Possessing shorelines on the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, Venezuela borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east and Brazil to the south, and is situated on the major sea and air routes linking North and South America. Off the Venezuelan coast are also to be found the Caribbean island states of Aruba, the Netherlands Antilles and Trinidad & Tobago.

Venezuela is home to the world's highest waterfall, Angel Falls, and the second longest river in South America, the Orinoco. It also has the longest Caribbean coastline. Venezuela is the world's fifth-largest oil exporter and has vast untapped reserves of natural gas. The country is also famous for its beautiful women, with more Miss World and Miss Universe titles than any other nation. With 2,800km of coastline, Venezuela is home to a wide variety of landscapes. The extreme north-eastern extensions of the Andes reach into Venezuela's north-west and continue along the northern Caribbean coast. Pico Bolívar, the nation's highest point at 4,979m lies in this region. The country's centre is characterized by the llanos - extensive plains that stretch from the Colombian border in the far west to the Orinoco River delta in the east.

Official Tourism Body: INATUR (0800-462-8871 - www.inatur.gov.ve)

EXCHANGE_RATE: 1 Euro = 3,310 Bolivares Fuertes
1 USD = 2.14 Bolivares Fuertes

Plug Shapes:
            
            

Though Venezuela is entirely situated in the tropics, its climate varies substantially; it ranges from humid low-elevation plains, where average annual temperatures reach as high as 28°C, to glaciers and highlands (the páramos) with an average yearly temperature of 8°C.

All personal belongings such as clothes and toiletries, as well as a computer, a camera and the like are all tax free. Don't even consider trying to take illegal drugs for yourself, or anyone else, across the border. It really isn't worth it.

Brazil – 11-3052-1397
Canada – 514-842-3417
Chile – 562-225-0021
Colombia – 571-640-1213
Costa Rica – 506-225-880
France – 01-4553-2998
Italy – 396-807-9797
Nicaragua – 505-2276-0267
Panama – 507-269-1244
Peru – 511-433-4511
Portugal – 351-213-573-803
Russia – 7095-299-4042
Spain – 349-1598-1200
UK – 44-207-584-4206
USA - 202-342-2214

Being largely Roman Catholic most of the public holidays in Venezuela are religious. They celebrate Christmas and New Year, and Easter is a very big thing here with carnival beginning two days before Ash Wednesday and then Semana Santa being celebrated from Palm Sunday to Easter.

The 19th April remembers the 1810 coup and the start of Venezuela's Independence. The Batalla de Carabobo, on the 24th June, celebrates the ensuring of Venezuelan Independence. The 24th July is Natalicio del Libertador, Simón Bolívar's birthday. Día de la Resistencia Indígena is celebrated on the 12th October, and, as like most other South American countries, the 1st November is All Saints Day.

Venezuela’s international country code is +58, the area codes are three-digits (plus an initial '0'), and phone numbers are seven digits long. Area codes beginning with '04' are mobile phones, while area codes beginning with ‘02’ are land lines. The international phone number format for Venezuela is +58-(area code without '0')-(phone number). To dial to another area code: (area code starting with '0')-(phone number). To dial to another country: 00-(country code)-(area code)-(phone number). Public payphones use pre-paid cards which cannot be recharged but are easily available in shopping centres, gas stations and kiosks. Phone boxes are common in the cities and do not accept coins. The vast majority are operated by the former state monopoly, CANTV, although some boxes operated by Digitel or Movistar do exist, particularly in remote areas. CANTV pre-paid cards can be used only in their booths. More popular today are the ubiquitous 'communication centres' or clusters of phone booths located inside metro stations, malls and shops in the street. Most of these communication centres are operated either by CANTV or Movistar, and offer generally cheap phone calls from a normal phone in comfortable booths equipped with a seat. A log is made of all your calls and you pay when exiting the store. Many street vendors or 'buhoneros' also offer phone calls from portable (antenna-based) land lines set up at improvised stalls. Callers are charged by the minute. Internet cafés, often incorporated in the above-mentioned 'communication centres' are increasingly common, and even small towns usually have at least one spot with more or less decent connections.

Directory inquiries/information is 113. A single emergency number – 171 - is used in most of the country for police, ambulance and firefighters.

