustrates the fragility of earthen heritage faced with exceptional rains, rising water tables, and poorly controlled urban planning. Following episodes of abnormally intense rainfall in the 2000s, many buildings were damaged, prompting UNESCO to inscribe the site on the List of World Heritage in Danger. Management plans, emergency funding, and mobilization of local communities have been put in place to try to halt the degradation.

A Mosaic of Sites, the Same Complexity

The sites mentioned — Angel Falls and Canaima, Roraima and the Gran Sabana, the Mérida Cable Car, Los Roques, Morrocoy, the Orinoco Delta, Mochima, Coro and La Vela — are just a sample of what Venezuela can offer. Together, they cover an impressive range of ecosystems: tropical forests, high-altitude savannas, Andean mountains, coral reefs, mangroves, deltas, coastal deserts, and colonial cities.

For the traveler, these sites nevertheless remain places of rare power, provided the country is approached with preparation, caution, and respect. The overall security situation requires getting information from specialized operators, favoring better-managed zones and circuits—Canaima, Mérida, certain marine parks—and going through local guides, often from indigenous communities like the Pemón or Warao. But those who overcome these logistical obstacles find in Venezuela something increasingly rare: the feeling of discovering immense landscapes still largely preserved, and cities where history never really stopped.

Whether you’re drawn to vertiginous waterfalls, mythical plateaus, coral islands, amphibious forests, or the cobbled streets of old cities, the must-see tourist sites in Venezuela map out a country where natural grandeur, cultural diversity, and contemporary complexity intersect. A difficult country, undoubtedly, but unforgettable for those who take the time to immerse themselves in it.