Caracas
Venezuela · Distrito Capital · 900 m
Description
Caracas lies in a narrow valley at nine hundred metres with the wall of the Ávila rising more than a thousand metres straight up on its northern side, separating the city from the sea. A cable car climbs it in fifteen minutes to a ridge with the whole valley on one side and the Caribbean on the other. The Ciudad Universitaria was designed by Carlos Raúl Villanueva as a single work of modern architecture woven through with murals and sculpture, and UNESCO listed it in 2000. Bolívar is buried in the National Pantheon above the colonial centre. The metro opened in 1983 and still carries the city.
Length of stay
Recommended length of stay: 2 to 5 days (optimal 3 days)
Travel season
Best time to visit: December – April
- Jan
- Feb
- Mar
- Apr
- May
- Jun
- Jul
- Aug
- Sep
- Oct
- Nov
- Dec
Highlights
- Ávila cable car to the ridge
- Plaza Bolívar and the colonial centre
- Ciudad Universitaria de Caracas
- Panteón Nacional and Bolívar's tomb
- Casa Natal de Bolívar
- Hiking trails up the Ávila
- Museo de Bellas Artes and the arts complex
- Arepas and cachapas at the street stalls
- Mercado de Quinta Crespo
- Salsa and joropo bars after dark
- Colonia Tovar in the mountains west(Day trip)
Getting there
- Airports:
- CCS
- Train stations:
- Caracas