Check that you have adequate cover on your health insurance policy. Ideally you need to be covered for an airlift to a hospital and also for an emergency trip home. Arranging a comprehensive insurance policy is the best thing you can do before you go away. Travellers to Venezuela are advised to obtain the following vaccinations; typhoid, yellow fever, cholera, hepatitis A, hepatitis B and hepatitis D.
You may also be required to have a chickenpox and measles vaccination too, so check this with your doctor. Malaria risk in the benign vivax form exists throughout the year in some rural areas of the Apure, Amazonas, Barinas, Bolívar, Sucre and Táchira states. The malignant falciparum form is restricted to certain jungle areas of Amazonas (Atabapo), Bolívar (Cedeño, Gran Sabana, Raul Leoni, Sifontes and Sucre) and Delta Amacuro (Antonia Diaz, Casacoima and Pedernales) states and is reported to be highly resistant to chloroquine in the interior Amazonas state. It is therefore recommended that you take chloroquine in vivax risk areas and mefloquine in falciparum risk areas.

You may get a bit of diarrhoea adjusting to the foods and liquids in Venezuela. You should preferably buy bottled water and not drink from the taps, but iced drinks and salads are generally fine. Be careful with expired foods, foods prepared on roadside stalls or anything that doesn’t smell right.

The main international airport is Simon Bolívar International Airport (locally known as Maiquetia airport), located in the Vargas state. It is approximately a 40-minute ride from Caracas. Buses are available during the day, otherwise you will have to get a taxi into the city. There are international flights to Maracaibo and Valencia and you can travel non-stop from the US and most major European cities. American Airlines offers daily flights from Miami, San Juan, Dallas and New York. Air Canada offers a non stop flight from Toronto twice a week. From Europe, there are non stop flights from Paris (Air France), Rome and Milan (Alitalia), Madrid (Iberia, Air Europa, CONVIASA), Frankfurt (Lufthansa), and Lisbon and Oporto (TAP). Aeropostal, CONVIASA, Avianca, Copa Airlines, TACA, Lloyd, LAN Chile and Aerolineas Argentinas provide flights from the rest of Central and South America.

It is possible to reach Venezuela from Colombia by bus or car. There are four possible border crossings but one, from Arauca to El Amparo de Apure, is extremely dangerous and is not recommended. The other routes are from Cúcuta to San Antonio del Táchira, the most popular route, from Maicao to Maracaibo, and the least popular but possibly most interesting route from Puerto Carreño to Puerto Páez. Remember the clocks go forward one hour once you've crossed the border from Colombia. You can travel from Brazil to Venezuela by road from Boa Vista to Santa Elena de Uairén, or you can do a river/road combination from Manaus via the Río Negro. This is a more difficult route that is only for the truly adventurous.

Travellers in Venezuela are obliged to carry identification. There are military checkpoints on many roads, so while travelling by car or bus keep your passport handy. The military presence is constant, yet is not usually cause for concern. There are no trains in Venezuela, which leaves three options for land travel inside the country: car rental, using buses and using cars-for-hire. Drivers in Venezuela are generally aggressive and unconcerned by traffic regulations. Thus, car rental is not recommended in general. The very cheap price of gas, however, makes this option fairly economical. The expensive part of renting a car will be the insurance. The bus system is extensive and extremely affordable. Bus terminals are hectic, but it is usually easy to find a bus to any major city leaving within a short time. The larger buses are usually air-conditioned to the extreme.

Buses are an easy and convenient way to get around the country. For smaller towns, there may not be regular buses. In such cases, one can use cars-for-hire, called "por puestos." These are typically old and run-down vehicles, but they are affordable. The main problem is that they typically wait to have a full car (4 or 5 passengers) before undertaking a route. The driver will usually try to convince you to pay for the extra passengers if you want to leave right away. The cars are popular, however, and one does not usually wait long for a car to fill up. Travel within cities is usually via taxi. Taxis are more expensive than any other form of transport, but still affordable when compared to North American or European equivalents. The taxis do not have meters and will charge more at night. This is normal in Venezuela and typically cannot be argued with. Aeropostal Alas de Venezuela, Santa Bárbara Airlines, Avior Airlines, Conviasa and Aserca Airlines are the major domestic airlines in Venezuela. Most cities in Venezuela are serviced by these airlines. Prices of tickets can vary between carriers so make sure you check out a few different airlines before you buy.

For international departures, the airport tax is around US$38 and there is also a departure tax of around US$15. These taxes are paid at the airport, although many airlines may already include these taxes in the price of the ticket so be sure to check. For domestic flights, the airport tax is US$5. Airlines may require passengers to present a valid Yellow Fever Vaccination Certificate before being allowed to board flights out of the country.