La Guaira Venezuela
Venezuela
Frequently Asked Questions
At the port of La Guaira, Caracas's main maritime outlet since colonial times, at the foot of the Coastal Range. The cranes and containers of the modern port stand alongside the bell towers of the old quarter: two centuries facing each other across a fence.
About forty minutes by mountain road. The Coastal Range raises a green wall over 2,000 metres high between the shore and the valley where the capital sits: this vertical geography governs the whole shape of the call.
It is strongly advised on this call. Both the historic centre visits and the climb to Caracas are done within guided excursions, which simplifies transport, language and orientation in a destination without mass tourism.
The Casa Guipuzcoana, a sturdy eighteenth-century building with wooden balconies, headquarters of the Basque company that controlled the cocoa trade, the region's founding wealth. Around it, stepped alleys, weathered facades and small squares, dominated by the cathedral of San Pedro Apóstol.
Fort San Carlos, a star-shaped work completed in 1769, and Fortín El Vigía, a perched lookout taking in both the Caribbean Sea and the roofs of the old centre. They were raised against the buccaneers who raided this coast, and today they offer the best viewpoints of the day.
Plaza Bolívar, heart of the colonial grid, with the equestrian statue of the Liberator, and the house where Simón Bolívar was born in 1783, a few streets away. Depending on the tour, the day may include the cable car climbing the flanks of the Ávila, the city's guardian mountain.
A plunging view over Caracas on one side and the Caribbean Sea on the other, depending on the cloud caught on the ridges. It is the clearest way to understand why the capital and its port live back to back, separated by a mountain.
The historic centre and the forts amply fill that window and avoid the uncertainties of the mountain road. Caracas needs a full day: allow forty minutes each way before the first visit even begins.
Spanish and the bolívar, Venezuela's currency; the US dollar also circulates widely in the country. Bring cash: electronic payment is not reliable for a passing visitor.
December to April, the dry season, when the mountain road is safer and the Ávila ridges more often clear. Liners are rare on this coast: those that venture here find a country almost untouched by mass tourism.
