Panama City
Panama City is a colonial old town and a skyline of towers with rainforest between them, and sloths and toucans inside the city limits. The canal, the old town and the causeway fit in two days.
Panama City in a nutshell
Panama City: what to expect
Two cities in one: a colonial old town on a peninsula and a financial district of towers across the bay, with rainforest between them.
Two or three days: the length every source lands on independently, and our own travellers agree.
It is the gateway between Central and South America, and most people here are passing through to or from Colombia, the islands or Costa Rica.
Who Panama City is for
Anyone crossing between the Americas
this is the staging post for Colombia, San Blas and the islands, and our own data says most people here are mid-journey.
Two-night stoppers
the canal, the old town, the waterfront and the causeway fit in two days without rushing.
First-timers to Central America
a developed capital with Western amenities, a metro and safe tap water is a soft landing.
Anyone who likes a city with jungle in it
sloths, toucans and howler monkeys inside the city limits, in two separate hills of rainforest.
Birders and wildlife travellers
Pipeline Road in Soberanía, within an hour, logs 65 to 85 species seen in a single dry-season morning.
Families
flat safe cycling on the causeway, playgrounds on the waterfront, a fish market and ice cream.
Budget travellers
hostel dorms from about €12, a fonda lunch for a few dollars, and the two best viewpoints in the city are free.
The best time to visit Panama City
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Things to do in Panama City
The Miraflores locks
See the exhibition, the film and the deck over the locks on one ticket, about €18, and go when a ship is actually there: the canal authority posts the transit window daily, early morning and again from early afternoon. Agua Clara on the Caribbean side is a third of the price.
Casco Viejo on foot
Walk the Plaza de Francia with its memorial to the 22,000 canal dead, the cathedral, the flat arch and the bóvedas promenade, free, half a day. The whole reason to stay in the city, and the evening is when it works.
Cerro Ancón
Climb the city's highest point at about two hundred metres on the paved road, half an hour on foot or a two-euro taxi, for old city, new city and the canal in one view. Free, and the sloths are in the trees on the way up.
The Metropolitan Natural Park
Walk the short trails through rainforest inside the city limits to the skyline viewpoint, about €4, for sloths, toucans, howler monkeys, coatis and agoutis. Early morning, on the road to Miraflores.
The Cinta Costera
Walk, run or cycle the waterfront park between the towers and the sea at sunrise or late afternoon, free, with bikes and shaded quadricycles for hire. The city's own hour.
The Amador Causeway
Cycle the four kilometres out to the islands with the skyline on one side and the Bridge of the Americas on the other, flat and safe, with the Biomuseo halfway for about €18. A bike from the stands at the start is about €5 an hour.
The neighbourhoods of Panama City
Casco Viejo
first-timers
The 17th-century old town on its own peninsula, UNESCO-listed, with protected facades and freely renovated interiors behind them. Plazas, cathedrals, murals, rooftop bars.
Everything worth walking to is here, and it is where the restaurants and the evening are.
The banking district
budget
Towers, malls, hotels with pools, and the rooftops that actually have a view. Not atmospheric, materially cheaper.
A pool, a sixty-sixth-floor sunset, and a room at half the Casco Viejo price.
Bella Vista
nightlife
Central hotel and nightlife pocket; Calle Uruguay inside it is the club strip.
Clubs and bars without a taxi home.
El Cangrejo
families
Residential, middle-class and unusually walkable for this city, with parks and a giant sculpted head of Einstein on Vía Argentina.
The one neighbourhood you can wander without a plan.
Amador Causeway
families
A four-kilometre built strip out to four islands, with the skyline on one side and the canal mouth on the other.
Flat, safe cycling with the best skyline view in the city, and the Biomuseo halfway along.
Albrook
budget
Former Canal Zone: wide boulevards, wooden houses, rainforest planting. Holds the domestic airport, the bus terminal and the largest mall.
Where you leave from, and a glimpse of what the American zone looked like.
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Where to stay in Panama City
Casco Viejo is the default and it is the right one, for atmosphere, for walkability and because it is where you can be out in the evening. Every source family says so.
Casco Viejo
mid
The 17th-century old town on its own peninsula, UNESCO-listed, with protected facades and freely renovated interiors behind them. Plazas, cathedrals, murals, rooftop bars.
The banking district
mid
Towers, malls, hotels with pools, and the rooftops that actually have a view. Not atmospheric, materially cheaper.
Bella Vista
mid
Central hotel and nightlife pocket; Calle Uruguay inside it is the club strip.
El Cangrejo
budget
Residential, middle-class and unusually walkable for this city, with parks and a giant sculpted head of Einstein on Vía Argentina.
Amador Causeway
mid
A four-kilometre built strip out to four islands, with the skyline on one side and the canal mouth on the other.
Albrook
budget
Former Canal Zone: wide boulevards, wooden houses, rainforest planting. Holds the domestic airport, the bus terminal and the largest mall.
What to eat in Panama City
Raw fish cured in lime, the city's one unmissable cheap thing
Chicken and root-vegetable soup, the national comfort dish
Two or three daily menus: rice or potatoes, salad, fish or meat
Stuffed and fried yuca fritters
Corn dough cooked in banana leaf
Shaved ice with syrup and condensed milk, from a cart
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Panama City customs and what not to do
Ask before photographing
this holds in the city as much as in the villages.
