Top things to do in Casco Viejo, Panama City

Panama City’s old town goes by many monikers: Casco Viejo, Casco Antiguo and the lesser-used San Felipe, to name just three. It’s also known as the hippest region in the city, where most fall in love with Panama’s capital.

This Unesco-listed district is a symphony of restored rainbow-hued buildings, romantic wrought-iron balconies, centuries-old churches, sky-caressing rooftops and narrow cobblestone streets, strung out along four historic avenues.

Though humble in size, Casco Viejo is the setting for many of Panama City’s top restaurants and trendiest bars, and historical buildings with scintillating stories to tell. Here are 10 of the best things to do in this enticing enclave.

Discover the country’s star attraction – the Panama Canal 

Building a cross-country canal to link the Pacific and Atlantic oceans was always an ambitious idea, not to mention a poorly-planned one. Work started on this iconic waterway in 1880, but by the time it was completed in 1914, some 25,000 people had died, mostly from tropical diseases.

Today, however, this feat of engineering is the country’s star attraction, and it’s one of the top sights in Panama City. You can learn more about it without leaving Casco Viejo at the Interoceanic Canal Museum (also known as the Panama Canal Museum) located in one of the neighborhood’s most handsome historic buildings, dating back to 1874.

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Stroll the city’s cobblestone streets

Just walking around Casco’s cobblestone streets is a rewarding activity all by itself. Dotted around the four palm-lined avenues and four main plazas – Plaza de la Independencia, Plaza Herrera, Plaza Bolívar and Plaza de Francia – are crumbling buildings thirsty for a fresh lick of paint, alongside historical structures reimagined as apartments and boutique hotels.

For a meal or refreshing drink, pop into Hotel la Compañia, originally built as a Jesuit convent in 1688, or the American Trade Hotel, which was once the tallest building in Panama City, despite topping out at just three stories.

Along with sharp contrasts between elegance and decay, strolling in Casco is delightful due to the…