Welcome to Venezuela!

Venezuela is a country on the northern coast of South America with diverse natural attractions. Along its Caribbean coast are tropical resort islands including Isla de Margarita and the Los Roques archipelago. To the northwest are the Andes Mountains and the colonial town of Mérida, a base for visiting Sierra Nevada National Park. Caracas, the capital, is to the north.

Discover the Wonders of Venezuela with Opulent Routes

Opulent Routes proudly presents an array of meticulously curated Venezuela tours, offering an extraordinary exploration of this South American jewel. Our tailored experiences and Venezuela tour packages invite you to unravel the country’s diverse landscapes, rich culture, and natural marvels.

Tailored Venezuela Tours for Enriching Experiences

Experience Venezuela’s splendor through Opulent Routes’ intricately designed tours. Traverse the majestic Andes, delve into the Amazon rainforests, and bask in the serenity of the Caribbean coastlines. Our tours encapsulate the essence of Venezuela’s diversity, ensuring an immersive journey through its bustling cities and breathtaking natural wonders.

Bespoke Venezuela Tour Packages for Unparalleled Adventures

Indulge in a curated Venezuelan odyssey with Opulent Routes’ bespoke tour packages. Immerse yourself in the rhythm of Caracas, explore the mysteries of the Orinoco Delta, and witness the awe-inspiring grandeur of Angel Falls, a true marvel of nature. Each package is meticulously crafted to offer an authentic and captivating exploration of Venezuela’s cultural and natural heritage.

Expert Guides for Enlightening Encounters

At Opulent Routes, our knowledgeable guides accompany you on an insightful exploration of Venezuela. Gain profound insights into the country’s history, traditions, and ecological treasures as our experts lead you through iconic landmarks and lesser-known gems, ensuring a deeper appreciation of Venezuela’s diverse tapestry.

Comfort Amidst Venezuela’s Beauty

Your comfort is paramount amidst the exploration of Venezuela’s stunning landscapes. Opulent Routes selects accommodations that seamlessly blend luxury with natural beauty, providing a serene haven after days filled with adventure and cultural immersion.

Craft Your Personalized Venezuelan Adventure

Tailor your Venezuelan adventure with Opulent Routes’ diverse range of tour packages and customizable options. Create a personalized itinerary aligned with your interests, allowing you to savor the essence of Venezuela at your own pace.

Book Your Venezuelan Expedition Today

Embark on an extraordinary journey through Venezuela’s wonders with Opulent Routes’ meticulously curated tours and bespoke packages. Discover the richness of this captivating country with expertly crafted adventures.

Experience the allure of Venezuela with Opulent Routes’ tailored tour packages. Book now and immerse yourself in the diverse beauty of this enchanting destination.

History of Venezuela

The earliest inhabitants of Venezuela were food-gathering Indians who arrived in the Upper Paleolithic Period. Arawak and Carib Indians were prominent among the groups that arrived later. Nomadic hunting and fishing groups roamed the Lake Maracaibo basin, the Llanos, and the coast. The most technologically advanced Venezuelan Indians lived in farming communities in the Andes.

 

The colonial era
Christopher Columbus arrived in what is now Venezuela in 1498, during his third voyage to the New World. European explorers named the region Venezuela (“Little Venice”) after observing local Indian houses on stilts over water. During the first quarter-century of contact, the Europeans limited themselves to slave hunting and pearl fishing on the northeastern coast; the first permanent Spanish settlement, Cumaná, was not made until 1523. In the second quarter of the 16th century, the centre of activity shifted to the northwestern coast, where the Welser banking house of Augsburg, Germany, purchased exploration and colonization rights. The Germans failed to find precious metals and to occupy the area permanently, however, and Spain repossessed the zone in 1546. Legends of El Dorado (“The Golden One”) drove explorers into the Venezuelan interior, perhaps including the Spanish adventurer and renegade Lope de Aguirre, who is said to have attacked several villages there. The Englishman Sir Walter Raleigh sailed up the Orinoco River in search of the fabled city of gold reportedly ruled by El Dorado. Raleigh described his adventure in The Discoverie of Guiana (1596).

In the latter half of the 16th century, Spanish agriculturalists began to colonize the region by using encomiendas (semifeudal grants of land and Indian labourers). Caracas was founded in 1567, and by 1600 more than 20 settlements dotted the Venezuelan Andes and the Caribbean coast. During the 17th and 18th centuries, various Roman Catholic missionary orders gradually took over the Llanos and Maracaibo regions.

