Caracas is located in northern Venezuela, near the Caribbean. It is Venezuelas capital, largest city and the location of its major international airport.
Caracas, a city of great diversity, offers visitors a wide range of scenery. The different areas of the city make it an exciting and interesting metropolis where tradition and modernism become one.
Though its concrete and glass skyscrapers juxtaposed with the lush mountains make for a rather attractive skyline, the capital Caracas is a dangerous, chaotic city without probably enough major tourist attractions to merit much of a stopover.
Unlike most other Latin American capitals, it offers few noteworthy remnants of its Spanish colonial period, and any time spent here means less time to explore the countries natural gems there are a few worthy day trips in the mountains that surround the city.
Home to nearly six million people, Caracas holds almost a quarter of Venezuelas population and is the political and economic centre of the country.
Most of its museums are in the city centre, where an armed tourist brigade was created to protect foreign visitors.
Handcrafts and the local furniture industry have done a lot for the economic development of the village. They both offer good samples of naive art from Caracas Valley.
Restaurants tend to be in more affluent suburbs, often accessible by the efficient and relatively safe subway system, which primarily runs from east to west.
Music, which plays an important role in the villages life, is at its best during today well known Festival de Musica del Hatillo which is customary held once a year. Then, for more than two weeks locals and visitors can enjoy the best nationalas well as international interpreters of a wide range of music going from typical Venezuelan to rock, jazz and camera music.
It has a tropical climate with very little variation between summer and winter temperatures. Set in a valley some 900 meters above sea level, its climate is often described as its best feature never cold, seldom too hot. Average daily temperature in summer range from a minimum of 18 to a maximum of 28. Winter temperatures are only two to three degrees cooler. Most rainfall occurs during the period from May to November and may be accompanied by electrical storms.
It has been declared National Monument thus becoming part of the Countries cultural heritage. A fact that has helped to turn the village into one of the most attractive tourist spots within the so called Gran Caracas.
