Mérida

Mérida sits at 1,625 metres in a narrow valley between two Andean ridges, the city's colonial streets fanning out from Plaza Bolívar while the peaks of the Sierra Nevada rise immediately to the south. It is Venezuela's most outdoor-focused city — the kind of place where paragliding helmets share shelf space with university textbooks.

The Universidad de Los Andes, founded in 1810, gives Mérida its energy: cheap food, late nights, good bookshops, and the particular intellectual restlessness of a town where almost everyone is studying something. The city's food scene has benefited accordingly.

The Mukumbarí cable car — rebuilt and reopened in 2016 — climbs from the city to Pico Espejo at 4,765 metres, making it the highest cable car system in the world (and the second-longest). Its status changes: the upper sections (2–4) most recently reopened on 13 February 2026 for the Feria del Sol and Carnival season, but the line runs subject to periodic closures and limited operating days, so verify the current status before you plan a ride. The high-mountain trails it serves are also walkable with a guide.