The colonial economy was based on agriculture and stock raising. Corn (maize), beans, and beef were the domestic food staples; sugar, cacao, tobacco, and hides were the principal exports. Spain’s European rivals (initially the French and English, followed by the Dutch) succeeded in taking over most of Venezuela’s commerce until the early 18th century, when Spain established a monopoly trading company. The interests of the latter, however, proved contrary to those of Venezuelan producers, who forced dissolution of the company during the 1780s.

Venezuelan society during the colonial era was headed by agents of the Spanish crown. Royal bureaucrats monopolized the top governing posts, and Spanish clergymen dominated the high church offices. However, Creoles (white descendents of Europeans born in the Americas) owned the land and other forms of wealth, and they used their power to hold the nonwhite races in bondage: mestizos (persons of mixed European and Indian ancestry) and mulattoes (of European and African ancestry) were generally without property, social status, or political influence; Indians performed forced labour on interior farms or were segregated on marginal lands; and black Africans were slaves on the coastal plantations. In theory, Venezuela was governed by the Spanish crown through the Audiencia of Santo Domingo in the 16th and 17th centuries and through the Viceroyalty of New Granada (at Bogotá) from its incorporation in 1717. In practice, however, the Venezuelans exercised some regional autonomy during the colonial era.

 

The independence movement
A group of Venezuelan Creoles boldly proclaimed their country an independent republic in 1797. Although their effort failed, it forewarned of the revolutionary movements that were soon to inflame Latin America.

In 1806 Francisco de Miranda—who had earlier fought under George Washington against the British, served as a general in the French Revolution, and fought with the French against Prussia and Russia—tried unsuccessfully to land on the Venezuelan coast with a group of mercenaries whom he had recruited in New York City. Revolutionary leaders recalled him to Gran Colombia four years later to take charge of a ruling junta, which drafted a constitution and established an independent nation. In the ensuing war with royalist forces, however, Miranda signed an armistice with Spain. Other revolutionary leaders viewed this action with contempt, and Miranda was subsequently turned over to the Spaniards, who sent him first to Puerto Rico and later to Spain, where he died in prison in 1816.

Early in 1813 the revolutionary junta appointed Simón Bolívar commander of the Venezuelan forces. Bolívar, a wealthy Creole landowner born in Caracas in 1783, had many reverses in his war against the Spanish. His forces were opposed by large royalist armies including a cavalry unit of llaneros (cowboys of the Llanos frontier), who were under the command of José Tomás Boves. In 1815 the Spanish general Pablo Morillo landed with an expeditionary force that spearheaded the reconquest of much of New Granada. Morillo administered the region in a heavy-handed fashion, however, and many of the Creole elites who had initially supported him soon conspired for his defeat. Llaneros and blacks also deserted the royalist cause and joined Bolívar, whose army was further augmented by a legion of British and Irish mercenaries; the new republican government of Haiti also sent aid. The Republic of Gran Colombia, with its capital at Bogotá, was proclaimed on December 17, 1819, with Bolívar as president. On June 24, 1821, Bolívar’s troops, reinforced by llanero cavalry under General José Antonio Páez, defeated the main royalist army at the Battle of Carabobo. The last of the royalist forces surrendered at Puerto Cabello on October 9, 1823. The following year Bolívar’s army marched south to liberate Peru, and in 1825 it freed Upper Peru (Bolivia) from Spanish rule. Venezuelans suffered greater casualties and endured more privations during the wars than did any other Latin American national group, because of the ferocity of battles on their own soil and the large number of Venezuelan troops who carried the struggle to other regions.

People of Venezuela

Immigration and ethnic composition
Venezuela is a country of immigrants. About two-thirds of the population is mestizo (of mixed European and Indian ancestry) or mulatto-mestizo (African, European, and Indian); about one-fifth of Venezuelans are of European lineage, and one-tenth have mainly African ancestry. The native Indian population is statistically small.

Prior to 1948 Venezuela had never openly encouraged non-Hispanic immigration, except for selective influxes of merchants, sailors, and entrepreneurs from neighbouring West Indian islands. As the petroleum industry grew, however, the government attempted to attract a wider range of people. During a 10-year period of open immigration (1948–58), Venezuela recruited agricultural and skilled workers from Spain, Italy, and Portugal; at the same time migration from Colombia to Venezuela also increased. Approximately one million immigrants entered the country during that time, although many of them eventually returned home. After 1958 the government tightened immigration controls to favour foreigners with high-level skills, yet during the 1960s Colombian labourers continued to move into the rural sector as replacements for Venezuelans who were leaving farms for the cities.

