Touristically speaking, South America´s sixth largest country should be a star, thanks to its considerable offerings in ecotourism, adventure, beaches, and culture. Instead, it ranks below not just neighbors like Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, and especially Brazil, but even the likes of Paraguay. But even before the fateful rise of Hugo Chávez and his “Bolivarian”/Chavista movement to power in 1999, tourism to Venezuela was almost an afterthough – fairly marginal in an economy which relied overwhelmingly on oil, and since ´99 not only has that marginalization and reliance on oil continued, but conditions on the ground have worsened, especially since 2013, with rampant corruption and major deterioration in infrastructure, consistency of service, reliability of transportation, and health and security conditions.
After further blows delivered by the COVID pandemic in 2020, a slow, uneven recovery seemed to take hold as of 2021. But then during the final months of 2025 most international airlines scaled back or suspended service to Caracas due to the U.S. attacks on Venezuelan boats in the Caribbean Sea (although Copa has since resumed flights from Panama, as has Wingo from Bogotá, and other international airlines are eyeing a return this February or March). And now in 2026, the chaos and turmoil in the aftermath the shock January 3 removal of Chavez´ successor Nicolás Maduro by the United States has added an extra layer of chaos on all of this. Most major international governments are very clear in advising against visiting Venezuela due to crime, instability, and even risk of arbitrary detention.
So yes, things are looking undeniably grim for tourism here at the moment. And the future is murky, as the still-Chavista dictatorship struggles to reassert its political authority and maintain a modicum of security. But if Venezuela ever were to get its act together, it has much to offer, starting with these nine places:
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