Things to do in Panama City
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Panama City
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Best months, driest and sunniest, also highest prices and fastest sell outs.
Early December rains ease before peak prices, late December is excellent weather but holiday crowded.
Mid April is a good shoulder before the rains fully set in.
The veranito drier break in rainy season is the budget gamble, with lower rates and afternoon showers.
Rainy season reality: a heavy afternoon thunderstorm, not all day washout, so mornings are the excursion window.
Worst months and the wettest, with daily downpours, flooded streets, muddy trails and cancelled boats.
What's on
- Panama Jazz Festival mid-January
A week of concerts founded by Danilo Perez, ending in a big free outdoor finale.
- Carnaval The days before Ash Wednesday; 5-10 Feb in 2027
Four to five days before Ash Wednesday, with Cinta Costera concerts, water trucks and parades.
- Black Ethnicity Month May
A month of Afro Panamanian cultural programming, food fairs and concerts in Colon and the capital.
- Whale season in Las Perlas July to October, peak Aug-Sep
Humpback whales migrate through Las Perlas, the one rainy season event that requires the wet months.
- Fiestas Patrias 3, 4, 10 and 28 November
Four patriotic holidays with parades, closures and dry law alcohol restrictions on some days.
- Mother's Day 8 December
A major national holiday in Panama, bigger than Christmas week for closures and family travel.
Best things to do in Panama City
Miraflores Visitor Center
Watch a big ship rise through the 1914 locks from the terraces, then do the museum and IMAX film.
Casco Viejo
The UNESCO old quarter of plazas, churches and the Las Bovedas seawall is best walked slowly at both ends of the day.
Museo del Canal Interoceánico de Panamá
The serious history of the isthmus and the Canal build, and it makes Miraflores make far more sense afterwards.
Museo de la Mola
A compact, joyful primer on Guna culture through around 200 mola textiles, ideal before a San Blas trip.
Panamá Viejo
Ruins of the first city, destroyed in 1671, with a cathedral tower climb for the classic skyline view.
Biomuseo
Frank Gehry's only Latin American building, with galleries on how the isthmus changed global biodiversity.
Amador Causeway
A 6km breakwater walk or bike ride with the skyline on one side and ships queueing for the Canal on the other.
Cerro Ancón
A short paved climb inside the city for the best single panorama of Casco, skyline, Canal mouth and bridge.
Where to stay in Panama City
Casco Viejo / San Felipe
first trip, food and nightlife, 2 to 4 nights
Walk to most sights, rooftops and the best restaurants, on the central renovated streets only.
El Cangrejo / Vía Argentina
value, local life and longer stays of 5 plus nights
A lived in walkable area with local restaurants and a Metro station, at about half Casco hotel prices.
Obarrio / Marbella / San Francisco
modern comfort, pools and quiet sleep
The restaurant and business crescent with big international hotels and easy Ubers everywhere.
Santa María
golf and resort quiet, car required
A gated luxury enclave around the Nicklaus course, peaceful but isolating if golf is not the purpose.
Punta Pacífica
luxury views and points stays, chosen knowingly
Full service hotels with pool and bay views, but built for cars with malls and highways at street level.
Think twice about
- El Chorrillo
Immediately southwest of Casco, poor and gang affected and not set up for tourism. Visit only on a resident led daylight tour.
- Curundú
Appears on booking platforms but is not set up for tourism and is a main area to avoid basing in.
- Santa Ana beyond its Casco edge main streets
Beyond the Casco edge streets it turns crumbling, empty and unlit. Visit the Casco side by day only.
- San Miguelito
Cheap listings with no visitor infrastructure, for reasons a visitor will not fix with street smarts.
Best restaurants in Panama City
Maito
Mario Castrellon's modern Panamanian tasting menu, named Best Restaurant in Panama among Latin America's best.
Íntimo Restaurante
A 28 seat chef's counter built on 90 percent local ingredients, convivial as a dinner party.
A to Z Chef's Table
The tiny chef led room dining press flags as the clearest signal the scene has levelled up.
Caleta
The Casco fine dining room at the Sofitel Legend that guides pair with Maito.
Cantina del Tigre
A bold, loud modern Panamanian cevicheria cantina full of Panamanians, ranked among Latin America's best.
Fonda Lo Que Hay
An elevated fonda with a short sharing menu, and if you eat one Casco dinner, locals say make it this one.
La Tapa del Coco
An Afro Panamanian essential for One Pot Colonense, pati and seafood in coconut, plus saril drinks.