The government again shifted immigration policies in response to the mid-1970s petroleum boom, because there was a large demand for semiskilled and skilled labour in all sectors of the economy. At the same time, professional and technical workers and their families were leaving Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay because of political instability and persecution there, and many of them relocated to Venezuela. After 1976 the government again tightened its controls on immigration from other South American countries, instead favouring professionals from the United States, Italy, Spain, and Portugal. Throughout that period of relative prosperity and economic expansion, the volume of illegal immigration (mainly unskilled workers and their families) matched that of legal entry. Most illegal immigrants came from Colombia, with smaller numbers arriving from Brazil and other neighbouring countries. Prior to the extended economic downturn of the 1980s, as many as 1.5 million undocumented Colombians resided in Venezuela, and more than a decade later hundreds of thousands remained. The influx of foreigners generated xenophobic sentiments in the late 1980s.

Ethnic groups are commonly identified with particular regions. Venezuelans of largely European and mestizo ancestry are concentrated in the major cities of the north. Peoples of African ancestry and mulatto-mestizo groups predominate along the Caribbean coast. Many mestizos from the highlands are physically distinct from those of the lowlands because of the different levels of intermarriage between Hispanic and Indian populations in the two regions. The Indian minorities survive mainly in the sparsely inhabited interior—three-fifths live in Zulia state (primarily in the forests near Lake Maracaibo), one-seventh inhabit Amazonas state in the far south, and smaller numbers live in such remote areas as the Guiana Highlands and the Orinoco delta region in the east. According to government estimates, there are some 38 distinct Indian peoples within Venezuelan territory. The Goajiro (Wayuu) are the largest indigenous group, followed by the Warao (Warrau).

 

Demographic trends
Venezuela’s 20th-century population growth was among the most rapid in Latin America, averaging nearly 3 percent annually during the period 1970–95. This increase was prompted by high birth rates, declines in mortality rates, and successive waves of immigration. The population growth rate has declined significantly, however, since the early 1990s. After World War II Venezuela’s mortality rate began to drop as advances in medicine and technology combated malaria, yellow fever, and other ailments; in addition, hygiene and diet were improved, and housing conditions were upgraded. While birth rates remained at high levels, mortality rates, which had been as high as 30 per thousand before 1920, dropped below 10 per thousand by the 1960s. Since that time the mortality rate has stabilized, and demographic changes have been mostly influenced by immigration rates and by reductions in fertility levels, which nevertheless have remained relatively high. Between one-half and three-fifths of the population is under 30 years of age. Life expectancy rates have also been rising, a trend contributing to rapid population growth.

 

Languages
The Indian groups speak more than 25 different languages, most of which belong to three linguistic families—Cariban, Arawak, and Chibcha. Spanish is the national language of the majority. Local idioms, colloquial phrases, and simplified verb usage distinguish Venezuelan Spanish from other Latin American and Iberian variants. In Caracas and other major commercial centres, English is often favoured in business communications, and private schools in Caracas encourage bilingualism. The presence of English-speaking professionals in the oil centres and in the major cities has made English the country’s most popular second language.

 

Religion
Freedom of religion in Venezuela is guaranteed by the constitution, although the vast majority of the people are at least nominally adherents of Roman Catholicism. Religious tolerance is generally observed. Various Protestant sects form the largest minority group, and there are small groups of Jews and Muslims. Some Indian peoples continue to practice their traditional religions, but many have converted to Catholicism, especially those in settlements clustered around riverside mission stations. The Roman Catholic church is officially apolitical, but many priests and bishops have become involved in political events, some by espousing liberation theology and agitating for socioeconomic reforms, and others by reacting against liberal or radical government policies.

Cultural Life of Venezuela

Daily life
As Venezuelans moved from the countryside to the cities, they developed a modern urban lifestyle; large middle-class neighbourhoods developed alongside burgeoning poor ranchos. Many middle- and upper-class Venezuelans acquired wealth from oil in the 1950s–70s, which enabled them to travel easily, especially to the United States, and to own cars and houses. The economic downturn since the 1980s has interrupted that easy lifestyle, however, and poverty has grown.

