La Venta Park-Museum (Parque-Museo La Venta)
La Venta, Tabasco
Olmec culture and native flora and fauna take center stage at La Venta Park-Museum (Parque Museo La Venta), an expansive open-air museum with one of the largest collections of Olmec artefacts in Mexico. Highlights include the rare Olmec heads displayed along labyrinthine jungle pathways and near-nightly sound and light shows.
You can easily explore the numerous archaeological artefacts and zoo exhibits—which feature over 400 species—at La Venta Park-Museum in a couple of hours. As one of the city’s key attractions, trips departing from Palenque and Villahermosa typically offer guided tours of La Venta Park-Museum and usually include convenient round-trip transportation. Some excursions also feature a sightseeing tour of Villahermosa city center or visit to Yumka, ideal if you’ve got limited time in the region.
Plan to spend around two hours enjoying everything the park has to offer.
Be sure to pack bug spray as the park is set among the jungle and mosquitoes are to be expected.
The park museum is typically free to enter on Mondays, except during holiday periods, and guided tours are available daily.
There’s on-site parking, bathroom facilities, and there are typically vendors selling snacks and drinks near the entrance of La Venta Park-Museum.
La Venta Park-Museum is fully wheelchair and stroller accessible.
La Venta Park-Museum is situated just 2.4 miles (4 kilometers) from the historic center of Villahermosa and is most easily accessible via private vehicle. Rent a car or make things easy on yourself and hop into a taxi, but remember that cabs in Villahermosa aren’t metered. There’s also on-site parking.
La Venta Park-Museum is open daily from the early morning until the early afternoon. Visit on a Monday to take advantage of free admission, excluding holiday periods, or stop by midweek for a quieter overall experience. Try to time your visit with the sound and light show that usually takes place every night from Tuesday to Sunday.
The earliest known major civilization in Mesoamerica, the Olmecs lived in the present-day Mexican states of Veracruz and Tabasco. They were known for playing the Mesoamerican ballgame, creating rubber, and carving colossal stone heads with flat and wide facial features. You can learn more about the Olmecs at archaeological sites such as Tres Zapotes and San Lorenzo.
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