Your guide to Panama City
Panama City highlights
A feat of engineering
Before the Panama Canal opened in 1914, ships sailing between the Pacific and Atlantic had to round the southern tip of South America, adding roughly 13,000 kilometres to the journey. More than a century later, the canal still shapes life here. Head to Miraflores Locks to watch enormous ships rise chamber by chamber as they make the crossing between oceans.
Skyline views
Panama City’s skyline demands attention. It has more skyscrapers than anywhere else in Latin America, a concentration of glass towers that rises dramatically along Panama Bay. What makes it striking is what sits opposite — historic Casco Viejo, its cobbled streets and pastel facades unchanged for centuries. Find a rooftop bar and watch the two worlds contrast at sunset.
Rainforest adventures
Metropolitan Natural Park brings the wild surprisingly close. It’s the only protected tropical forest inside a Latin American capital, where sloths, toucans and monkeys can be spotted along the trails. The Mono Titi trail climbs to a viewpoint where the forest gives way to the city skyline and the Panama Canal. Don’t forget your binoculars.
Panama City: Know before you go
| Language | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Currency | Panamanian balboa (PAB) and United States dollar ($) |
| Time zone | UTC-5 (EST) |
| High season | December - March |
| Low season | May - November |
Find the best time to go to Panama City
Weather in Panama City
May – November: The rainy season brings heavy showers, mostly in the afternoons, leaving mornings bright and the city looking lush. As the season progresses, the rain intensifies, but it rarely lasts the entire day. Pack a compact umbrella and plan your outdoor activities for the morning.
December – April: This is the dry season, when blue skies, breezes and lower humidity make outdoor plans easier. Panama City stays warm year-round, but clearer skies mean less cloud cover, so walking around at midday can feel hotter than expected. Duck into an air-conditioned museum, or use the heat as an excuse to treat yourself to a long lunch.
Events in Panama City
Panama Jazz Festival (January): At one of Latin America’s most respected music events, performers take over venues across the city, with free outdoor concerts and workshops.
Carnival (February or March): Four days of parades, floats and live music take over Panama City. Don’t miss the ‘culecos’, water trucks that drench dancing crowds along the Cinta Costera promenade.
Holy Week (March or April): Solemn processions wind through Casco Viejo during Semana Santa, making a great time to visit the old quarter. It gets busy, so book ahead.
Independence celebrations (November): November is essentially one long national party, with parades, marching bands and fireworks.
The best neighbourhoods in Panama City
Casco Viejo
If you’re a first-time visitor deciding where to stay in Panama City, this is a great choice. The UNESCO-listed old town packs colonial buildings, cobbled streets, restored mansions and boutique hotels into a compact historic district. By day, explore plazas and churches. After dark, stay for rooftop bars, live music and views across Panama Bay.
Good for: Historic streets, rooftop bars, boutique stays
El Cangrejo
Leafy, walkable and full of character, El Cangrejo is the city’s unofficial dining district. Life revolves around Via Argentina, where cafés, bakeries, craft beer bars and casual restaurants sit close enough to hop between on foot. Once home to a large Jewish community, the area still has kosher bakeries and falafel spots, plus Japanese, Mexican and Italian eats.
Good for: International dining, café culture, walkability
San Francisco
This green, mostly residential neighbourhood centres on Parque Omar, one of the city’s largest parks, with jogging paths, playgrounds and fitness stations. Stay here for a quieter base with apartment-style stays and less tourist traffic than Casco Viejo. Shopping on the to-do list? You’ll be close to Multiplaza, a major mall known for its high-end brands.
Good for: Parks, local vibe, luxury shopping
Things to do in Panama City
Family friendly
At Miraflores Locks, a container ship the size of a city block rises through the chambers right in front of you. It’s the kind of spectacle kids don’t forget. Hire a family pedal cart and cycle along the Amador Causeway. For something wilder, board a boat to Monkey Island to spot capuchins, tamarins and howler monkeys.
Take in the culture
Wander Casco Viejo’s cobblestone streets and colonial plazas, then explore Panama Viejo, the ruins of the original 16th-century city abandoned after a pirate raid. Some top museums in Panama City are nearby. For the human story behind the waterway, check out the Interoceanic Canal Museum. The Biomuseo is worth visiting for its striking design as much as its biodiversity exhibits.
Places to eat
Restaurants in Panama City reflect its history as the crossroads of the Americas. Centuries of Spanish, African and Indigenous food traditions share the table with Chinese and Caribbean flavours. Grab ceviche at the Mercado de Mariscos seafood market. For ‘sancocho’ (chicken and yuca soup), visit a ‘fonda’ (casual diner) or El Trapiche, a local institution. San Francisco draws foodies for fine dining.
Nightlife
After dark, head to Casco Viejo’s rooftop bars for skyline views and cocktails made with Panamanian rum. The Calle Uruguay strip packs clubs and dance floors for a livelier night, and Via Argentina is the spot for craft beer. Panama’s jazz roots run deep, so look out for live sets across the old quarter.
Shopping
For a souvenir with a story, visit the National Handicraft Market near Panama Viejo. Hunt down a ‘mola’, the hand-stitched textile panel made by indigenous Guna women, or a ‘pintao’, Panama’s traditional woven hat (not the Ecuadorian Panama hat). Casco Viejo is the spot for art galleries and craft shops, whilst Avenida Central buzzes with bargain stalls and street vendors.
Free things to do
Stroll the Cinta Costera waterfront promenade, where you can take in the skyline and watch ships queue for the canal. For a free panorama of the whole city, hike Ancón Hill. It’s a 30-minute walk to the top along paved paths. Remember to look up. You might spot sloths on the trail.
Get ready for Panama City
Budget
It’s fairly easy to enjoy Panama City on a budget. An inexpensive meal will set you back about 10 Panamanian balboas (B./). You can usually pick up a local beer for about B./3 and a coffee for B./4. Taxis cost about B./12 for a short hop, but taking the metro is much cheaper.
Day trips from Panama City
Take the ferry from Amador Causeway to Taboga Island in about 30 minutes for its calm beaches, colourful village and tropical flowers. About four hours away by four-wheel drive and boat, the San Blas Islands are worth the early start. This remote archipelago is owned and managed by the Indigenous Guna people and is untouched by mass tourism. Visits require organised tours.
Getting around Panama City
Casco Viejo and El Cangrejo are easy to explore on foot. Beyond them, take the train or bus. Both are cheap and use the same rechargeable Metrobus card. Yellow taxis are plentiful but unmetered, so agree on the fare first. Rideshare apps are widely used and a good, haggle-free alternative if you don’t speak Spanish.