In Venezuela the admixture of African, European, and Indian cultural traditions is often called criollo (Creole), although that term in most Latin American contexts denotes people of European ancestry. Venezuelans boast criollo foods, dances, and, especially, music. National foods include arepa (a cornmeal bread) and hallaca (sweet cornmeal dough cooked in banana leaves). Other typical foods include passion fruit and tamarinds, tequeños (cheese pastries), pabellón (a stew of beef, rice, and black beans served over fried plantains), and pulpo (octopus) cooked in citrus juice. During the pre-Lenten Carnival more elaborate dishes are served, such as paella and talcari de chivo (“kid stew”). Locally produced beer and rum are popular, as is coffee served in many different styles, each with its own name reflecting the amount of milk added to the coffee.

Although North American music is popular and widespread in Venezuela, the Caribbean salsa and merengue forms are also commonly heard. The national Venezuelan folk dance and musical style is the joropa, but each region of the country has its own distinctive musical expression. (See also Native American arts: Northern South America.)

 

The arts
Since the 1920s the government has promoted artistic expression as a way to maintain cultural autonomy in the face of foreign influences. As greater freedom for writing and publishing was granted, a flourishing national literature emerged. Rómulo Gallegos, who became Venezuela’s best-known writer, was part of this nationalistic wave, gaining international recognition for his novel Doña Bárbara (1929). Such painters as Armando Reverón and Manuel Cabré also expressed nationalistic fervour. The architect Carlos Raúl Villanueva won international acclaim for his design of the Central University in Caracas, which featured asymmetrically arranged buildings complemented by freestanding murals and sculpture.

The state-supported Venezuelan Symphony Orchestra is highly popular, and its repertoire also reflects a spirit of nationalism. Also of great pride is the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra in Caracas, which boasts some of the country’s best young musicians. Some of these musicians are recruited from a comprehensive orchestral training and music education program known in Venezuela as El Sistema (“The System”). The program, which was created in the 1970s, offers hundreds of thousands of children from underprivileged and at-risk communities the opportunity to play in youth orchestras throughout the country, and each state in Venezuela has at least one professional youth orchestra.

 

Cultural institutions
Most of Venezuela’s major cultural institutions are located in Caracas. The Museum of Fine Arts (founded in 1938) houses a large collection of paintings and sculptures by both Venezuelan and foreign artists. Other museums include the Museum of Colonial Art, housed in an 18th-century mansion, and the Science Museum Foundation (founded in 1875 as the National Museum), which contains exhibits on archaeology, anthropology, and other disciplines. Among the noteworthy museums outside Caracas are a museum of pre-Columbian artifacts in Ciudad Bolívar and the Museum of Military History in Maracaibo. The most important book collections are at the National Library (1883) in Caracas, which holds more than two million volumes, including many rare books. The modern Teresa Carreño Theatre provides a forum for international and national music and dance performances.

National Parks in Venezuela

The Swiss biologist Henri Pittier was the first to point out the ecological problems in Venezuela and the necessity to protect the country’s ecosystems. Thanks to his pioneering efforts, the national park system was born. In 1935, the mountainous land along the northern coast owned by the dictator Gómez became available after his death and was used to found Venezuela’s first national park. Originally Rancho Grande, the park has been known as the Parque Nacional Henri Pittier since 1953. Today, Venezuela has 43 national parks.

Asia Luxury Holidays

Luxury Holidays in Armenia
Luxury Holidays in Azerbaijan
Luxury Holidays in Bangladesh
Luxury Holidays in Bhutan
Luxury Holidays in Cambodia
Luxury Holidays in China
Luxury Holidays in Cyprus

Luxury Holidays in Georgia
Luxury Holidays in Hongkong
Luxury Holidays in India
Luxury Holidays in Indonesia
Luxury Holidays in Israel
Luxury Holidays in Japan
Luxury Holidays in Jordan
Luxury Holidays in Kazakhstan
Luxury Holidays in Lebanon
Luxury Holidays in Laos
Luxury Holidays in Macau
Luxury Holidays in Myanmar
Luxury Holidays in Mongolia
Luxury Holidays in Maldives
Luxury Holidays in Nepal
Luxury Holidays in Oman
Luxury Holidays in Philippines
Luxury Holidays in Qatar
Luxury Holidays in Russia
Luxury Holidays in Sri Lanka
Luxury Holidays in Singapore
Luxury Holidays in South Korea
Luxury Holidays in Taiwan
Luxury Holidays in Thailand
Luxury Holidays in Tibet
Luxury Holidays in Uzbekistan
Luxury Holidays in UAE
Luxury Holidays in Vietnam

