9 Best Things to Do in Panama

16.05.2024 - 15:13 / cntraveler.com

Panama has long been a paradise for the backpacker crowd thanks to 1,800 miles of pristine coastline and an abundance of budget-friendly accommodations. But in recent years, the Central American country has won over a more varied mix of travelers, luring luxury-seekers, coffee snobs, serious conservationists, and everyone in between. There’s no one-size-fits-all approach to a Panamanian getaway—you can see three-toed pygmy sloths in Bocas del Toro, marvel at Spanish-colonial architecture in Panama City’s Casco Viejo, and learn about centuries-old Mola textile crafts by visiting Guna artisans in the San Blas Islands. To live out your private-island Robinson Crusoe fantasies, book a stay at Islas Secas or Nayara Bocas del Toro. One visit is just scratching the surface of the isthmus nation; here are nine ideas for how to spend your next Panamanian holiday.

To wander through the cobblestoned streets of Casco Viejo, the oldest European settlement on the Pacific Coast of the Americas, is to traveling back in time.

Panama’s capital has been called the skyscraper capital of Latin America; it has roughly the same number of high-rise towers as Doha, Qatar, and Beijing, China (and a Chinese cuisine scene to match). But vestiges of the city’s colonial past can still be found in its charming old quarter, called Casco Viejo: a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the oldest European settlement on the Pacific Coast of the Americas. Wandering its cobblestoned streets is like traveling back in time, with colorful Spanish, French, and Caribbean architecture as your backdrop. The area is equally known for its historic sights like the Metropolitan Cathedral and the atmospheric Plaza de Francia square as much as its gastronomy and nightlife. If you only have time for one dinner, make it Fonda Lo Que Hay, chef José Olmedo Carles Rojas’s modern spin on a typical Panamanian roadside restaurant.

You can’t go to Panama and not see its most famous attraction: the 50-mile Panama Canal waterway.

You can’t go to Panama and not see its most famous attraction: the 50-mile Panama Canal waterway—the so-called “Crossroads of the World”—which connects the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Prior to the canal’s inauguration in 1914, the only way to transport goods between the two oceans was to sail around the southern tip of South America, a dangerous, 8,000-nautical-mile journey. While many travelers take in the spectacle from the viewing platform at the Miraflores Visitor Center, it’s worth doing a transit tour to get a complete picture of the canal’s history and engineering achievements.

In Panama’s Coiba National Park, the best dive sites are scattered around the Rancheria, Canales, and Contreras islands.

A string of 38 wildlife-rich islands