Venezuela Travel Forum

I am thinking about traveling to Venezuela for two weeks in early June. Yet, a Venezuelan friend, who lives in the US, told me that political situation and crimes are kind of out of control over there right now and doesn’t recommend me to visit Venezuela. How safe is Venezuela for a lone female traveler? If I travel to Venezuela, I would like to visit Angel Falls, Coro, Parque Nacional Mochima, Rio Caura and etc. I speak Spanish and consider myself an experienced independent traveler. I would appreciate any input you may have. Gracias!

I wish I could recommend it, It's a great place with nice people but even three years ago when we visited it it was not safe after dark. You speak Spanish and are expierienced so you might be OK, but the place was as close to anarchy as I would care to see and I think it has gotten worse.
Possibly a more recent visitor can help..

I travelled in Venezuela both in 2007 and 2008 and felt safe most of the time, but then I didn’t go out after dark in big cities. There is a lot of crime in the big cities. Last year when I visited a friend in Caracas she told me she had been robbed with a gun earlier the same week because she had a cheap necklace around her neck (and that was not the first time she had been robbed). A taxi driver in Maracay told me his car had been hijacked a few months earlier (at night time) and that was not uncommon at all. And when I visited in 2007 there had been a serious robbery of the night bus from Santa Elena a few days before I travelled the same route (with the day bus). Small places feel much safer.
Venezuela has many places with spectacular nature and you should really visit one day. If it hasn’t become even worse than when I visited I would visit again, but I would avoid the big cities and travel during the day.

The political situation is complex, but not out of control. People usually mistake this. As in every country, you have the Authority and those who oppose it. The fact is the Government tends to crush most of the Opposition activities in its effort to impose, iron-handedly, a new political, social system on the country. Crimes, yes, the crime rate has increased but determining why, and what's really happened could take so long for us to explain here. That's why the primary recommendation for travelers is: be careful, if not sure, don't go down there.

I live in Venezuela. The country has still marvelous places to visit: Angel Falls, Mochima, Canaima, Margarita, Coro, Pto. La Cruz, Los Llanos, Mérida, to name a few. The problem with cities is best stated with just one word (I have just read in a previous post): anarchy. Caracas, Valencia, Maracay, Maracaibo, among others, are really tricky places. Of course, there are safe areas in these which you must definitely not get away from should you visit them. By looking at your planned destinations, these are great. Try to stick to the Natural and Cultural attractions. These are usually packed with tourists and relatively safe. People's idiosincrasy can be disturbing, sometimes. So, when in Venezuela, try to enjoy your way, learn from a different Latin culture and be careful not to adventure into places you know nothing about.

On arrival day, try to leave Caracas for a more relaxed place as soon as possible. Speaking Spanish is obviously an advantage.

Should you need more info on a topic, let me know

Luis F. Ydler

Thanks everyone for taking the time to respond to my question!!! I truly appreciate all your input. Mil gracias! I was leaning toward the decision not to travel there at this time but part of me still want to go there. I'd love see Salto Angel and Rio Caura, etc. I've been very indecisive......

Oh yes! ... Just do it, you won't regret it. Just as I wrote before, avoid staying too long in convoluted cities. Get a good, updated travel guide and do some more online research on your chosen destinations and it should be fine.

Hey, on my webpage I have this note on safety in Caracas, that I copy here for you:

SAFETY: Most of Venezuela is perfectly safe for the street-smart and those that do as the locals and don't stand out. Venezuelans come in all skin-tones thanks to immigration from Europe and the Middle East, indigenous mixing, african slave past, etc. so blending in is not hard. If you look mediterranean white (Italian, Spanish, Greek, Portuguese), you're already a white Venezuelan. If you look nordic white (German, Dutch, Danish), after tanning a bit, you may also be seen as a white Venezuelan. Thousands of lawyers, executives, business owners, office workers, employees, and everyone else, of all skin tones, that work in the thousands of businesses and offices along the Sabana Grande boulevard, walk the streets everyday and with no problems. The biggest safety problem for tourists is PICK-POCKETS in the subway/metro system. They are very fast, opening even zipped pockets. They come in with you when the crowd boards the train, bumping against you and taking whatever is in your pocket without you noticing it. I was a victim of this in Mexico City once. Just watch out for them, and you'll be fine.

VENEZUELAN "FRIENDS" ON SAFETY: Some people have well-wishing and educated Venezuelan friends that make recommendations on where to go and not to go. However, you must know that these typically upper-middle class Venezuelans tend to exagerate. They travel to New York and use the subway all over, but in their own city they are afraid to go to the Colonial Downtown. If you ask these Venezuelans about where to go or stay in the city, they will recommend only the upscale neighborhoods and shopping malls. They disdain as ugly or dangerous precisely the places a tourist wants to see, giving you a false impression of Venezuela, similar to the upper-middle class Parisians that tell you to avoid Champs Elysees because of pickpockets. I tell you all this not to put your well-wishing local friends down, but just to let you know their mentality, so you can understand how limiting their “helpfulness” can be to you as a traveler. My guests, from lovely blonde English girls to Swedish artists, love visiting the Colonial Downtown and the Belle Arts area (Bellas Artes), and they tell me it is extremely interesting. Ask your Venezuelan friends what they think about going to these places and you’ll see what I mean. Unless you wish to walk around in shorts, sandals, flowered shirt, straw hat and sporting a $2000 Nikon, you should be safe in such a transited area as Sabana Grande, and in all of the tourist areas of Caracas. So don’t buy into the local exaggerated paranoia. You’re a traveler, like I am. You'll be OK.