Panama
Panama City
Watch ships climb through the Panama Canal's locks in the morning, then eat ceviche in a walled 17th-century old town by night.
Panama City sits at the Pacific mouth of the Panama Canal, and few capitals have a sight like it: at the Miraflores Locks, a short drive from downtown, cargo ships are lifted and lowered on their way between two oceans. Facing a skyline of glass towers across the bay, Casco Viejo, the walled town rebuilt after Henry Morgan sacked the first city, is a peninsula of restored churches, plazas and rooftop bars. Rainforest reaches almost to the suburbs, with sloths on a hill in the middle of town, and the city is the hub for the rest of Panama.
Suggested stay
2–4 days
Language
Spanish
Currency
USD
Timezone
UTC-5
Why you'll love Panama City
The canal At the Miraflores Locks you stand a few metres from the chambers as ships the length of city blocks are lifted and lowered, and a boat transit takes you through them.
Casco Viejo A walled peninsula of restored colonial houses, churches and plazas, with bougainvillea on the sea wall and the glass skyline lit up across the bay at night.
Wild edges Sloths, toucans and agoutis live on Cerro Ancon in the middle of the city, and the rainforest of Soberania National Park begins where the suburbs end.
Food Ceviche from the seafront fish market, sancocho fragrant with culantro, patacones with everything, and prized Geisha coffee from the western highlands.
Best time to visit
Dec-Apr
Dry & sunny · 31-32° days
8.971° N, 79.534° W
UTC-5 · America/Panama
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Weather & when to go to Panama City
Month by month: typical highs and lows, rainfall and rain days.
✓ Best Dec-Apr
Conditions Jan Dry & sunny · Feb Driest · Mar Dry · Apr Dry ending · May Wet starts · Jun Wet · Jul Brief showers · Aug-Sep Wet · Oct Wettest · Nov Wet · Dec Drying
Watch for Jun-Nov cyclones & hurricanes risk · Oct-Nov monsoon flooding risk
Cards tinted by verified verdict · big number = typical daily high, small = low · hover for conditions
When to avoid Panama City
October is the month to skip: the wettest of the year, when heavy afternoon downpours can flood streets and snarl traffic. December to April is the dry season and the easy pick, sunny and breezy. May to November is hot, humid and wet, but mornings are often clear, and the canal, museums and old town all work in the rain.
Top things to do in Panama City
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Miraflores Locks - watch ships transit the Panama Canal
history scenic 👍 PopularThe visitor centre beside the Pacific locks has terraces a few metres from the chambers, where electric locomotives ease container ships and tankers through as the water rises and falls. A museum and film explain how the canal was built and how it works. Traffic comes in waves, so allow time to see a full lockage.
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Panama Canal partial transit - through the locks by boat
history scenic ⭐ Highly recommendedTour boats run part of the canal between the Amador Causeway and Gamboa, passing under the Bridge of the Americas and through the Miraflores and Pedro Miguel locks alongside the ships. It takes most of a day and departures are limited, so book ahead.
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Casco Viejo - walk the old town
history culture arts 👍 PopularStart at Plaza de la Independencia under the twin white towers of the Metropolitan Cathedral, pass the Palacio de las Garzas, the presidential palace named for the herons in its courtyard, and walk out to Plaza de Francia, the memorial to the French canal effort. The Paseo Esteban Huertas follows the sea wall under bougainvillea, facing the skyline.
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Iglesia de San Jose - the golden altar
history culture artsA plain church in Casco Viejo holds the city's most famous treasure, a towering carved altar covered in gold leaf that was saved from the first city. Legend says a priest disguised it with paint so Henry Morgan's buccaneers would pass it by.
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Panama Viejo - ruins of the first city
history 👍 PopularThe stone shell of the city founded in 1519 and sacked in 1671 lies along the eastern waterfront. Climb the restored cathedral bell tower for a view over the ruins to the modern towers, and start at the site museum for a sense of the city at its height.
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Biomuseo - Frank Gehry's museum of biodiversity
culture arts nature wildlifeGehry's first building in Latin America stands on the Amador Causeway under a crumpled roof of reds, yellows and blues. Inside, the galleries explain how the rising isthmus joined two continents, split an ocean and set off a great exchange of animals between north and south.
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Amador Causeway - cycle out to the islands
scenicBuilt from rock dug out of the canal, the causeway runs out to the islands of Naos, Perico and Flamenco, with the Bridge of the Americas behind it. Rent a bike or walk it near sunset, when ships wait offshore to enter the canal and the skyline lights up across the bay.
