Ultimate Venezuela

Fly from London early in the morning to Madrid to meet your connecting flight to Caracas, where you’ll be met and taken to your hotel.

Stay: One night at the Marriott Playa Grande Hotel in a deluxe room.

Merida may be modern but it doesn’t lack charm – or some interesting attractions. The world’s highest cable car, for example, and a city tour that includes an ice cream parlour offering 800 different flavours. There’s also a three- storey produce market, a square with a statue of Simon Bolivar, the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception and the Governor’s Palace.

Next day you’ll visit the unchanged villages of the Andean Paramos, taking in the delightful church at Mucuchies and San Rafael, before reaching Laguna de Coromoto and the Valle de los Calderones.

Stay: One night at Posada Casa Sol, in a standard room, followed by another in La Trucha Azul.

It’s time to take a look at the wildlife of Venezuela. The huge central plain known as Los Llanos is an environment of extreme heat and freezing cold. The contrasting temperatures deter most settlers – except the Llaneros who herd cattle on horseback across the mighty plain in the manner of the cowboys in the Wild West of the United States. The low human population means the wildlife is abundant – expect to see up to 50 different species of mammals, any number of birds and reptiles like anaconda, alligators and caimans.

Stay: Two nights at Hato el Cedral in a standard room.

Take a domestic flight from Barinas Airport to Caracas.

Stay: One night at the Marriott Playa Grande Hotel in a deluxe room.

Another short flight takes you from Caracas to Cuidad Bolivar, with its original colonial buildings, rich history and well preserved old centre. A relaxed walking tour around the city takes you to Plaza Bolivar and a vast Baroque cathedral. The Museum of the Casa del Congreso de Angostura, the Centro de las Artes, the impressive Fortin El Zamuro – featuring spectacular views over the town – and the museums of Etnografico del Orinoco and Casa del Correo, celebrating Venezuela’s first newspaper, are also included.

Stay: One night at Posada Casa Grande.

Prepare to be astonished. You fly from Ciudad Bolivar to Canaima where you’ll explore some of the oldest geological formations on the planet, including stunning table top mountains. The Canaima National Park is home to over 500 different types of orchids, as well as exotic birds like toucans, indigenous mammals and reptiles. You can take canoe trips over foaming rivers and pink lagoons and visit local villages, but the high point – literally – of this visit is a flight over the 979 metre high Angel Falls; the tallest single waterfall in the world.

Stay: Two nights at Waku Lodge in a standard room.

You return to Caracas, stopping off at Puerto Ordaz along the way.

Stay: One night at the Marriott Playa Grande Hotel in a deluxe room.

Just 30 minutes from Caracas by light aircraft lies paradise. Los Roques is an archipelago of tiny desert islands bathed by warm, tranquil waters. The largest town on the most populated island is simply a collection of fisherman’s homes, posadas and small guest houses. There are no cars, no roads and little to do except relax, sunbathe, go snorkelling and diving, fishing or wind surfing.

Stay: Three nights at Posado Villa Caracol in a standard room.

Say farewell to the beaches of Los Roques and fly back to Caracas to connect with your onward flights home.