My top 10 places to go in Venezuela (Part 1).

Now, let's start discovering this beautiful country and look at some or the many places it offers to international tourists. One of the good thing Venezuela has is the versatility to please any kind of demands. There is a very famous song here called Venezuela and at some point the song says "...soy desierto, selva, nieve y volcán..." which means "...I am desert, jungle, snow and volcano...". Actually, there's not any volcano in Venezuela, but the point is that my country has a very diverse options to visit.

Politically, Venezuela is divided in twenty three federal states and one capital district. Geographically, it is divided in five regions which are: the coast, the islands, the Andes, the plains and the Amazon jungle. The coast is where the most part of the population lives and it's divided in three sub-regions, west, central, and east.

I would give my PERSONAL top 10 list of places to visit in Venezuela. Of course this is very subjective.

So here we go:

10-Cuyagua.

This beach is one of the most popular beaches in Venezuela. It is located in the coast of Aragua state. Cuyagua is famous for being frequently visited by surfers because it has big waves. It is known to have some kind of "rasta" environment where you can hear reggae music and some other Latin rhythms. It is usually empty from Monday to Friday and it gets crowed in the weekends. A lot of people go camping to this beach which also has a river where you can take the salt and sand off from your body. It might be enjoyable for young groups since this beach is visited for a lot of university students during the holidays but if you are looking for relaxation this might not be your place.

9-Coro.

This small city is not a tourist destination itself, but it's location in a strategic point gives you an easy access to other places like Morrocoy National Park. It contains many colonial and colorful buildings. It is famous because the only desert in Venezuela is located near it. This is a small desert called the Coro's dunes and it is also a national park. North of Coro you can go to another city called Punto Fijo, a duty free area where you can go shopping. You can also get to Maracaibo which is the second most important city in Venezuela, located a few hours west of Coro by car.

8-Morrocoy National park.

This national park is located in the west part of the coast of Venezuela and it has the same common name that a type of turtle located in my country and some other south american countries. It is basically composed by a bunch of cays that offers really beautiful beaches. This is a very common destination for national tourism meaning that some cays gets crowded in weekends and during some holidays like Carnival or the Holy Week which is good if you like knowing people and parting. But I think that if you come to Venezuela for the first time you might want to visit a more exclusive place.

7-Choroni.

This small village is also located in the Aragua states's coast and it has a wonderful beach which is one of my favorites. There are a lot of fishermen which mean you can eat really fresh an cheap seafood (I recommend the fried fish). It has many inns and it conserves traditional customs from the slaves brought from Africa in colonial times. At night you can walk to the breakwater area where you can hear  and dance African drums. Maybe the thing I like the most about Choroni is the environment it has. The bad thing is that the road to get there from Maracay is in really bad condition.

6-Paria's peninsula.

This large peninsula is located in the east part of Sucre state. It doesn't have any big city but small villages instead where people are friendly and food is good. It contains many beaches (most of them are barely visited), a few mountains and two national parks. It is a good place to visit for those interested in birds watching. It is not higher on this list only because it is not easy to access because the roads are deteriorated and is far from any big city.

To be continued...