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Cerro Ancon - sloths and the giant flag
nature wildlife scenic ⭐ Highly recommendedThe forested hill above the old Canal Zone is the highest point in the city. A paved road climbs through the trees to a huge Panamanian flag and views over the canal, the port of Balboa and Casco Viejo. Go early to spot sloths, toucans and agoutis on the way up.
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Parque Natural Metropolitano - rainforest inside the city
nature wildlifeA protected tropical forest within the city limits, with short trails climbing to a lookout over the skyline and the canal. Titi monkeys, sloths and a long bird list make it an easy first taste of Panama's wildlife before heading out to Soberania.
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Mercado de Mariscos - ceviche by the water
foodThe seafood market on the waterfront between Casco Viejo and the Cinta Costera sells the morning catch, and the ceviche stalls around it serve cups of corvina, shrimp or octopus cured in lime with onion and culantro. Lunchtime is busiest and best.
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Sancocho, patacones and Geisha coffee - eating Panamanian
foodSancocho, a chicken soup thick with yam and scented with culantro, is the national dish and the cure for everything. Add patacones, carimanolas (meat-filled yuca fritters), hojaldras at breakfast, a raspao shaved ice from a street cart, and a cup of Geisha, the highland coffee that sets auction records.
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Casco Viejo rooftops - the city after dark
nightlife musicAt weekends Casco Viejo fills with rooftop bars looking across the water at the lit-up towers, and salsa drifts out of restored courtyards. Calle Uruguay in Bella Vista is the other big bar strip. Nights start late and run later.
Best areas to stay in Panama City
$ Budget $$ Mid-range $$$ Premium
Casco Viejo
First-time visitors $$Restored colonial peninsula of plazas and rooftops
Explore hotels in Casco Viejo →
El Cangrejo
Budget and long stays $Leafy, walkable streets of hostels and cafes
Explore hotels in El Cangrejo →
Marbella and the Banking District
Business and dining $$Business towers, big hotels and bars
Explore hotels in Marbella and the Banking District →
Punta Paitilla and Punta Pacifica
Sea-view towers $$$Waterfront high-rises with sea views
Explore hotels in Punta Paitilla and Punta Pacifica →
Live nightly prices from Booking.com, Agoda and others, centred on Panama City
Getting to & around Panama City
Getting there
Fly into Tocumen International (PTY), Copa Airlines' hub, 30-45 minutes east of downtown by road, or arrive by long-distance bus at the Albrook terminal.
Flight
Tocumen International Airport (PTY)
About 24 km east of downtown, 30-45 minutes by taxi or ride-hailing along the Corredor Sur coastal toll road, and much longer at rush hour.
Coach
Albrook bus terminal
The national bus terminal beside Albrook Mall handles services from David, the western highlands and the rest of the country, plus international coaches from San Jose in Costa Rica.
Flight
Albrook domestic airport
Domestic flights from Bocas del Toro, David and the San Blas airstrips land at the small Marcos A. Gelabert airport at Albrook, close to the centre.
Cruise
Amador Causeway or Colon
Pacific-side cruise calls come in at the Amador Causeway; ships calling on the Caribbean side dock at Colon, around an hour and a half away by highway.
Getting around
Metro
Two air-conditioned lines, Central America's first metro, cross the city north and east from Albrook. Handy for crossing town and reaching the bus terminal, less so for Casco Viejo or the canal.
TBC
Ride-hailing and taxi
Ride-hailing apps work well and are the easy way between districts, especially at night. Yellow taxis are unmetered, so agree the fare before you get in.
TBC
MetroBus
Air-conditioned city buses cover the main avenues and suburbs on the same card as the Metro, though routes take some working out.
TBC
Walking
Casco Viejo, the Cinta Costera and the Amador Causeway are made for walking; elsewhere, heat, traffic and patchy pavements push most people into taxis.
Free
Day trips from Panama City
Gamboa and Pipeline Road
Full dayRainforest and canal lake
Where the Chagres River meets the canal, Gamboa is the gateway to Soberania National Park and Pipeline Road, one of the most famous birding trails in the Americas, loud with toucans, trogons and motmots. Boat trips on Gatun Lake pass giant ships and islands of capuchin and howler monkeys.
Getting there
car | tour
About 45 minutes north by car or on a tour
Embera village on the Chagres
Full dayIndigenous community visit
Dugout canoes carry visitors up the Chagres River inside Chagres National Park to an Embera community, for music and dancing, a lunch of fish and plantain served in leaves, and often a swim at a forest waterfall.
Getting there
car | tour
About 1 hour by road to the river, then a dugout canoe upstream; almost always booked as a tour
Isla Taboga
Full dayIsland village and beach
The hilly 'island of flowers' has a whitewashed fishing village, bougainvillea-draped lanes and a sandy beach looking back at the skyline across the bay. Paul Gauguin passed through while labouring on the French canal.