Caribbean Luxury Holidays

Luxury Holidays in Aruba
Luxury Holidays in Anguilla
Luxury Holidays in Antigua
Luxury Holidays in Barbados
Luxury Holidays in Bahamas
Luxury Holidays in BV Islands
Luxury Holidays in Cuba
Luxury Holidays in Cayman
Luxury Holidays in Dominica
Luxury Holidays in Dominican
Luxury Holidays in Grenada
Luxury Holidays in Haiti
Luxury Holidays in Jamaica
Luxury Holidays in Montserrat
Luxury Holidays in Martinique
Luxury Holidays in Puerto Rico
Luxury Holidays in Saint Lucia
Luxury Holidays in St. Kitts
Luxury Holidays in Trinidad
Luxury Holidays in USV Islands

Europe Luxury Holidays

Luxury Holidays in Albania
Luxury Holidays in Austria
Luxury Holidays in Andorra
Luxury Holidays in Belarus
Luxury Holidays in Bosnia
Luxury Holidays in Bulgaria
Luxury Holidays in Croatia
Luxury Holidays in Cyprus
Luxury Holidays in Czech
Luxury Holidays in Denmark
Luxury Holidays in Estonia
Luxury Holidays in Finland
Luxury Holidays in France
Luxury Holidays in Germany
Luxury Holidays in Greece
Luxury Holidays in Hungary
Luxury Holidays in Iceland
Luxury Holidays in Ireland
Luxury Holidays in Italy
Luxury Holidays in Lithuania
Luxury Holidays in Luxembourg
Luxury Holidays in Malta
Luxury Holidays in Moldova
Luxury Holidays in Monaco
Luxury Holidays in Montenegro
Luxury Holidays in Netherlands
Luxury Holidays in Norway
Luxury Holidays in Poland
Luxury Holidays in Portugal
Luxury Holidays in Romania
Luxury Holidays in Sweden
Luxury Holidays in Serbia
Luxury Holidays in Spain
Luxury Holidays in Switzerland
Luxury Holidays in Turkey
Luxury Holidays in Ukraine
Luxury Holidays in UK
Luxury Holidays in Vatican City

Africa Luxury Holidays

Luxury Holidays in Angola
Luxury Holidays in Algeria
Luxury Holidays in Botswana
Luxury Holidays in Benin
Luxury Holidays in Burundi

Luxury Holidays in Cameroon
Luxury Holidays in Chad
Luxury Holidays in Congo
Luxury Holidays in Comoros
Luxury Holidays in Cape Verde
Luxury Holidays in Djibouti

Luxury Holidays in Egypt

Luxury Holidays in Eritrea
Luxury Holidays in Ethiopia
Luxury Holidays in Gabon
Luxury Holidays in Ghana
Luxury Holidays in Kenya
Luxury Holidays in Lesotho
Luxury Holidays in Malawi
Luxury Holidays in Mayotte
Luxury Holidays in Mozambique
Luxury Holidays in Mauritania
Luxury Holidays in Madagascar
Luxury Holidays in Mauritius
Luxury Holidays in Morocco
Luxury Holidays in Namibia
Luxury Holidays in Nigeria
Luxury Holidays in Rwanda
Luxury Holidays in Sierra Leone
Luxury Holidays in Senegal
Luxury Holidays in Sudan
Luxury Holidays in Seychelles
Luxury Holidays in South Africa
Luxury Holidays in Tanzania
Luxury Holidays in Tunisia
Luxury Holidays in Uganda
Luxury Holidays in Zambia
Luxury Holidays in Zimbabwe

Americas Luxury Holidays

Luxury Holidays in Argentina
Luxury Holidays in Belize
Luxury Holidays in Bermuda

Luxury Holidays in Bolivia
Luxury Holidays in Brazil
Luxury Holidays in Canada
Luxury Holidays in Chile

Luxury Holidays in Colombia
Luxury Holidays in Costa Rica
Luxury Holidays in Ecuador
Luxury Holidays in El Salvador

Luxury Holidays in Falkland
Luxury Holidays in Guyana
Luxury Holidays in Guadeloupe
Luxury Holidays in Guatemala
Luxury Holidays in Honduras
Luxury Holidays in Mexico
Luxury Holidays in Nicaragua
Luxury Holidays in Panama

Luxury Holidays in Paraguay
Luxury Holidays in Suriname

Luxury Holidays in Peru
Luxury Holidays in Uruguay
Luxury Holidays in Venezuela

Proceed Booking