Menu prices are pre-tax
about 7% goes on at the till, and a tip of around 10% is customary rather than expected.
The canal is national pride
Panamanians call it the eighth wonder of the world and enjoy pointing out that every vessel, including nuclear submarines, is under a Panamanian pilot's command while transiting.
Haggle gently on crafts
pushing hard reads as an insult rather than as sport.
Going topless is illegal
on and off the beach, for everyone, and it is enforced.
No smoking in public
vapes included, with fines from $25 to $100.
Do
- Use a ride-hailing app rather than hailing a taxi, especially after dark.
- Agree the fare before getting into a yellow taxi, because they are not metered.
- Carry your passport; police checks happen and a printed copy is usually accepted.
- Report a crime before you leave the country, or the police may not investigate it.
Don't
- Do not swim in the Bay of Panama. It carries untreated sewage and industrial waste.
- Do not walk out of the restored part of Casco Viejo on foot without knowing where you are going.
- Do not use an ATM on the street at night; use one inside a bank or a mall.
- Do not plan on a border run to extend your stay. You must be out of the country 30 days.
What a Panama City trip costs
Shoestring
€40 to €50
Hostel dorm, metro and Uber, fonda lunches, the free viewpoints
Mid-range
€60 to €75
A room with a pool, restaurant meals, the canal and a museum
Comfort
€120+
Casco Viejo boutique, rooftop cocktails, a private day trip
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Fun facts about Panama City
Panamanian balboa coins match US coins so precisely in weight and size that leftovers reportedly work in American vending machines.
Casco Viejo's conservation rule freezes the facade and frees the interior, which is why renovated apartments sit behind unchanged cast-iron balconies.
The first trans-isthmus railway was finished in 1851, sixty-three years before the canal opened.
The French attempt at a sea-level canal failed after roughly 20,000 deaths, most from malaria and yellow fever; the Americans solved it by damming the Chagres and lifting ships into a lake instead.
Every vessel in transit is under a Panamanian canal pilot's command, which is a point of national pride.
The lowest toll ever paid was 36 cents, by Richard Halliburton, who swam through in 1928.
Local tips for Panama City
Use the app, not the street
Every government advisory now says the same: street taxis are often poorly maintained and accidents are common, so use Uber or hotel transport. A ride across town is €2 to €4.
Never share a yellow taxi
Fares go by zone, so agree the price before you get in or not at all. Never board one that already has a passenger, and tell the driver not to pick anyone else up.
The metro card pays on exit
One useful line on a stored-value card that also works on the buses, about €0.30 a ride. The fare comes off when you tap out; a green light and Pase Adelante means you are through.
How long to stay
Most people give Panama City 2 nights on Stippl: the canal at Miraflores and Casco Viejo one day, and the Albrook terminal for every bus out, El Valle every thirty minutes.
Casco Viejo: core yes, edges no
The restored streets are fine and the blocks beyond them are not, and nothing marks the line. El Chorrillo and Santa Ana start where the paint stops; take an Uber back after dark.
Withdraw cash inside a mall
People have been attacked after using street ATMs, and express kidnapping here means a few hours being driven between cash machines. Use the ATMs inside Albrook or Multiplaza, by day, and carry little.
Panama City questions, answered
Two nights covers the canal, Casco Viejo, the waterfront and a viewpoint, and it is what our own travellers plan, A third night lets you add a rainforest morning or a day trip. Nobody argues for more.
No government advises against travel here, and the city is rated high for crime and low for terrorism. The practical version is that specific neighbourhoods are named by four governments, the restored part of Casco Viejo is fine while the blocks beyond it are not, and the ATM is where trouble happens. Use a ride-hailing app after dark.
The restored core is, and the streets a few blocks out are not, and nothing marks the line. Stay inside the tourist part on foot and take an Uber rather than walking out of it.
B/.17.22 for a non-resident adult at Miraflores, which includes the film and the observation deck; there is no cheaper deck-only ticket. Agua Clara on the Caribbean side is $10 and now includes the Gatún viewpoint as well.
The canal authority publishes a transit window on its visitor site, updated daily, and it genuinely moves. Broadly it is early morning and again from early afternoon at Miraflores. Check it that day, and ask staff when you arrive.
Mid-December to mid-April, with January to March genuinely dry. February is the driest month of the year at 14 mm. April is the hottest month and a gamble, and by May the wet season has arrived.
No, for EU, UK, US, Canadian and Australian passports. The stay is 90 days for most, and 180 for US and Canadian citizens. Carry an onward ticket, which is enforced.
Yes. Panama declares potability aqueduct by aqueduct rather than nationally, so this is true of the capital and not automatically of islands or rural areas.
Casco Viejo for atmosphere and evenings, the banking district for a pool at half the price. Both are considered safe to sleep.
No. Ubers cost two to four dollars and the metro is a flat 35 cents. Rent one on the way out of town if at all.
Cerro Ancón. Half an hour uphill on a paved road for the old city, the new city and the canal in one view, with sloths in the trees, and it costs nothing.
Every guide is written by the Stippl editors and checked against the trips our travellers actually plan. Spotted something out of date? Let us know.
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