Venezuela climate
Venezuela has a tropical climate. The temperature averages 25 degrees and it rains often, especially between the months of June and November. It’s extremely hot and humid in the southern and central parts of the country, where you’ll see lots of rain. It gets colder the higher you climb in the Andes Mountains.
When to fly to Venezuela
Peak season:
The dry season (December to April) is high season, taking in Christmas, February Carnival and Easter.
Off season:
Low season is the "wet" months of May through November.
Getting around Venezuela
Several commuter airlines link Venezuela including Aeropostal (Alas de Venezuela), Aero Ejecutivos and Sol America.
Bus lines such as Aeroexpresos Ejecutivos, Expresos Los Llanos and Rodovías offer decent services throughout the country.
Unsurprisingly for an oil-producing nation, petrol is cheap in Venezuela, making car rental a good option for travellers. All the major international car-rental companies are represented at airports.
Venezuela insider information
- There are more than 40 national parks in Venezuela including Parque Nacional El Avila, in Caracas. Avila Mountain can be reached by cable car or Teleferico, from which there are sweeping views of the city on one side, and the Caribbean Sea on the other. For mountaineering, hiking and rock-climbing, visit the Sierra Nevada de Merida in Sierra Nevada de Merida National Park.
- Angel Falls, the world’s highest waterfalls, is in Canaima National Park, southeastern Venezuela. The national park takes in three million hectares and about two-thirds of the park is covered by table mountain or tepui formations. Angel Falls, 978 metres (3,212 feet) high with an uninterrupted drop of 807 metres (2,647 feet) are named for Jimmy Angel, an American bush pilot who first caught sight of the falls in the 1930s. His stories about the falls were only believed when his plane crashed and he had to trek for 11 days to reach civilisation. His airplane was restored and now stands outside Ciudad Bolivar.
- Venezuela has amassed more Miss World and Miss Universe titles than any other country and has a very strong – some would say obsessional – beauty culture. Venezuelans are Latin America’s largest consumers of cosmetics on a per-capita basis. There is also a pageant for men – the Mister Handsome beauty pageant.
- Los Roques is a collection of almost 300 islands, north of La Guaira, Caracas' port. It has been a national park since 1972. El Gran Roque is the only populated island, but other important islands are Francisqui, Nordisqui, Madrisqui and Crasqui.
- La Gran Sabana is a region in the southeast of Bolivar state, south of the Orinoco River. Travelers described it as so wild and beautiful that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was inspired to write The Lost World about it.