City Information
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Airport
Simón Bolívar International Airport is located 27km from Caracas
on the Caribbean coast at Maiquetía. Flight time from London is
approximately 9 hr. A free shuttle bus connects international
passengers to the adjacent domestic terminal. Facilities include the
usual assortment of duty-free shops, several bland snack bars, and a
rather smart first-class lounge shared by various airlines. There is
no hotel at the airport.
Airport to City Centre
The official airport taxi rank is situated on the terminal’s lower
level. However, the taxi company has a monopoly on the rank which it
exploits with extortionate prices. TeleTaxi, based at the
airport’s petrol station, will collect you from the terminal’s
upper level for about half the price, and they will also accept
bookings for the return trip. It is not customary to tip taxi
drivers unless they help you with your bags, usually $1 per bag.
Under no circumstances use the taxi piratas who flood the terminal
offering their service – they are operating illegally and many
hold-ups have been reported. Shuttle buses depart for Caracas from
the lower level and cost under $2. They stop en route at the Gato
Negro metro station before terminating at the central bus station,
from where you’ll need to complete your journey by taxi.
Orientation
Caracas is an elongated city, stretched through a high-walled,
narrow valley, bordered at the north by the El Avila National Park
and a beautiful mountain backdrop partitioning the city from the
Caribbean coast. Rapid expansion has swelled the population to 4
million, absorbing several out-lying towns and neglecting road
building in the process, crippling Caracas in a state of perpetual
gridlock. Planning restrictions prohibit the development of land
above the northern Ave Boyacá bypass 1,000m up El Avila, while the
slopes to the east and west are scarred by the thousands of ranchos
of the barrios, known locally as the ring of misery.
Autopista Francisco Fajardo is the main east-west artery bisecting
Caracas. In the west lies the original city centre, with the Plaza
Bolívar as its hub. The principal historic and government buildings
are found here, along with the Central Bank and many commercial
banks. Roughly parallel to the north are Aves Francisco de Miranda
and Libertador, the main drags through the capital’s commercial
sectors. Radiating out of Francisco Fajardo to the south at the
Ciempies intersection is Autopista Prados del Este, the corridor to
the exclusive southern suburbs of Las Mercedes, Valle Arriba and
Prados del Este, and the built-up districts of La Trinidad, Baruta,
and El Hatillo.
Excursions Lågprisflyg -
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Easily reached destinations include Margarita Island, and Los Roques
Archipelago. If you’re pressed for time then try an overnight stay
to camps such as Delta Orinoco Lodge in Delta Amacuro, or to Canaima;
if you have more time to spare, then several days on a cattle ranch
in the plains with outstanding bird-watching and fishing for peacock
bass. Excursions can be arranged from travel agencies in the major
hotels.
Getting Around
Public transport is integrated between metro and metrobus and is by
far the fastest and cheapest way to get around. Metro tickets cost
approximately 35c for a single journey and the three lines serve the
main corridors for business, shopping, and cultural attractions.
Operating hours are from 0500 to 2300 and security is generally
excellent. Metro services connect with the extensive metrobus
network at each station. Tickets can be purchased for the metro
alone, or combinado tickets covering both services. More economical
are the multi-abono and multi-abono combinado tickets offering ten
trips for a flat fee.
Buses and mini-buses operate on set routes, with the destination and
principal stops displayed in the front window. The average journey
cost is 20c. Venezuela’s plentiful oil resources mean that at only
15c per litre, taxis can circulate continually. Legally registered
taxis carry yellow licence plates and can be hailed in the street.
State the destination and determine the fare before the journey; the
minimum fare is about Bs2,000 rising to a maximum of around Bs5,000.
Taxis at permanent ranks are more expensive, and taxis at 5-star
hotels the priciest of all.
What to see
The metro makes sightseeing easy. With one exception, the key
attractions are grouped in four areas with metro stops close by.
Admission is generally free, though any charges are well under
$1.
Quinta de Anauco Museo de Arte Colonial: A short taxi ride
from the city centre, one of the city’s most outstanding museums
is a showpiece of colonial art and furniture housed in a restored
hacienda. Ave Panteón, San Bernardino.
