Search for:

Maracaibo – at a Glance

Maracaibo is located in Zulia, one of the 23 states of Venezuela. It is the largest city in Venezuela after Caracas. Maracaibo is home to more than 2 million people. A huge number of tourists visit Maracaibo each year. If you too are planning to do so, the following information will help you understand what the city is about. It has been nicknamed as La Primera Ciudad de Venezuela, Spanish for the most important city because of the economic and technological development Maracaibo has witnessed in the past decades.

Places to Visit

Tourists love to visit numerous places in Maracaibo. They include both natural and manmade avenues. Some of them include Sant Lucia, Basilica de Nuestra Señora de Chiquinquira, Lake Maracaibo Bridge and Palafitos in Santa Rosa de Agua. Palafitos in Santa Rosa de Agua is of particular importance because the literal meaning of ‘Venezuela’ is ‘little Venice’. The palafitos of Venezuela may be the reason how this name came into being. Palafitos are buildings erected on water. They are regarded as one of the typical and most note worthy cultural elements of Venezuela.

Restaurants

Maracaibo has various eateries that can satisfy your hunger when you are in the city. Some of them include Zaga, Te con Te, Salon Canton, Da Vinci, Mi Ternerita, Angus Grill, Mi Vaquita, Ciao and Hooters. The restaurants of Maracaibo are Katamaran, Poster Bar Café and Sabor Zuliano. To read more about them, please go to the article ‘Top 3 Restaurants in Maracaibo’ in the restaurants section our website.

Transportation

Maracaibo’s airport is called La Chinita International Airport. It is located 17 kilometers from the center of Maracaibo. Some of the airlines that serve Chinita International Airport are SBA Airlines, Insel Air, American Airlines, Aeropostal, Aserca, Venezonlana, Avior and Conviasa. Cities that these airlines fly to and from include Miami, Panama City, Aruba, Bogota, Cartagena, Barranquilla and Curacao.

Modes of transportation when travelling within Maracaibo include the following.

Taxi – This is the safest and most comfortable way of travelling in the city. A taxi is just a phone call away.

Metro – Metro is the cheapest way of travelling and yet is safe. One metro trip costs around BsF 0.70.

Bus – Although travelling by bus is neither cheap nor safe, many tourists prefer using it instead of taxi when travelling to places where metro does not have any stops.

Walk – It is feasible for tourists to walk around the city because of the properly paved ways. Hence, choose to do so when the time and circumstances permit.

Hotels

The top three hotels in Maracaibo are Hotel Kristoff, Hotel Venetur Maracaibo and Crowne Plaza Hotel Maruma Hotel & Casino. To read more about these hotels, read the article titled ‘3 Top Hotels in Maracaibo’ in the section ‘hotels/posadas’ of our website. If you are looking for cheaper options, posadas in Maracaibo should be your choice. Not only do they let you save money, they also let you enjoy the true colors of Venezuela. They allow you to interact more casually with other tourists and with the natives of Venezuela running the posadas.