Caracas's sights cluster in two distinct zones. The colonial centre — around Plaza Bolívar, the Casa Natal, the Cathedral, and the National Pantheon — is the historical heart, best visited in the morning with a local guide. The modernist Caracas of the 1950s and 60s lives a few kilometres east in the Parque Central towers, the Teatro Teresa Carreño, the Galería de Arte Nacional, and the UNESCO-listed Ciudad Universitaria campus.
To the north, the Ávila mountain itself is the city's defining sight, reached by hiking trails or the Maripérez cable car. The hillside village of El Hatillo, on the southern fringe, is another easy half-day. Eastern neighbourhoods — Altamira, La Castellana, Las Mercedes — are pleasant to walk in their own right and are where most safer hotels and restaurants are concentrated.