Getting there
ferry
About 45 minutes by ferry from the Amador Causeway
Portobelo
Full dayColonial fort town
Spanish treasure fleets once loaded Andean silver in this bay, and its crumbling forts and rows of cannon are a UNESCO site. The church holds the Black Christ, the focus of a huge annual pilgrimage, and the town keeps its Afro-Panamanian Congo traditions of music and dance.
Getting there
car | tour
About 2 hours by car or tour, north across the isthmus to the Caribbean coast
San Blas Islands
1-2 daysGuna island archipelago
The self-governing Guna Yala region holds hundreds of small palm-covered islands on the Caribbean. Guna families run simple cabins, and a night or two means sand floors, snorkelling and fresh seafood. A same-day return is possible but makes for a very long day.
Getting there
car | ferry | flight | tour
About 2.5-3 hours by 4x4 over the hills to the coast, then a boat out; small planes also fly to island airstrips
A little history of Panama City
Pedro Arias de Avila founded Panama on the Pacific shore in 1519, the first European city on the Pacific coast of the Americas. It grew rich as the hinge of Spain's treasure route: Peruvian silver came up the coast by ship, crossed the isthmus by mule train and sailed for Spain from the Caribbean ports. In 1671 the Welsh buccaneer Henry Morgan marched across and sacked it, and the city burned. Two years later it was rebuilt, walled, on a rocky peninsula to the west, today's Casco Viejo.
The California Gold Rush brought the first railway across the isthmus in the 1850s, and in 1881 a French company under Ferdinand de Lesseps began a canal that collapsed amid disease and bankruptcy. Panama broke away from Colombia in 1903 with US support, and the United States opened the canal in 1914, holding the surrounding Canal Zone for most of the century. Panama took full control of the canal at the end of 1999, and the city has since grown into a skyline of towers and a regional hub for banking and air travel.
Pedro Arias de Avila founds Panama, the first European city on the Pacific coast of the Americas.
Henry Morgan's buccaneers sack the city, which burns.
A new walled city is founded on the peninsula that is now Casco Viejo.
The Panama Railroad opens across the isthmus, carrying gold-rush traffic between the oceans.
Panama separates from Colombia with US backing, and the United States gains the rights to build and run a canal.
The Panama Canal opens to shipping.
US forces invade and remove the military ruler Manuel Noriega.
Under the 1977 Torrijos-Carter Treaties, Panama takes full control of the canal on 31 December.
The expanded canal opens, with new, larger locks for the biggest ships.
Know before you go
Payment
Cards & cash mixed
English
Widely spoken
Wifi
Reliable
Power
Type A / B
120 V, 60 Hz
Dialing
+507
Cyclones & hurricanes risk in this window; check current conditions before you go.
Monsoon flooding risk in this window; check current conditions before you go.
The months our climate read flags to avoid: the wettest, lowest-rated weather of the year.
FAQs about Panama City
▸ When is the best time to visit Panama City?
December to April is the dry season: sunny, breezy and the easiest time for the canal, the old town and the islands. May to November is the wet season, hot and humid with heavy afternoon storms, though mornings are often clear and the city works fine. October is the wettest month and the one to avoid.
▸ How many days do I need in Panama City?
Two days covers the essentials: the Miraflores Locks, Casco Viejo, Panama Viejo and a sunset on the Amador Causeway. Add a third for Cerro Ancon, the Biomuseo or a partial canal transit, and more for Gamboa, Isla Taboga or Portobelo, or a night in the San Blas islands.
▸ Where is the best place to see the Panama Canal?
The Miraflores Locks visitor centre, a short drive from downtown, puts you on terraces right beside the chambers and is the classic view. On the Caribbean side, near Colon, the Agua Clara visitor centre overlooks the newer, larger locks. To go through the locks yourself, book a partial transit by boat.
▸ Is Panama City safe for visitors?
Casco Viejo, the Cinta Costera, the Amador Causeway and the banking and hotel districts are generally comfortable by day and on busy streets in the evening. El Chorrillo, right next to Casco Viejo, is best avoided on foot. Use ride-hailing at night, keep phones out of sight and check your own government's current advice before travelling.
▸ What currency does Panama use?
The US dollar is the paper currency, used alongside Panama's own balboa coins, which match US coins in size and value. There is no need to change money if you carry US dollars, and cards are widely accepted in the city.
▸ Do I need to speak Spanish in Panama City?
Spanish is the language, but English is common in hotels, tour companies, the banking district and much of Casco Viejo, helped by the Canal Zone legacy and a large international community. Taxi drivers and market stalls are mostly Spanish-only, so a few phrases go a long way.