Cathedral and Museo Sacro: Caracas’ cathedral houses an
outstanding collection of religious art, while the adjacent Museo
Sacro is a restored former convent housing art exhibitions and a
popular café. Plaza Bolívar.
Museo de Caracas: The city museum’s highlight is a
marvellous collection of miniatures created by Raúl Santana,
depicting every aspect of early Venezuelan life. Plaza Bolívar,
Concejo Municipal.
Casa Natal and Museo Bolivariano: The birthplace and
memorabilia museum of South American liberator Simón Bolívar.
Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Caracas Sofía Imber:
Venezuela’s internationally acclaimed modern art showcase has the
finest Picasso collection in Latin America. The array of salads
served in the sculpture garden are no less artful. Western edge of
Parque Central.
Botanical Gardens: over 150,000 examples of more than 2,200
plant species, herbarium, and orchid greenhouses. Plaza Venezuela
metro.
Shopping Weedend Resa
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For mall-style retail therapy, the new CC Sambil is the largest in
Latin America. In addition to its 540 shops, there’s an aquarium,
an art gallery, and a recreation centre with bowling alley,
nightclub, and theatres. Centro Ciudad Comercial Tamanaco, Chacao,
is an upmarket haven of exclusive shops selling beautiful leather
goods and designer clothing.
Where to walk
Start off with a history lesson at Plaza Bolívar in the colonial
centre, with its statue of independence leader Simón Bolívar in
the centre. The square is flanked by the Cathedral and Museo Sacro,
as well as the Palacio Arzobispal (c 1637), Museo de Caracas, and
the Capitolio Nacional, levelled by dictator Antonio Guzmán Blanco
when he outlawed convents in 1874, and now containing the Federal
Palace in the northern end, and to the south the Legislative Palace,
erected in an incredible 114 days. Opposite the Concejo Municipal is
Edificio La Francia, a philosopher’s stone for gold-lovers with
floor upon floor of tiny jewellery shops selling an array of
precious items. Take the metro to Bellas Artes, and after walking
south-east for several blocks you’ll arrive at the Parque Central.
The largest concentration of museums and cultural centres in
Venezuela was designed to offset a deficiency of downtown housing,
office space and shopping facilities. It’s a city in itself,
complete with a school and its own Catholic parish. The two
225m-high office towers were the tallest reinforced concrete
structures in the world when they went up in the late 1980s. The
three museums include the internationally renowned Museo de Arte
Contemporáneo de Caracas Sofía Imber. Head back to the Bellas
Artes area and the focal point of the massive Teatro Teresa Carreño
complex. Next door is the home of the avant-garde Rajatabla theatre
troupe and Ateneo de Caracas, a venue for drama, film festivals, and
concerts, containing two art galleries, a café, a restaurant and a
huge bookstore. Behind these are the Museo de Ciencias Naturales,
and the classical-style Galería de Arte Nacional, which contains
works by Venezuelan artists as well as the Cinemateca Nacional,
which runs a comprehensive programme of classic, art, and foreign
films; just behind, the modern Museo de Bellas Artes
features works by international artists. Though architecturally very
different, both the National and Fine Arts Museums were designed by
architect Carlos Raúl Villanueva. If you’re feeling
galleried-out, pop behind the complex to the Parque Los Caobos,
named for the ancient mahogany trees that once shaded the coffee
bushes of this former plantation.
If that’s put you in the mood for a change of pace, hop on the
metro to the Plaza Venezuela. Walk two blocks west and two south,
crossing over the freeway, and you’ll come to the spectacular
botanical gardens. Further east is the Sabana Grande’s
pedestrianised boulevard, extending 2km from Plaza Venezuela to the
Chacaíto metro, unmistakably marked by a giant yellow kinetic
sculpture of acclaimed Venezuelan artist Jesús Soto. Here you’ll
find all kinds of shops, outdoor cafés, ever-present chess tables,
and by night legions of prostitutes for the book-by-the-hour
hotels.
Weather and Climate
Caracas has a tropical climate all year round. Daytime temperatures
average 27°C, dipping to 18ºC by night, and varying only a few
degrees between the warm rainy season (May-Oct) and the cooler dry
season (Dec-Feb). Wet season rains usually consists of short
afternoon downpours followed by sunshine.