Santa Rita Casco
Basque inflected tapas, one of the Casco sharing plates rooms guides converge on for a group dinner.
Outdoor things to do in Panama City
San Blas Islands
Around 365 Guna governed coral islands with clear water, a natural pool and snorkelling, best as an overnight.
Taboga Island
The easy island day: a 30 minute ferry, a flower filled village, a hill hike and swimmable beaches.
Pipeline Road
One of the Americas' great birding roads, where a guided dawn morning can produce 80 to 100 species.
Monkey Islands
A small boat safari past transiting ships to islands with capuchins, howlers, iguanas and caiman at close range.
Emberá Village
A dugout canoe ride to an Embera community for music, crafts, a tilapia lunch and a waterfall swim.
Agua Clara Visitor Center
Overlooks the 2016 Neopanamax locks, where the ships are much bigger than at Miraflores.
Portobelo
The UNESCO listed Spanish treasure fleet port and Black Christ church, the Atlantic side's historic stop.
El Valle de Antón
A cooler crater town for the La India Dormida hike, waterfalls, hot springs and a Sunday artisan market.
Best hotels in Panama City
Sofitel Legend Casco Viejo - Panama
The grandest Casco address, the former Club Union on the seawall, with pool, spa and bay facing rooms.
Hotel La Compañía Casco Viejo - The Unbound Collection by Hyatt
A destination hotel built from three historic wings, with five restaurants and a rooftop locals book.
American Trade Hotel
The creative class living room of Casco, with a tiled lobby cafe, jazz club and rooftop pool.
The Santa Maria, a Luxury Collection Hotel & Golf Resort, Panama City
The golf stay and play base by the Nicklaus course, peaceful and green, with a car needed for meals out.
JW Marriott Panama
The sail shaped former Trump tower, a full service luxury stay with pool and bay views but poor street life.
Central Hotel Panamá
The grande dame on Casco's main plaza, with a rooftop pool and unbeatable location per dollar.
Las Clementinas
Beloved small boutique with apartment feel suites and a garden, the couples' mid range pick in Casco.
W Panama
The style pick among the modern city hotels, with big pools and rates that often undercut Casco boutiques.
Is Panama City expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | $72 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | $165 a person |
| Splurge | $400 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Miraflores Visitor Center: a few days ahead
- Partial Panama Canal Transit: a few days ahead
- Panamanian Cooking Class and Market Tour: a few days ahead
- Geisha Experience Panama: a few days ahead
- Teatro Nacional de Panamá: a few days ahead
- San Blas Islands: weeks ahead
- Taboga Island: a few days ahead
- Pipeline Road: a few days ahead
- Before you fly: Maito and Intimo, a Canal transit boat in dry season, San Blas overnight or sailing, Santa Maria golf via the hotel.
- A few days ahead: Fonda Lo Que Hay and Cantina del Tigre for weekend dinner, Embera and Pipeline guides, Taboga ferry, Miraflores morning tickets.
Is Panama City safe?
- Stick to lit busy streets in Casco at night and Uber door to door after drinking.
- Keep phones and jewellery low profile in crowded plazas and markets, where pickpocketing is the main risk.
- Use ATMs inside banks or malls in daylight.
- City tap water is generally safe, use bottled or filtered in San Blas and on rural day trips.
- Use repellent for dawn Pipeline and Embera days, as dengue exists.
Panama City travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- Miraflores at midday with no ship is a timing failure, not an attraction failure.
- Punta Pacifica sold as a sightseeing base is malls and highways, not a central location.
- Main plaza Casco prices carry a 2 to 3 times markup. Walk two blocks or cross to El Cangrejo.
- San Blas sold as luxury disappoints. A day trip is rustic, overnight sailing is the luxury product.
- Colon duty free shopping is a wholesale warehouse zone, not a visitor day trip.
Getting around Panama City: public transport and more
- Uber is the default, cheap at about 3 to 6 dollars for most cross town hops.
- Metro is clean and about 0.35 dollars a ride, with a rechargeable card bought at stations.
- Yellow taxis have no meters, so agree the price before getting in.
- Do not rent a car for the city. Rent only for a self drive El Valle or beach leg in daylight.
- Rush hour can triple journeys, and Tocumen is 30 minutes at dawn and 60 to 90 at peak.
Who Panama City suits
| Solo travellers | Good |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Great |
| Couples | Great |
| Bachelor parties | Great |
| Families | Good |
| Bachelorette parties | Great |
Make Panama City your trip
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