Travel Route: Venezuela - Western Loop 3 weeks

If you come for a couple of weeks you’re probably flying into the capital Caracas. Honestly speaking, Caracas is a rather uninspiring place and is not very safe. Our advice would be not to spend too much time here and go into the country instead as soon as possible. However, its nightlife rocks and I should say it’s definitely worth to stay a night in Caracas to experience its wild nightlife. Caraqueños sure now how to party and at nighttime clubs and bars in the Mercedes neighboorhoud turn upside down!!
 
From Caracas take a bus to the beach of Puerto Colombia (spectacular 2 hour ride through amazing Parque Nacional Henri Pittier with lush tropical vegetation and some amazing scenery. On your way to Puerto Colombia, salsa, reggaeton, and other popular music thunders out of the speakers. Cool!!

If you’re in a rush your next stop could be Coro, from where you can do a trip to the desert of Peninsula de Paraguana. Again, if you have time and if you would like big cities you could check out Maracaibo which is the center of Venezuela’s oil industry has boasting nightlife.

However, if you’re up for some more wonders of nature, rush on to Mérida which is located in the middle of the Andes. You could spend weeks here going on many spectacular trips and excursions, which allow you to see an the incredible variety of the surrounding landscapes. While here, make sure to do a trip to Los Llanos, which are endlessly seeming wetlands, boasting with wildlife. A totally different trip from Merida is a 2/3 day visit to Catatumbo on Lago (lake) Maracaibo. There is a special place around the southern tip of this lake where you can witness spectacular lightning almost every night of the year.
As you can see you can spend quite some time (and money) in Merida and I believe you should. Various mountaineering trips can be organized from here as well. Between trips you’ll find that Merida is a very pleasant place with great nightlife as well. There’s a place to go almost every night.

From Merida continue to Ciudad Bolivar from where you can arrange an absolutely unforgettable trip to Canaíma and Angels Falls, the highest waterfalls on earth.
This trip is wonderful and quite intensive as you get to see so many beautiful things in one day. As such you would want to relax on the beach for a couple of days before returning home. A good option would be to return to Puerto Colombia or to spend a few days in Isla Margarita or Archipelago Los Roques.

If you have more time you could also see the east of the country. See the eastern loop travelspec.

Visited hotspots

• Isla Margarita
• Angel Falls (Salto Angel)
• Lago Catatumbo (Catatumbo Lake)
• Los Llanos
• Mérida
• Puerto Colombia
• Ciudad Bolivar
• Caracas