Algodon Egipcio’s City Guide To Caracas

First and foremost, you need some context. Caracas is a really pricey city, one of the priciest of Latin America. Also, it’s very violent, it’s one of the most violent capitals of the world. So, going out in the city, the important thing is to go somewhere that’s relatively cheap/accessible and safe. Having that in mind, here are some nice places to visit.

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Centro de Arte Los Galpones:
Octava Transversal con Av. Ávila, Los Chorros

I went to this place for the first time recently, and I loved it! It’s a big art center surrounded by nature. It has various galleries, where they exhibit mainly contemporary art; a bookstore, this nursery garden where you can buy plants, a little cafe, a designer items store, and more. It’s a really nice place, you can go spend like a Sunday afternoon. There’s always something going on, a projection, a discussion, a concert, a workshop, an exhibition, so yeah, it’s cool.

La Casa del Llano:
Av. Río de Janeiro, Las Mercedes

Arepas are a very traditional meal in Venezuela. You usually eat them on breakfast, but in Caracas it’s almost ritual-like to go grab an arepa at night, after going to a party, concert, or other late-night activity. La Casa del Llano is my favorite place for this, specially ’cause they have an arepa called “La Llanera”, which is delicious, but I won’t tell what’s in it, you’ll have to find out for yourself. But in general, you can have them with chicken, meat, a variety of cheese, black beans, or different combinations of those and more. Cachapas are great too, and there are also many other non-traditional options, like pizza, sandwiches, soups, etc.

Esperanto:
C.C. San Ignacio, La Castellana

There aren’t many record stores in Caracas, and most of them are pretty crappy and overpriced. This one is crappy and overpriced too, but it’s a great place to find albums from local artists. You can find material from Venezuelan indie bands as well as big pop acts and folkloric music. And there’s also a bunch of Latin and Brazilian music, also books, boxsets and DVDs. The “anglo” section it’s not really worth the time, they have the same records since like 2004.

Plaza Altamira:
Plaza Altamira is a beautiful square, right on top of a subway station. For me it’s like a great meeting place, and you can walk the surrounding zones like Altamira, La Castellana and Los Palos Grandes, which are filled with places to eat, shop, or just visit. You can, for example, go see a projection at the CELARG, or visit La Estancia art center, or go to a concert at the Corp Group theater. And on the square itself there are often activities, like live shows, book fairs and stuff like that. Or you can just sit there, have an ice cream and watch the people walk by, it’s relaxing.

-Visit Algodon Egipcio