Venezuela

This oil-rich South American country's economy, politics, and society are an unholy mess thanks to rampant corruption and mismanagement. It´s a crying shame, because Venezuela possesses plenty of potentially alluring tourism offerings - including a buzzing big-city scene in Caracas, marvelous Caribbean beaches, mountain hiking, and unspoiled eco-tourism (for example, spectacular Angel Falls, the world's highest, is here). But thanks to high crime, widespread shortages, civil unrest, and political instability, most foreign offices advise their citizens against travel here, and most travel insurance companies will not cover it. So until such times as the situation improves, visiting this currently benighted country is sadly just too risky.

Cover photo: Steven Cruz

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Can tourism in Venezuela bounce back? If so, here are 9 of its top destinations

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…

A look at what it's like to travel in Venezeula now

Prolific and very popular travel vlogger Drew Binsky was one of the first travelers to Venezuela when it opened up post-COVID this past spring, and here's a video about his first impressions (first of several, shot over ten weeks), aided by a local vlogger and including frank assessments of how the "Bolivarian" Chávez/Maduro régime has fucked this beautiful country and its people over.

why in Venezuela on New Year's Eve do many down 12 grapes at midnight?

Find out on our blog

Comments

María José January 27, 2026 at 9:33am

Looks like Iberia and other international airlines are preparing to restore flights to Caracas suspended late last year https://www.travelextra.ie/airlines-await-safety-clearance-for-vene...

Airlines await safety clearance for Venezuela flights

Iberia, Air Europa, and Plus Ultra are poised to resume flights to Venezuela, awaiting a positive safety report from Spain's Aviation Safety Agency (…
José Balido January 25, 2026 at 11:40am

A question all of us in the travel space have been wondering https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/venezuela-off-the-t...

How Venezuela fell from the travel map – and when it might return
Riccardo R December 21, 2025 at 9:37am

UNESCO World Heritage geek here. Venezuela has three World Heritage Sites: Canaima National Park way down south, which includes the famous Angel Falls; the 16th-century colonial quarter of Coro, out on the western Caribbean coast; and maybe most curiously, the University City of Caracas, built in the 1940s and 50s and listed because of its modern architecture. https://whc.unesco.org/en/statesparties/ve/
Maria de los Angeles December 20, 2025 at 9:59am

Wow, between all the new pressure from the U.S. and an almost total suspension of international flights, Venezuela is really between a rock and a hard place at the moment https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/news/new-flight-suspensions-leave-...

MSN
Joseba Basabe May 7, 2025 at 12:53pm

Disgusting - ruining environments in a desperate pitch for tourism - and doomed to fail anyway https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/trying-attract-tourists-vene...
Jorge Carlos Tejada Sobrino December 5, 2024 at 12:15pm

Not surprising at all, given what a mess the "Bolivarian" dictdatorship has turned the country into: https://www.travelandtourworld.com/news/article/venezuela-tourism-i...

Venezuela Tourism Industry Struggles to Attract Global Visitors Despite Its Rich Heritage

Venezuela, a country blessed with stunning natural beauty and an abundance of resources, faces a complex challenge in its tourism industry.
Max Pesling May 31, 2024 at 9:18pm

Wow, the US State Department just issued its highest-level "do not travel" alert re Venezuela, citing crime, civil unrest, kidnapping and arbitrary enforcement of local laws, as well as the potential for wrongful detention and terrorism and the risk of poor health infrastructure. Sounds dires. https://www.al.com/news/2024/05/us-issues-do-not-travel-warning-for...

U.S. issues ‘do not travel’ warning for popular South American destination

The U.S. is warning citizens against traveling to a popular South American destination.
David Paul Appell August 5, 2023 at 9:33am

I visited Margarita Island way back in 1999 to write an article for Arthur Frommer´s Budget Travel because of the plethora good and cheap beach vacation options here. So it was sad to see this video from the Wilson Center - which doesn´t usually cover tourism - about how this destination has imploded, and how it´s symptomatic of Venezuela´s entire tourism industry: https://www.wilsoncenter.org/video/margarita-island-and-venezuelas-...

Margarita Island, and Venezuela’s Washed Up Tourism Industry
Helen Brown July 6, 2023 at 12:33pm

Wow, this sure sounds nice, from a black travel website I follow: https://travelnoire.com/los-roques-hidden-gem-caribbean

Los Roques, The Hidden Gem Of The Caribbean - Travel Noire

You want to visit the Caribbean , but you’re on the lookout for a quiet, undiscovered spot to unwind. Consider adding Los Roques to your travel...
José Balido October 25, 2022 at 9:38pm

Normally Lonely Planet is fairly adventurous and forgiving when it comes to destinations in the developing world. But even they currently not recommending travel here, despite its cheapness and the many amazing natural and other attributes of the country, because of the security situation: https://www.lonelyplanet.com/venezuela

Venezuela travel - Lonely Planet

Explore Venezuela holidays and discover the best time and places to visit.